Too good not to tell

Today I'm going to let you in on a little secret.
Sometimes, very occasionally mind, we here at Ragtrader HQ get complimented on a job well done.
This rare but welcome acknowledgement of the blood, sweat and tears we shed to put your favourite fashion business mag together can come from all manner of sources: our mums, our dads, our selves.
Heck, sometimes even our own management have been known to pull one out of the bag and utter a quiet word of appreciation.
But I for one believe it is something that doesn't happen nearly enough.
So, with this in mind, the Ragtrader team would like to acknowledge the great work you do by inviting you to participate in the sector's most keenly-anticipated pat-on-the-back ceremony, the 2006 TNT Ragtrader Retailer of the Year Awards.
As with other years, this year's awards - the third annual -
will seek to identify the best of the best among the Australian fashion elite. Only this year the awards, to be judged in September and announced in November, promise to be bigger, bolder and consequently better than ever before.
While we're not yet ready to let all the secrets out of the bag, I can confirm we are introducing a raft of new changes I believe will blow your socks off.
To start with, we have added a host of new categories to this year's line-up. The gongs for best independent and best chain, of course, remain. However, we felt to truly acknowledge the high calibre of participants within these categories, it was only fair to further differentiate within the group, taking into account such things as diversity of range, number of stores, target market and age of the business.
In keeping with tradition, express delivery company TNT has again signed on as principal naming rights sponsor. Only this year, we have responded to calls from other businesses keen to lend their support to the awards and have added a second tier level of sponsorship to address these demands.
As per usual, nominations for the 2006 awards will be accepted from the industry's leading suppliers as well as from retailers themselves. Only this time an anonymous panel put together by Ragtrader and consisting of some of the sector's most influential faces will throw their thoughts into the mix, conducting unannounced spot checks on you all before putting forward their own nominations.
As with other years, stores will be judged on strict criteria taking into account first impressions, store layout, customer service, marketing and promotional activity, employee training and business and operation systems. Only this year, with competition so tight, our judges will delve deeper and dirtier than ever before to find the truth about what sorts the fashion retailing meek from the mighty.
And another thing.
After sweating (or should that read 'glowing') our way through two luncheons - each of which you may recall appeared to be staged on the hottest day of each year - we have decided not to tempt fate for this year's awards ceremony. With the assistance of our mates at event management company Two de Force this time we have opted for a more formal evening cocktail party instead.
And just to show how much we value your input, this year we have also responded to your calls to ease the restrictions on our closely-guarded invite list and will make extra tickets available (for a small donation) for those who wish to attend the glittering awards evening but did not make the finals cut.
Told yers it was gonna be a good 'un.