Author: Amanda

Much like the rest of the world, NewLife® Industries and its affiliates are experiencing significant issues securing supplies due to the worldwide pandemic. Most apparel-based businesses across the United States are reporting increasing difficulties sourcing t-shirts and other items due to shipping delays, production issues, and price increases.

The havoc on the global supply chain starts overseas with factories coping with new health and safety protocols. Many suppliers have had issues getting staffed back up to be able to meet the consumer demand. In addition, changing regulations for trade and shipping have made logistics and exports even more difficult.

There are shipping challenges, too. FedEx, UPS and DHL have all increased fees in 2021, and have all experienced delays. Shipments overall have increased during 2021 due to more people staying at home and shopping online. Carriers have had significant difficulty managing the demand for space with increased e-commerce shipments. Further, they are providing logistics services for the vaccine, which added to the congestion.

What This Means

At NewLife, we are doing everything we can to continue operating at full capacity despite these challenges. We are working to secure goods upfront, but we might have to get creative with solutions to get products in your hands on time. We work continuously with our suppliers to plan ahead, but sometimes shipping or production delays affect their schedules. As a result, we might have to order from different suppliers and warehouses across the U.S.

Another result is that items might vary slightly within the same order. We might have to source substitute brands to fill in sizes that were never stocked, and as a result, one size might be a color shade off from other sizes in the order.

Customer satisfaction has always been of the utmost importance to us at NewLife. We truly hope that our customers understand we are doing everything we possibly can to provide the same great service they have always expected from us. These are unprecedented times, and the complications we have experienced are unlike anything before. With the support of our loyal customers and employees, we believe we will come through this a stronger company and hope to be your top apparel provider for many years to come.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we can continue to navigate these often-unforeseen challenges.

Dear NewLife Customer,

I pray this letter finds you and your family healthy and well during this difficult time in our nation. During our 40 years of business, whether you have bought one shirt or a thousand, our customers are the heart of our company’s success and we are so thankful for each of you!

Many of you know high school and college seniors whose special year and last moments with lifelong friends have been tragically cut short. Our oldest grandson, Chase Cimala, is a senior in high school and one of the many that have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 crisis. We wanted to share that Chase has written an original song entitled “Cheers To My Teenage Years” dedicated to his graduating class, which we invite you to listen to from the links below. One music blogger wrote “his song throws a positive light on graduating from high school in 2020” and termed it “The Class of 2020’s Grad Song“.

In the midst of these troubling times, we hope this song brings hope that the people, places, and memories these students have made will always be a part of them. And for those of us that are older, we hope it reminds you of precious days gone by and brings a smile to your face as well! Cheers to the graduating class of 2020!

Best Regards,
Richard Humble
Founder/Owner
NewLife Industries

» Listen on Amazon » Listen on Spotify » Listen on Apple Music

 

Follow Chase on Instagram or Facebook for more of his music.

 

As the world navigates the COVID-19 health crisis, we want to assure you that our number one focus is to maintain the same level of availability and support that you’ve come to expect as our valued customer.  We’d like to update you on the steps that we are taking to mitigate risks and ensure that NewLife Industries continues to meet your needs through this health crisis.

NewLife’s leadership team is meeting continuously to assess and appropriately respond to the crisis as it evolves, to adjust our operations to maintain continuity, and to support the safety and health of those impacted. In addition, NewLife is operating in accordance with guidance from local government and public health authorities across the globe. Of course, the health and welfare of both our employees and your employees remain a priority. We have put in place many virus-mitigating actions which result in a reduction of potential transmission.

We want you to feel confident about ordering from NewLife. Our manufacturing facilities will remain open, and our Customer Service Team will be ready to assist you. We know the health of your business relies on us to supply the right products to you in a timely fashion. We are working tirelessly to ensure we can provide the best service to you and your business.

Our business continuity plan has been activated to ensure our manufacturing staff, products, and customer support services are available for continuous operations in all areas of our business.  We are confident in our business continuity plan to be effective as we all navigate this fast-changing situation.  Here are some of the practices we have put in place:

• We have eliminated all non-essential business travel in the US and have restricted travel outside of North America at this time.
• We are requiring employees who are ill (or suspected to be exposed but not exhibiting symptoms) to self-quarantine for a 14-day period.
• All visiting vendors and customers who need to physically be present at our facilities are instructed to follow NewLife’s Standard Operating Procedures, including:
  • If experiencing cold or flu-like symptoms, or have visited an area with high rates of disease transmission within the past 14 days, you are asked to self-isolate and not enter our facilities.
  • Only attend in person if remote controls fail.
  • Wash or sanitize hands prior to entering our facilities; maintain social-distancing guidelines of six feet of separation from others if practicable.

Based on currently available information, we continue to modify our practices and take new steps to ensure that we are providing quality service to our customers, reducing risks to our employees and their families, and sustaining the seamless operation of our business.

We will do everything in our ability to get your orders to you on time, although there may be delays due to the effects resonating from the impacts of this global virus.

Thank you so very much for your business.  NewLife is committed to being a trusted, reliable partner to you during these challenging times.  We will be updating you going forward as this rapidly evolving situation changes.

NewLife is celebrating 40 years in business! We’re looking back to our history, and have re-released our classic “Jesus is Our Hope” design – one that means a lot to us as a company, and especially to our founder.

Shop Jesus is Our Hope T-Shirts »

Below is the story of this design, as told by the founder’s daughter, who now manages our company operations.

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“Jesus is Our Hope” was sort of the start of it all for what we know NewLife to be now – the flagship design, you might say. NewLife had been in business for 10 years, but by that point, it was really struggling – Dad had been doing sports apparel, parks, and just about anything. He had tried multiple times to sell Christian apparel because that was where his heart really was, but it never would take off. One design, “Christ is Alive”, had some very small success, but anything he pursued in the Christian market never really did well.

Dad had been praying for direction on what to do. At this time, God told my Dad that he needed to leave the other accounts. As you can imagine, when you have tons of inventory and they’re pretty much your entire business, that seems like a pretty crazy notion of what to do next. As Dad was praying and arguing with God about this, he said the Lord spoke to him and said very clearly, “The damage is done, move on.”

He said it was so absurd and he knows these weren’t his own thoughts – it HAD to be God because it was the total opposite of what he would be thinking to do! He continued questioning, and there it was again, “The damage is done, move on!” He said he knew then that this was the direction he was supposed to go. And so he did, not knowing what would happen next.

The next few months were terrible – the lowest point in the company. He had loads of debt, no sales, and a failing business. One day, Dad was sitting in his office reading his Bible and praying about how he was supposed to get out of this mess. He opened his Bible, looked down, and read the scripture of Acts 20:22 where Luke tells of Paul saying, “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.” That verse was so meaningful at that moment because he related to the situation – prompted by the Spirit to do something without a clue what awaits you next. At that time, he looked up from his Bible and saw the “Christ Is Alive” shirt hanging on a mannequin across from his desk. His heart jumped; he pointed to it and said out loud, “If I’m going under, I’m going under doing something I believe in!”

He pursued the Christian market again from there, but this time, God saw that it succeeded. They created the design “Jesus is Our Hope” to mail as a campaign theme, and it KABOOMED. Within 6 months, they were beginning to turn things around, and in just a few years, they had paid off all the debt.

So while it seemed like the craziest possible direction that he could take, leaving everything else and pursuing Christian apparel was God’s salvation of NewLife!! But only because my Dad listened and obeyed, despite all the odds and everyone telling him he was nuts! God has always provided in every circumstance that has faced NewLife through the years, and as long as we stay faithful to the commitment my Dad made – that God owns this business – I believe He always will!

So all that to say, the first design we ever had success with, which was the start of what NewLife is today, was “Jesus is Our Hope”. He was our hope when my Dad and NewLife literally had none.