Back at the end of May I wrote about how Replacements.com had the guts to fight against the Constitutional Amendment that was enshrining Hate into their state laws in North Carolina. I encouraged readers to contact them and show their support. I emailed them to tell them how much I appreciated what they were doing. As further proof of the kind of shop they run down there, they wrote back.
Here’s what they said:
inquire@replacements.com
To Kelly Hopkins
Dear Kelly Hopkins,
We will share with Bob and our Replacement’s family. Thank you for your supportive comment regarding Replacements’ public opposition to Amendment One.
Our Founder, Chairman & CEO is Bob Page. Bob grew up on a small tobacco farm in North Carolina. After graduating from the University of North Carolina, he served in the United States Army, leaving active duty in 1970. Bob founded Replacements, Ltd. in 1981, having started the business in his attic. Today, the company is the largest retailer of discontinued and active tableware in the country. Bob shares his life with his partner of 23 years, Dale Frederiksen. Together, they are raising their almost thirteen-year-old sons, twins they adopted as infants in Vietnam.
Because of the discrimination that Bob has experienced, he is committed to ensuring that all persons, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons, achieve equal protection under the law. For that reason, Bob is personally active in shaping public policy, and he proudly supports candidates who support the rights of LGBT persons, regardless of party affiliation. He publicly advocated for the defeat of Amendment One because, as he has said, it is contrary to our core value of affirming the dignity of all persons. The matter is deeply personal to him, because it relates to what is most important to him: his family.
We thank you again for your comment, your blog, and send our best wishes!
Sincerely,
Traci D. Hart
Director, Customer Service
REPLACEMENTS, LTD.
PO Box 26029
Greensboro, NC 27420-6029
336-697-3000
Fax: 336-697-3100
www.replacements.com
I’ve removed the personally identifying information from the return email so that Ms. Hart doesn’t get any unfortunate email. I don’t think that there are any haters here, but I wanted to be safe.
What I appreciate about their email is that it isn’t canned. They took the time to read what I sent to them and they responded to me personally. We’ve now added them to our blogroll on the right hand side of the screen in the shopping section.
~Kelly
The Books are Taking Over... 
This is great. I’d never heard of replacements.com, but it’s the first place I’ll look for replacement dishes from now on.
They are super nice people and they run a really good shop. I used to wish that they were located in a place where I could work for them and take my dog to work but picking up and moving to NC is not in the cards.
~Kelly