22-23_David Robertson.qxp_Grid 17/01/2025 12:40 Page 1
OVER THE
COUNTER
BY DAVID ROBERTSON OF JP POZZI, ELGIN AND BUCKIE.
Inset: Robbie Williams as he is depicted in the A Better Man film.
Being A Better Wo(Man) Taking down the Christmas decorations divides the nation. Some folk want to get them packed away on Boxing Day, their mindset very much moved onto the new year and the next thing. Others like the tree to linger; they like the comfort of the lights, the warmth and memories that Christmas brings, all the nostalgia of excited childhoods and shared experiences. With the festive period having been so important for us businesswise as well as personally, amplifying the new Robbie Williams biopic, now we’re embracing 2025 in a full Let Me Entertain You mode. I know that I am very lucky to have had the upbringing I enjoyed, both before and after we had our retail business. Christmas was always a very special time and my childhood excitement was latterly replaced by my parents building the business which heralded a different excitement. The first major step towards specialising in cards and gifts was taking on an old sports shop that was fitted out by a relative, who was a handyman. So fast forward 35 years and here I am writing this on January 6 in a reflective mood. Our card and gift shops have just delivered an excellent Christmas. We beat the numbers from 2015 when we were also selling Clarins and had newly opened a dedicated Christmas store. At that time I felt everything I touched worked. I had no fear, and I only saw continued growth. Yet it has taken nearly 10 years to get back to these numbers. With tales of declining cards sales, a cost-ofRight and middle: Just part of a Jellycat display in one of David’s shops and the rarity that is a Batholomew Bathrobe bear. Far right: A young David Robertson with his dad.
22 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
living crisis and the no waste gifting mantra, ‘why did we do well?’ Well, we had our hardcore customers who have supported us for years, but this Christmas there was a new clutch of people seeking us out. Being a Jellycat stockist brought in a new customer to us that previously probably would not have found us. And when they came in, they didn’t just buy Jellycat products. Stocking a brand that is so strong that people come in looking for is fantastic. The fact that Jellies were literally on news broadcasts, This Morning, celeb Instagrams
and TikTok helped fuel the desire for Bathrobe Batholomew Bear and his pals, elevating Jellycat to a mega brand. Our single Christmas card sales were also strong, especially those with sentiments, but I made a lot of mistakes preventing what could have resulted in an even better sell through. Quite simply, we had too much good product. How can that be possible? Well, we probably gave too much choice while still running out of a lot of card captions that simply are not found in mainstream stores. Boxed cards and charity packs kind of fall into the same sphere. I think that we had around 70 different boxed designs and several different companies’ charity stands. Sometimes less is more. Sometimes you give people too wide a choice and they can’t make a decision, so we need to be more selective in what we offer, which in the end will be better for us, our suppliers and easier for our customers. When it came to handmade/hand-finished Christmas cards, with a number of specialist publishers tipping over the £4.99/£5 retail point for a card if we applied our margin it meant that multiple purchases of these types of cards were less likely. Some of the more