Ushering in a new era of Simply Obsessed

My mom + I hope to earn your trust by re-building SO with a new, authentic brand. I'm inviting anyone to text my cell with any questions (760) 625-4021. -Tyler Gilroyed

Dear Simply Obsessed Community,

Today, September 23, 2024, Simply Obsessed and Ms. Sarah Gibbons announced the acquisition of Simply Obsessed by Tyler + Lisa Gilroyed, a mother + son entrepreneur duo based in the Dallas-Fort Worth neighborhood of Rockwall, TX. Together with our family and staff, we're ushering in a new era of Simply Obsessed. So, how'd we get here? We met Sarah two years ago in our Dallas Market Center showroom, Synergy Marketplace, when she did a series of epic and energized lives debuting our unique brand of items to the community. Since then, we've worked closely with Sarah to deliver Synergy Marketplace's items to you. You've maybe seen us on live when we host a takeover and you've likely seen our items floating around the app.

So, why us to take over Simply Obsessed? I'm Tyler, and I come from a technologic background. In 2017 and while a freshman in high school, I opened Modern Solutions, a technology solutions company that helped online gamers connect and play games together (think: Minecraft :)). In 2022, I sold Modern Solutions after 5 years to pursue Synergy Marketplace full-time with my mom, Lisa. Synergy Marketplace is a wholesale collective based in the Dallas Market Center. We hand-pick unique brands to represent and sell to boutiques all over the country. My mom, Lisa, has owned three boutiques, starting with Artsy Digs, a refurbished furniture, home décor and gift shop in Minneapolis, MN. Continuing with that mission, she moved home with Blonde at Home, a home + gift shop in the iconic El Paseo Shopping District of Palm Desert, CA and eventually opened Laci Grey, a contemporary women's apparel and gift shop when we moved to Rockwall, TX. She's spent the last 20 years of her career developing an eye for style and staying on top of trends.

Why is this happening? My mom + I's retail experience gives us a fairly good idea when someone might be in need of support. We wondered if Sarah would be open to allowing us into her business as partners so, in June 2024, when Sarah visited us in Dallas to complete some in-person takeovers of Synergy Marketplace product we asked her if she would be interested in moving on from Simply Obsessed and allowing us to make her an offer to take it over. After months of conversation, we struck a deal that allows us to take over 100% of Simply Obsessed, with Sarah's blessing.

What's happening to Sarah? Sarah will continue to do lives from time to time for Simply Obsessed. She'll bring her favorite lines and items she believes in to lives to introduce them to you. She'll also be around in the background to help advise and support us as necessary. We'll be moving our home base of operations to the DFW, and Sarah will complete her lives remotely with coordination from our HQ to ensure reliability and consistency across the board. We’ll also work to join Sarah either in Utah or from markets so we can all interact together.

Changes, Priorities + Continuity

We recognize that many of you have had a less-than-positive experience with Simply Obsessed in the past. Our #1 priority is ushering in a new Simply Obsessed, one built on authenticity, communication and reliability. We're completing a top to bottom refresh of every aspect of the company, beginning with how previous customers were left off. To everyone that supports Simply Obsessed, whether you're returning from hiatus, joining the community for the first time or never left - we're so excited to deliver an elevated experience for you.

Communication + Transparency are at the heart of our new mission statement, and we've outlined exactly what you can expect to see from us over the next few hours, days and weeks. Anyone with questions is encouraged to reach out to us, we want to hear from you. Contact us here or text me personally at (760) 625-4021.

Changes

Below is a list of immediate and upcoming changes we'll be introducing to improve your experience. ((A TL:DR is posted at the end for those short on time!))

Restricted Customers ─ With few exceptions, any customers that have been banned, revoked or otherwise removed from any social media or customer portals will be reinstated without prejudice. We welcome back anyone that wishes to positively re-enter the community. Expect this to be completed ~24-48 hours from launch.

Returns + Exchanges ─ A 3 day return policy is too short. Effective today, our new Return Policy goes live. Allowing returns up to 30 days from delivery and 100% free exchanges*. With options to refund back to your card, not lock you in with credit refunds. Review the full return policy here. This new return policy and system are effective now, and apply to orders placed on September 23, 2024 or later.

Lowering Prices ─ Hundreds of products have had a substantial price reduction, sometimes as high as 30%. As a part of our commitment to build trust, we don't believe in charging more than we have to. As such, we'll be reducing the distribution of discount codes and price things accurately, fairly and ethically - the first time. Expect to see this as products are re-launched to the app.

Consistency ─ Prepare to see us live at least 3 (three) times a week. We'll release a weekly live schedule to all socials every Monday, previewing what the upcoming week will look like. You'll normally see us live on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday with takeovers from your favorite brands mixed in on other days. We'll also drop products to the app and simplyobsessed.com throughout the week so there's always a reason to check us out in the morning!

Distribution & Fulfillment ─ We've embraced automation and completely changed our backend workflow for fulfilling orders. This will allow us to ship orders out the same day they're received, with some exceptions (such as pre-orders). Please review our full shipping policy here for more info. Additionally, we're working to re-establish contact with vendors that previously opted not to work with Simply Obsessed to bring back customer favorites and ship them out in industry-leading time.

All New Brands ─ Why show the same thing everyone else does? In addition to featuring customer favorites, we're working with lines no one's ever heard before and developing Simply Obsessed exclusive pieces, keep an eye out for app drops!

New Expedited Shipping Options ─ Shoppers on simplyobsessed.com can buy with confidence using our new expedited shipping options. Receive eligible items as quickly as tomorrow when you select Overnight shipping at checkout. Review our entire shipping policy here.

New Help Center ─ We've reinvented customer support with you in mind. We've introduced a help center to answer immediate questions and have added Live Chat + Phone support in addition to email help. However you prefer to talk to us, we're here to help. You can access it anytime at simplyobsessed.com/help.

Order Pickups & Shopping ─ Our warehouse is located in Mesquite, TX and we invite you to stop by to pick up your order. From the mobile app or simplyobsessed.com, select “Local Pickup” at checkout. Please email us BEFORE arrival to ensure your order is ready and we’ll be staffed at the time you wish to come pick up your product.

Your opinion matters ─ If you leave a review, send us an email, chat with us over the phone, or post about Simply Obsessed to social media, our professional customer service crew will never make you feel bad for sharing your experience. We invite anyone and everyone to share their experience and inform other customers of what to expect - good + bad.

Re-Building Community ─ Please take a moment to join the Simply Obsessed Facebook Group. This is your home to chat with other members of the community, free from judgment, hate and sales pitches. My mom loves to talk, so I'm sending her in y'alls direction. Chat recipes, favorite teams and Taylor Swift!

Community Guidelines ─ We're introducing an industry-first; Community Guidelines. Anything posted to any of our social media profiles by anyone (comments, tagged posts) and anything shared during a live (shared posts, comments) will be subject to our Community Guidelines. We welcome criticism, feedback and jokes but we're disallowing any hate, harassment and doxxing. Anyone removed from Simply Obsessed moving forward will be done with cause, according to our community guidelines. Notification will be sent by email as to why you were removed, when possible. Trolls & bots beware!

Globalization ─ simplyobsessed.com and the mobile app have been updated to support operations in Canada (eh!). Later this year, we'll announce support for Mexico, France, the UK, and Australia. Pronto podré hablar español.

Tech Changes ─ simplyobsessed.com has been completely redone using a new backend engine. The Simply Obsessed mobile app will also change in the new year to introduce more interactive, entertaining and intuitive shopping experiences ─ stay tuned!

Upgrading Product Photos ─ We're taking product photos seriously, getting creative and fun. We've contracted sororities and enlisted serious talent to bring some seriously awesome product and campaign photos. Additionally, in time, all photos you see on simplyobessed.com and our mobile app will be our own, with faces you'll know and love. This requires a winddown of old products and will take a little bit of time.

Heros Discount Program ─ Starting today, eligible military, first responders, nurses, teachers and their spouses are eligible for 10% off all future Simply Obsessed purchases. Review the program here. Thank you for all you do.

New Faces + Inclusive Shopping ─ One size fits all doesn't work for a brand like Simply Obsessed. We want you to shop with people you resonate with. We're hiring a wide cast of sizes, personalities, backgrounds and native speakers to ensure you can find your new favorite on Simply Obsessed.

Price Matching Policy ─ We're not gougers, though, we may at-times price ourselves higher than competitors. We've developed a backend algorithm to track the industry prices for all items we carry. Though, if we overcharge you, just let us know and we'll credit the difference**.

Reduction in Dropshipped Items ─ Part of building an authentic brand is taking ownership. We believe it's too challenging to take ownership of your products when their pictures, packaging and shipping are at the mercy of others. We're reducing our dependence on dropshipping substantially with the hope to sunset all dropshipping operations in the future.

Themes! ─ Barbie? Taylor Swift? Game Day? Holiday? We'll have it all! We're so excited to be taking over just before the Holiday season to debut all of the goodies we've been sourcing for you!

Synergy Price Commitment ─ Conflicts of interests are ugly and we aren't ugly. To all of our boutique clients, we'll never price any Synergy Marketplace items less than their market or MSRP price. Synergy Marketplace is NOT officially affiliated with Simply Obsessed and is merely a customer - just like you are. Anything Simply Obsessed can do with Synergy Marketplace, any other boutique can.

Loyalty ─ We genuinely appreciate the community we're inheriting. We understand adoption of us, our personalities, and my (Tyler) face will take time and we want to reward anyone that chooses to stick with us and embrace us as we introduce this new era. For those of you that wish to help the cause and share with your friends and refer new customers, we'll be rewarding you with credits constantly. We'll announce our new loyalty program soon, but in the meantime anyone you refer to the app can take 10% off their first order, and you'll score a $5 credit when they purchase.

Commitment to Transparency ─ We're here, we're human and we're ready to listen. As we make changes, we're going to communicate them in advance, collect feedback, and never do anything to endanger your experience. If you have questions, text me (Tyler) personally at (760) 625-4021.

Sale Items ─ We're creating a dedicated sale category with no-code-needed savings on in-stock items that ship right away. Check it out on simplyobsessed.com and the app.

Embracing Shortcomings & Criticism ─ This one's for you Reddit. We're not shutting our eyes and turning down the noise of those that dislike Simply Obsessed. We're open to hearing your concerns and suggestions. Text me (Tyler) personally at (760) 625-4021 if we do something wrong and how we can improve for the next time. I'll be making an account to chat with everyone directly on Reddit, you're welcome to remain anonymous in our discussions to share your thoughts freely. Though, our new Community Guidelines prohibit us from removing you simply because you share feedback (even if you're a little blunt).

Reduction in Discount Codes ─ Candidly, the distribution of discount codes has been.. a little nuts. We're committed to delivering an affordable, premium experience by making the above changes. As such, you can expect to see significantly less random sales and codes available to use everyday. Our goal is to bring affordability, record-fast shipping, top-tier customer service and industry leading fun to the table to earn your business.

Trademark & Copyright Infringement ─ US Law has long decided that trademark and copyright holders have a right to protect their work and hold organizations accountable if they infringe upon their work in commerce. As such, Simply Obsessed will never intentionally or knowingly infringe upon the copyright or trademark of another brand, entity or individual in the normal course of our business for the purpose of financial gain. Nor will we promote those that do.

Employee Code of Conduct ─ We're contractually obligating all staff, officers and contractors to abide by the Simply Obsessed Code of Conduct. As a condition of employment and the backbone of any disciplinary action, the Code of Conduct will guide the company and its officials. You can read it here.

Priorities

• Develop an inventory flow and get into a routine of lives. We've created a tentative weekly schedule and now just have to work to meet it and ensure we can introduce enough products we actually believe in.
• Organize and then re-organize the warehouse. We need to figure out what works and what doesn't to ensure shipping bottlenecks are minimized.
• Product product product! We're ordering like crazy to make sure we have a flow of new, exciting and diverse products.
• We're ensuring our staffing meets your needs, to ensure we're there to answer your phone call, chat with you live and respond to your emails timely. This is an all-hands-on-deck job since we don't have a dedicated support crew - yet!

Continuity

On September 23, 2024, the Simply Obsessed mobile app and simplyobsessed.com will be migrated to our new backends, but you won't even notice (with the exception of the new website look!). Many products will remain available, your waitlists will save and your accounts won't be touched. As new products arrive in our warehouse, you'll see our new photo style, background and smiling faces! In time, all of the photos and products on the app will be unique to our brand and some may be removed.

Some items in your cart on the 23rd may be removed or show as out of stock. We encourage you to contact support to see if we're still able to get that item for you.

You'll begin to notice subtle design changes over the next few weeks and in the new year we'll debut our new app, which won't require anything from you and keep ALL of your data! You'll simply just click "Update" in the app store, but we'll chat more about this when the time comes.

Next Steps

Where do we go from here? We encourage you to ask ANY + ALL questions you have for us. We've likely forgotten some stuff here and we're going to be working tirelessly over the next few days to get everything perfected. Please text Tyler at (760) 625-4021 with any transition related questions and give our new customer support a try if you need help.

The Gilroyeds

This is a family operation. Tyler + Lisa are behind all of the operations and creativity you'll notice most. Jason (my dad) + Laci (my sister) will be there to support. Jason's strengths include his brand ambassadorship and unique ability to ship (when he's not working his job!) and Laci will be joining us in marketing to coordinate our social media and do some lives after school on Thursdays! Walter will be hanging out around the warehouse, but he's not allowed near the product as he's a shedder. Watch your back, dagger!

The Crew Behind it All

We're starting with a lean, ready to work crew of 3 (not including Gilroyeds) at launch. Carson T. is dedicated to delivering on our customer support goals, entering products quickly and working on the backend to make sure your order arrives on time and correctly. She's a wife and mom of little Lincoln, who we're hoping will come work at the warehouse. If phone or chat support isn't available for a minute during the day, she's probably dealing with a teething issue! She'll return your call and message ASAP. Lindsay M. brings her experience in product development and social media to help us with content creation and facilitating the product photos and campaign content you'll notice. Lexie G. joins us from HotWorx, and is ready to bring her energy to live sales and flex her muscles in product photos.

It's the honor of a lifetime to have the opportunity to serve such a robust and eclectic community of women from around the country and we're so excited to do this. Let's go!

From our family to yours,

Tyler, Lisa, Jason + Laci Gilroyed

Simply Obsessed

*Subject to the terms and conditions of our return policy. Please review the policy in full before initiating a return or exchange.

**Subject to the terms and conditions of our price matching policy. Please review the policy in full before making a purchase.

Simply Obsessed is a 'DBA' or assumed name of Laguna Looks LLC, a Texas liability company. Principal office 609 S. Goliad St, #264 Rockwall, TX, 75087. All rights reserved.