Weekenders Clothing Company Shuts Down

Hi, (Probably my second to last email regarding Weekenders.)

A few people have asked me if this site is "legitimate".
http://www.womensclothingsales.com/

IT IS.

In these hard times why not take advantage and get you yourself and friends some good quality at truly affordable prices.

Here is a list of the prices that are not to be found on the web site.(!)
On the other hand they will now deliver!

Hope this helps.

George :)
PS: Visit my site http://mentaldoodle.com/ ...TWO YEARS in the making!
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"DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND THE SALE WILL RE-OPEN ON JAN 5th AND WILL RUN UNTIL THE END OF JANUARY,WEEKDAYS AND SATURDAYS SAME HOURS AS BEFORE. YOU CAN VIEW THE CATALOGUE AT www.womensclothingsales.com
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST.

We have been instructed by the Trustee in the Bankruptcy of Weekenders to have an Inventory sale at the warehouse located at:
2377 Highway 52 South
Wadesboro N.C 28170

This sale is a cash and carry sale, and will be held from December 1, 2008 to thru the end of Jan 2009. (Sorry, we do not have card processing facilities)
Hours are 10 AM to 6 PM Monday to Saturday, and Sunday, 1 PM to 5 PM

We will be taking e-mail orders at womensclothingsale@yahoo.com and your orders will be ready for pick-up 3 days after you place them avoiding the wait that normally happens if we have to pick and pack while you are here.

We will do mail orders, however we are not set up for a full scale distribution. We will do a shipment, but the min order must be $300.00. What I suggest to people is they contact other weekender people or send the email to several friends to see if they can combine an order. We are accepting cashiers or certified checks at this point .

Please include the following information on your order: and email completed order to womensclothingsale@yahoo.com. You can review the catalogues at http://www.womensclothingsales.com; we will need the following information:
Style number, Color, Size and quantity. Your contact information to let you know the exact amount of your order in case something is not available.

Come do your shopping at unbelievable prices;

ALL JACKETS 17 Dollars
ALL DRESSES 12 Dollars
ALL PANTS 10 Dollars
ALL SKIRTS 10 Dollars
ALL SHIRTS 10 Dollars
ALL TOPS 7 Dollars

SHAWLS AND SCARFS 3 FOR 10 Dollars

There is a big assortment of Spring and Fall clothes from the Fall and Spring catalogues."

Weekenders, a long-term direct sales company that provided quality mix-and-match, easy-care clothing for women, filed for bankruptcy this month (June, 2008). Although sales had been on the decline for some time, the abrupt closing of the company's doors came as a complete surprise for both Independent Sales Reps and company employees alike.

The declaration of bankruptcy by Weekenders was shocking to me, because I have been a Fashion Coordinator with the company since 1994, and an Executive Sales Manager for many of the past ten years. I knew that the company had been struggling and that sales were down ... way down. But Weekenders had recently launched its summer line and it seemed that they would find a way to re-build.

Reports are vague, but it seems that Weekenders filed for bankruptcy protection around June 9th and then, without any notice, closed its doors. In the US, Weekenders had just sent out an email that morning about training that was to be held later that week. But by 11:30 a.m. on the same day, employees were notified that the company was closing immediately and that they were out of work.

Word of mouth suggests that Weekenders had a loan from an international bank which came due. The fact that Weekenders was unable to make the payment forced the bankruptcy action. It has also been suggested that some of the last customer orders were not shipped because Weekenders owed $100,000 to FedEx.

What is known is that many Fashion Coordinators, including me, will not receive the last orders that we placed for our customers; nor will we receive outstanding commissions. And what about the company employees who depended on Weekenders for their livelihood? We know that their loss is huge.

If you want up-to-date information (or are looking for alternatives), contact me immediately: 707-527-9329. I can refer you to some excellent opportunities, as well as seasoned home business leaders.

Stay tuned ...

Maybe, maybe not.

As I explained above, Weekenders abruptly closed its doors on Monday, June 9, 2008. Neither staff nor distributors (Fashion Coordinators, Team Leaders and Managers) were given any advance warning. The "explanation" relayed to Sales Managers on a conference call was that the company had had a "margin" call on one of its international loans, that the owners were unable to pay the loan, that they had no choice but to close the doors, and that the Company had declared bankruptcy.

In talking with one of the Fashion Coordinators who was a member of my Sales Unit, I learned that her husband has been scanning the news (online and in print) and has found no evidence that the company, Weekenders, has actually filed for bankruptcy. There don't appear to be any public court filings as of yet, either (Troy Dooly describes this on his blog, too).

Who knows what will happen next!

So, why did Weekenders "fire" its distributors without paying commissions for May? Why did they collect money for orders that were submitted but neglect to send them out? Why did they confiscate funds that many Fashion Coordinators had "on account" with the company? Team Leaders and Sales Managers lost anywhere from several dollars apiece to many thousands of dollars in commissions. I know for a fact that at least one Coordinator in my unit had over $1,200 "credit on account" which is now inaccessible and presumably gone.

And why on June 20-22 did the company unload garments at a sale in Charlotte, North Carolina? The prices were well below wholesale (tops were sold for $7, pants $15, and jackets $20 - the retail price on jackets, for example was originally $54 to $110)!

Fashion coordinators and sales managers alike continue to receive no information about what is going on or where to turn for answers. Interestingly, the website is still up with no information at all about the situation, except that Fashion Coordinators are unable to login to the site to place orders or access their customer's info.

A fear has been voiced that Weekenders may sell the distributor database to another female-oriented network marketing company and/or use the database when Weekenders emerges from this mess!

One (unpleasant) scenario suggests that the company will ask the Bankruptcy Court to set aside ALL distributor Agreements, and allow the company to market their clothing line direct to the customer base.

Weekenders was a member in good standing with the Direct Selling Alliance (http://www.DSA.org)and publicly stated on their own website that they (i.e., Weekenders) supported the guidelines of the DSA Code of Ethics: http://www.weekendersusa.com/_spring08/about/commitment_to_ethics.php

At this point, Weekenders Fashion Coordinators would do well to follow the guidelines stated on the company's own website: "call Customer Service at 847-229-1200 for further assistance. Customer Service will strive to reach resolution between the parties within the guidelines of Weekenders USA and the DSA. When necessary, Customer Service will request further review by Weekenders Compliance Committee.

This committee, headed by our Code Responsibility Officers, ensures that the rights of customers and Fashion Coordinators are upheld within the guidelines of Weekenders USA and in conjunction with the Direct Selling Association's Code of Ethics.

In the event an appeal is requested, the Direct Selling Association Code of Ethics Administrator shall be the neutral and competent third party to review the complaint. Instructions for filing a code complaint appeal may be found on the DSA web site at http://www.dsa.org/ethics."

So, call the corporate offices and contact the Distributor's Rights Association, http://www.mlm-dra.org.

With Weekenders closing its doors, many Fashion Cultures are now being hounded by reps in other direct sales, network marketing and MLM businesses?

Why? Because it is being as a "golden opportunity." Fashion Coordinators were a very classy group of women and well trained by Weekenders. So, why wouldn't reps in other companies want to have the ex-Weekenders gals join them?!

So, a slew of emails and phone calls are going out, trying to entice women to "join my team." One message that I read said, "I found your Weekenders webpage online...My heart goes out to you," and went on with lots of info about a new opportunity. The email ended with "And I DO understand ths is the WORST time to contact you, (shock feelings) etc...However if you are in a position of needing a job ASAP, I would hope this might be good news to you." Somehow, it came across as opportunistic.

Unfortunately, some former Weekenders managers are being perceived as opportunistic, aggressive and greedy - wanting to get as many of their former unit members into whatever new company (or companies) they have joined.

My advice: don't let the experience with Weekenders jade your view of a home based business. If you love the independence, income potential, freedom and cameraderie that direct sales or network marketing offers, you will definitely want to find a new "home." But, look at all aspects of the new company - don't do it just because you "love" the product. Make sure that the leadership and compensation plan are great, too!

George Raynault, one of the founders of Weekenders, sent an email to Weekenders Reps on Tuesday, July 8, 2008. He indicated that although he has "not been with Weekenders for over 3 years now" he was choosing to help get information out by email. Here's what he had to say:

"It is with a great deal of respect that I offer this explanation of the USA 'sale:'

* Weekenders has over 250,000 garments available for sale here (and over 100,000 in Europe.) It was previously consolidated into one (USA) location to lower costs and help Weekenders last longer until sales grew again. Less than 2% of these were paid for and not delivered because shipping companies suddenly refused to extend more credit. (No excuse/blame, just an explanation as to what happened!) Over 98% were not paid for.

* Would that Weekenders could have stayed open long enough, if only to wholesale them out to you all at even 50% off, don't you think they would have done that!

* The enormous amount of money already paid for these garments and the obvious low prices that they will now get does almost nothing to compensate anyone for the literally millions of dollars that have been invested in Weekenders for the past three years trying to keep it alive until sales made it self-sustaining once again.

* This I know for sure: Not one of the owners of Weekenders have taken out any money whatsoever for the past three years. And they have put in several millions during that same time.

* The truth is Weekenders ran out of money before sales even stopped sliding, never mind start to grow.

* It is highly illegal to continue to run a company when it becomes clear and obvious to management that the company is no longer self sustainable. No matter how 'profitable' and Coordinator-friendly it would prove to be. However, not communicating this directly to you was, in my personal opinion, a serious mistake. (I myself was informed by a phone call from one of the computer room employees and well after the fact.)

* As Weekenders is no longer operating, there is literally no one around to operate anything.

* No shipping, no computer lookups, no commissions, no credit, no staff whatsoever. Including no one to send out emails! (Which is why I am doing it from my home.) Unfortunately when a company runs out of money, that truly means there is no money there!

* Those of you who have not yet phoned your credit card company for a reverse of charge should sincerely consider doing so. (So far this has occurred to the tune of well into the 6 figures, so I am told.)

* Contrary to the fascinating rumors out there, Weekenders will absolutely not be opening up under any other name, in any other way, shape or form, now or in the future, anywhere in the world.

* I chose to do this 'Sale' emailing because it is the only way that I can contribute to at least some of you making some money in this mess.

* I am sending this email because I believe it is appropriate for you to know all of this.

I do absolutely understand that this does not help when you honestly feel that you have been mistreated, to say the least!

I am sorry that it had to end this way and I personally wish to thank all who were with us over the years.

George :)
Please don't shoot the messenger, remember, I haven't been there for 3 years!!"

Subject: End of an era (June 15, 2008)

"My daughter asked me how I felt. I said I felt like a loved one, who I knew was terminally ill, had just died.

Weekender's was a wonderful experience with wonderful people but sales just didn't materialize and quite frankly we ran out of gas.

I have talked to some of our managers out there and although they are sad they stressed what wonderful times and experiences they had that they never would have received anywhere else. Wonderful relationships were made, great trips were taken, and dreams were realized by thousands of people.

I will be forever grateful for being part of that with you. It will always be my most treasured memory.

September 1984 to June 2008. Anincredible run. Too bad it came to an end. I don't know about you but I've done it before and I'll do it again. Remember, "do what you love and love what you do."

You're the best. Love to you all

Bob"