What's New

(March, 2010)

Dear Customer:

The bad news is that we are temporarily not carrying high-limit scales due to a disruption at the factory in China that made them, and we haven't yet re-introduced an umbrella to take the place of the old one that was discontinued by London Fog, although we expect to do so shortly.

The good news is that the portable folding chairs are now in plentiful supply, which are great for customers who can fit between 22" arms, and weigh less than 350 lbs. (We are forever trying to locate other sources for wider chairs with higher weight ratings, that meet our quality standards and are easily portable.)

Meanwhile, we are always happy to highlight in "What's New" any new products or categories that have recently been added or changed in our catalog. Our goal is to make it possible for you to check this site for product changes, without having to browse the whole site each time.

In addition to the product changes, if we have other news of interest to our customers, we plan to publish it in this space, and in our email newsletter, which now goes out to anyone who has placed an online order since February, 2008. (Don't worry—it is very easy to unsubscribe if you don't want to receive it.) It is sent from newsletter@amplestuff.com.

However, if you do want to receive it, simply place any order online, or contact us to add your email address to our list, even if you haven't ordered, or if you have only placed phone orders in the past. Please do the same if you change your email address. We are currently sending one email every few weeks with new products and pricing information, if any, and whenever there is a promotional discount in effect.

Finally, we are reviewing all of our prices in order to lower them whenever possible, due to some vendors offering a better price due to worldwide economic conditions. Plus, we will be offering more promotional discounts in the future. Make sure you are on our newsletter emailing list if you would like to hear about new promotions!

Sincerely,

Bill Fabrey
President, Amplestuff

WHAT'S NEW

New or Revised Products

Pambra's: (product link) We now carry a full range of sizes, S through XXL, and two new colors, beige and black, in addition to the original white. We added the two smallest sizes because a few smaller or average-sized women have wanted to order Pambra's from us, and also, some girls in their early teens (or even pre-teens) might have a need for those sizes if they are plus-sized kids.

Portable Folding Chairs: (product link) These are again in good supply now, at least in the 17 in. and 19 in. heights. The width between arms is increased to 22 inches, but the weight limits reduced to 325 or 350 lbs. We are going to work on the manufacturer to make even larger chairs with higher weight limits.

Jumbo Kneeling Pads: A few customers have asked whatever happened to our great kneeling pads. Our foam vendor lost our die that is used to cut them, and so a redesigned product and new die is in the works.

Reaching Aids: (product link) We have a new model of reaching aid in various lengths, and they are great. The new web page isn't up yet, though. They are of the type that appears to have 2 "suction cups" at the end and can grab a soup can or box of cereal off a high shelf. People who order the old model from our existing page are called or written to, explaining the difference. There is no price difference. We will continue to carry the old Ranger reachers, as well. They are really good at picking up papers or smaller objects, or fitting into really narrow spaces, like between a washer and a dryer.

Umbrellas: Our unofficial "mascot", the lady on our home page holding the red umbrella, loves her umbrella, but we haven't carried them for many months, after they were discontinued by London Fog. We have located a new brand of extra-large fully-automatic (open and close) umbrella, and hope to have them before too long!

Yellow Ample-Sponges: A few years ago we made Ample-Sponge refill heads using yellow or blue sponge material. Then some customers complained that the yellow ones were too stiff or "scratchy", and we agreed and discontinued them. But now and then, a customer will tell us that they always preferred the yellow for the very same reasons! We recently added yellow heads back into our product line, for those who want them.

Our Printed Catalog: Millions of people have no regular web access. For them, and for you, if you sometimes just want a catalog to hold in your hand, we hope to finally have a new one out soon, after a long hiatus. (We're sorry that it's taken so long!) If you have already ordered one, rest assured that we haven't forgotten about you--unless you ordered one on our old website prior to Jan 15, 2008. Sadly, those requests got erased by the service provider, so please email us again at helpdesk@amplestuff.com, and simply type "Printed Catalog" in the subject line, and in the body of your email, give us your name and your postal mailing address. Or use the form on our Contact Us page and put your mailing address in the Comments field. Thanks!

(Note: Due to postage costs, we are only able to mail a printed catalog within the USA, its APO and FPO addresses, its possessions, and Canada.)

New or Revised Policies

List Rentals: In past years, most recently in 2004, we sometimes rented one-time use of our mailing list to a few carefully chosen mail-order catalogs selling fashions for big people. But last year we changed our policy — we will simply never sell, rent, or trade our mailing list information to anyone for any purpose. That also includes email addresses or phone numbers. Many of us are deluged with unwanted postal mail, email, and phone solicitations. If you get any solicitations in the mail, by email, or by phone from anyone other than us, they did not get your name from Amplestuff!

Imported Merchandise: We prefer to offer goods made in the USA and Canada whenever possible, and we identify those items in our catalog. Now, just because some merchandise doesn't come from the USA or Canada, doesn't mean it's bad. In fact, there are some things needed by big people that North American manufacturers have no interest in making. We have to make a judgment call when an item is available both from North America, and from abroad. We also give preference to vendors who are small businesses or unusually attuned to the large size marketplace.

Our policy about large models: We primarily use large models in our catalog when appropriate. We wish that the big companies that sell plus-sized fashions would show them on genuinely plus-size people. Many of our customers have told us that they are sick and tired of seeing large clothes for sale, but in smaller versions modeled by small models. We agree! We know all the reasons given by the big companies; they feel that most big people want to see how they would LIKE the clothes to appear on their own body — namely, small. In other words, they claim, fantasy sells clothes. That may be so for some customers, but we think the better answer is that those companies would really rather have smaller customers, and they do the rest of us a "favor" by carrying the larger sizes. They are in denial about the fact that their larger customers can be beautiful, too.