Boxing Day Sales- and why we're opting out.

It's Boxing day!

And we're not having a sale. But you'd probably already guessed that. So we thought we'd explain why.

See this hapu, they're the collective who provide our cotton. It's hard physical work. Growing a crop, harvesting it, fertilising it with homemade compost and depending on the seasonal rains to water it. Theres no pesticide, irrigation or machinery here.

They're Māmās, Pāpās, whānau with dreams, a mean sense of humor and some hilarious teasing waiata while they work.

They're just one step of the journey our products make on their way to you. They touch many hands and mean many things to the people and the whānau who work on them.

We pay them all a fair wage plus contribute to a fund that allows for community lead initiatives (aka rangatiratanga) because we see the importance and the value in who they are and what they provide for us.

By the time our products reach us, they've traveled thousands of kilometres and touched many many hands who've each contributed to these organic, fairly traded, beautifully high-quality pieces.

When they reach us, we're committed to them being affordable to you, so that our cultural narratives don't only become accessible to the privileged few. And so we price according (and ignore all the rules about 'how to price your products'). We believe in the kaupapa and want our Aho pieces to live, breathe and find purpose in your home.

So when you see brands taking 20-70% off, take a moment to consider. Where does that margin come from. Is the product cheap because somewhere along the production line someone got a 'bargain' and didn't pay the true cost, or is it discountable because retailers have added large margins which means that those who pay the full price are somehow subsidising those who grab that 'bargain' on sale. Or for small retailers, there's a pressure to conform to this cultural idea of sales and businesses conform, often unconsciously, to this whakaaro at their own cost.

For us, the most important part is that we pause to think before we act. To consider our own values, and whether or not they align with what we're doing (about to buy on sale 🤔)