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Show t ! The Magna TimesWest Valley News, Detember 5, 2002 9 Business Dolls make dreams come true By SHIRLEY M. GOODMAN 7ZZS Beautiful porcelain dolls as different as one imagine are all dressed and ready to go for the up holidays. Its what every young lady could possible dream for, young at heart or not No matter the age a doll is to love, to collect and sitting pretty or standing to just smile at you and get you dreaming of far off lands. There are: Sugarplum Fairies, Holly, Cinderella at toe Ball, Little Red Riding Hood, Christina, Snow White, Goldilocks, Cheerleaders, Anoki (Indian), Dakota, Collin (Scottish boy), Susannah (Irish girl), Anthony, Joyce (African American), Mary and even Mother Teresa, to name a "thimble" full of toe 70 to 90 dolls available to chose from. Geppeddos has toe one for you to stir your wondrous could-possibl- r-A m. ' Cf :V-- Photo By Shirley Tricia Lyon with toe help of Jeff Price, now in partnership with Willey and Musgrave, who saw toe vision of toe concept and great product toe two men had. By 2001, toe company had grown and was acquired by an international home decor company located in Minneapolis, called Department 56. They soon changed toe name to Axis f- imagination. And boy dolls too. The dolls all seem to come from every land. They represent cultures and magical themes. It all started when two old young men, Kirk Willey and Matt Musgrave lived in Taiwan as friends for s. two years in toe 20-ye- ar mid-1980- Goodman sets up the display of dolls at Geppeddos. Upon returning to Utah, they ventured into business together. They imported products from Taiwan. In 1989, included in these products were a small number of porcelain dolls. They set up a card table in toe Ogden City Mall (now out-obusiness) and to their pleasant surprise toe dolls sold quickly. They noted their potential in toe popularity of toe porcelain dolls. The next year toe two men formed toe Axis Corporation. They opened up two Christmas stores for their imported porcelain dolls, naming toe stores Geppeddos (named after toe toy maker from toe Pinocchio). By 1991, they had 15 stores. - ML Holding Corporation. To date of toe 2002 holiday season, these entrepreneurs will have established 415 stores in most every state. They still feel like a "small company" with a passion for their unique customers that come their way. Debtors financial worse getting picture Problem debtors increased their average total debt by 61 percent in the last year, according to a Myvesta survey of clients in financial crisis. The average total debt, including mortgages, auto loans, tax debt, credit card debt and all other personal debts, increased from $162,847 in 2001 to $262,825 in 2002. Myvesta, a financial health center, conducted an internal survey of their clients debts and found that the average amount of credit card debt increased 8 percent, from $48,194 in 2001 to $52,2 10. in 2002. People assume its toe credit cards that get people in trouble," said Steve Rhode, president and cofounder of Myvesta. "Were seeing more and more people push their finances to the edge with bigger mortgages and other types of debt than ever before." According to Myvestas survey, the average mortgage debt of clients rose 32 percent, from $127,156 in 2001 The to $168,129 in 2002. amount of other debt, not including credit cards or auto loans, tripled to $44,985 in 2002 from just $ 4,792 in . 1 2001. "Low interest rates and the desire to purchase the largest house possible have put many people in a situa- tion where they can barely afford their monthly mortgage payments," Rhode said. "Then add a home equity loan, student loan, medical bill or other kind of debt on top of that and its no wonder that more people are finding themselves in way over their head." According to Rhode, personal responsibility and realistic planning are key to avoiding financial problems. "Just because a lender approves you for a loan does not mean you can afford it," Rhode said. "Nothing could be further from the truth. You, alone, are the only person who knows what you can afford," Although the average credit card debt of Myvestas clients rose slightly, the number of cards on which the debt is carried dropped from 11 cards in 2001 to eight cards in 2002. "Consolidation among credit card companies combined with larger credit limits has reduced the number of cards that people have to carry in order to wrack up large balances," Rhode said. People are also tapping into the equity in their homes and borrowing against their retirement accounts to consolidate credit card debt verall that may reduce the number of credit cards a person carries, but that debt is just being traded from one form to another. You cant borrow your way out of debt, eventually youll run out of lenders." Rhode advises that anyone facing tough financial circumstances seek professional help as soon as they can. "If you think you have money problems, you do." Rhode said. "The longer you wait to address your situation the worse off you are going to be. 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