Want to know more about the SALA-GROUP™?  Good Question!

SALA-GROUP™* is a modern-day General Store with many Departments, each having its own Internet address and several sharing a common Shopping Cart.  Like Home Depot ®, Lowe's ® or Sears ®, regardless of which Department in our General Store you shop in, they’re all part of the SALA-GROUP™.

Dr. Weaver‘s World of Products™ is our online General Store, the Gift and Department Store of the future.   We are in the process of totally rebuilding this store which will offer over 5,000 items from quality gifts, items for the home and Sterling silver jewelry (all plated with Rhodium to prevent the tarnishing usually associated with Sterling silver).  While we will have over 5,000 items in stock, we will be constantly revising our online General Store and will be displaying more and more items every week.

Not only will we have Dr. Weaver‘sWorld of Products™ on the Internet for those of you who like to shop from the comfort of your home, but we'll have a brick and mortar division, with Representatives who will take your orders directly from our online catalog.  We will have openings all over the world for those of you would like to Join Our Team when Dr. Weaver‘s World of Products™ is back online.

MUGSRUS™ is the Department within SALA-GROUP™ that handles** your orders for imprinted merchandise, whether it be mugs, steins, porcelain, glass, metal, wood or any material that can be imprinted by any method.

Like Dr. Weaver's™, MUSGRUS™ is being revamped and updated to make your shopping experience easier.

How many methods are there?  Glad you asked!

Let us count the ways:

Engraving: There are several methods of engraving on materials such as metal, acrylic, glass (crystal) and other nonporous materials.   The most common method of engraving metal is the use of a diamond-tipped cutter, known as drag engraving.   Drag engraving does not remove any metal from the item being engraved; it simply pushes the metal aside, leaving a pattern highly visible to the eye.

Another common method of engraving, mainly used for metal and glass, is rotary engraving.   Rotary engraving uses cutters, which may be of different widths, affecting both the depth and the width of the cuts, and actually removes some of the material from the object we’re engraving, whether it is a sterling silver bracelet, a gold charm or pendant, a crystal goblet, or any item we want to embellish or personalize with engraving.

Silk-Screen Printing: Each color to be printed with this method requires a screen and each screen must be registered (aligned, one with the others) to print in exactly the same area as all the other screens.   Just as sand is not used in sandblasting, silk is no longer used in silk-screening, but the original terms have lingered on.

Pad Printing: We utilize pad printing to print on uneven surfaces that conventional printing cannot imprint.   Examples are diverse:   Golf balls (with their dimples), tape cassettes (with different levels on their surface), double curves (as on a brand snifter) where you have a curve from top to bottom and a curve around the circumference of the bowl of the vessel.

Sublimation: While this technology is relatively new, it has improved by leaps and bounds during the past few year with improved UV resistance to fading and harder surfaces that are almost impervious to scratching.   Today  we have the capabilities to imprint surfaces that can be used on the bottom of swimming pools or as a mural, using tiles from 4 inches square to 12 inches square, with no limits as to overall size.   From your bathrooms to your lobby, you can have full color murals depicting anything from a magnificent view of nature to a photo history of your company.

Etching: While the word “etching” is often used erroneously when referring to sandblasting, it really means to etch with acid.   Acid etching is normally utilized for etching on glass or metal.   The white lettering one sees on the bottom of a Waterford® piece of glass is achieved with acid etching.

Sandblasting: Speaking of words or terms being used erroneously, we do not use sand when sandblasting an image into glass or wood, but rather tin oxide or aluminum oxide.   These oxides are referred to as media and come in different grades (sizes).   Another acceptable term for sandblasting is sand carving.   Sandblasting requires the use of a stencil, or frisket, which, unless metal, can only be utilized once as they are destroyed in the process.

Sam Lax Engraver to the Stars™, is the Department within SALA-GROUP™ that handles the creation of awards, trophies, plaques, signage, and produces many of the items you can order in our MUGSRUS™ Department.   We are internationally recognized and acclaimed for our innovative designs of awards using such diverse materials as karat gold, sterling silver, bronze, stainless steel, aluminum, crystal, acrylics, exotic hardwoods,  and other suitable materials to create truly memorial swards. Sam’s many years as a jewelry designer are evident in his usage of materials in the awards conceived and produced in this Department.

You can see examples of Sam’s original jewelry designs in the Astrological Center of the Engraving Department, which displays the designs in the Odyssey Collection™, a totally new concept, based on the planets which rule the various Astrological signs.   You can view many of Sam’s conceptual designs in his jewelry gallery, SALA Studio, in Ethereal City™, our “Home of the Arts” on the Internet.

Ethereal City™, a   s p  a  t  i  a  l   community just for craftspeople and artists to display theri artistic bent.  As a committee of one, Sam has appointed himself as the judge and jury to determine who does and does not get a gallery, studio, shop, whatever in Ethereal city™, which is the SALA-GROUP™ “Home of the Arts”.  Sam feels that if a person buys beads from their local bead shop and then strings them together, that’s very nice but does not make them a craftsperson eligible for a home in Ethereal city™.  On the other hand, if someone produces their beads from ceramics, metal, a combination of both and then creates jewelry or other objects de art, they are, in Sam’s mind, a craftsperson and an artist and a welcome resident of Ethereal City™.

The MUNTU ®  symbol was created in 1967 by Sam Lax and in addition to being offered in many forms, is a living history of the birth of a symbol for a major group of people, not unlike the Star of David for Jews, or the cross for Christians .

Red Ribbon Mall™ was created for two purposes, the first to raise money for the ongoing fight against HIV//AIDS [we’re adding sections for Breast Cancer (our Margaret Tange in Ethereal City ™ waged war with this disease and WON!), with a section for Pink Ribbons, and because Sam beat a serious prostate problem in 2003, we’re adding a section for Purple Ribbons].  The second purpose is to open our Red Ribbon Mall Nutritional Center™, offering vitamins and herbs at wholesale prices.  Red Ribbon Mall ™ has tentatively been sanctioned by the United Nations to fly their wreath above the logo for our forthcoming Nutritional Center inside of the Red Ribbon Mall™.

Red Ribbon Mall™ should be up, online and fuctioning with its own Shopping Cart by the 2nd qukarter of 2011.

Portable Billboards™ was created when Jodi Neal, our Director of Consumer Sales stated one day: “You know Sam, our Magnetic Signs are like Traveling, or Portable Billboards™”.   Another Department was born, but we’ve added a new facet to great signage!  Take a look - you’ll see them, you’ll want them for your car.   Delivery is FREE world-wide with a minimum order of 2 plates of any text combination.

Americana Pride Products™, evolved from, and has replaced what was its sister Department, New York Holocaust™.   The New York Holocaust™ Department was conceived, and construction began, within hours of the tragic, inexcusable attack on the United States on the 11th of September, 2001.  An ominous day in the history of mankind, and possibly the catalyst for the unification of all peace-loving humans on this planet known as Earth.   We feel, that like the Holocaust of World War II, neither Holocaust should ever be forgotten, but mankind has to move on.

* SALA™ is an acronym derived from SA from Sam and LA from Lax.
** Get it?  Handles. . .Mugs. . .?