72-73.qxp_46-47 26/06/2019 12:22 Page 72
PG asked a selection of card retailers for their ‘hot’ card sellers. Angelina Sullivan, owner of Sullivan’s Fine Cards & Gifts, Thorpe Bay, Essex A card and gift shop in a seaside town, with a loyal locals and destination shoppers customer base. Category
Name of Publisher
Product/Name Range
Comments
Everyday
IC&G
Essence
Cute
Carte Blanche
Me To You
Humour
Pigment
Fleet Street
Photographic Art
Abacus Abacus
Paw Prints Countryfile
Contemporary Handmade/HandFinished Children's Giftwrap
Pigment Second Nature
Happy Jackson Champagne
IC&G Unique Paper
Ancillary
Pairfum Scottish Soaps Somerset Toiletries Wild Things
Age birthday designs Glitterati Pink / Glitterati Champagne Diffusers Men’s toiletries Women’s toiletries Crystal gifts
Great coverage for a wide age range of open cards. A unique, readily recognisable cute bear brand. Hilarious cards featuring vintage photographs. So very popular with animal lovers. Beautiful rural scenes and wildlife from the UK. Bright, bold colours and modern. Beautiful handmade cards marking special sends. Bright and colourful, and a great price point for children’s cards. Stunning classy designs that are so on trend. Above: A milestone age We love buying great gifts that appeal to a wide range of people and occasions and so do our customers!
design from Carte Blanche’s Me To You collection.
Sally Wilde, owner of Planet Sal Card and Gift Shop in Honiton, East Devon A modern, slightly bonkers shop in a lovely courtyard, with a locals and tourists customer base. Category
Name of Publisher
Product/Name Range
Comments
Cute
Citrus Bunn
General
Humour
Rosie Made A Thing
Across The Board
Dean Morris Brainbox Candy Frankie Whistle
General General General
Contemporary
Sooshichacha
Across The Board
Art
Sally Scaffardi
Animal Cards
Reliefprint Press
General
Children’s
Rachel Ellen
General
Ancillary
Cinnamon Aitch
Cherry Blossom
Norse
Male grooming products
A new publisher for me and they are doing really well. Nice quality cards with gentle humour. The cards are a staple for me. One minute the spinner is full, the next it is empty! Lots of giggling involved too. These three brilliant publishers make up the majority of my ‘naughty corner’! It started with just two rows and now it is a whole wall. Customers love them and buy handfuls at a time. I call the area my ‘man creche’. Great that Brainbox now has Modern Toss in its collection too. I am a big fan of Sooshi cards. I was an agent for them years ago. Just looking at them makes me smile and very little of the artwork is done by computer. They are a top seller In Planet Sal. The ‘play on words’ humour used is brilliant. I have a lot of rural areas around me and customers from there love these cards. Another new one for me, and going very well. Customers always say ‘what lovely cards’ when they are in that section. I mainly stock the children’s cards and some gifts. They are so bright and cheerful, with all the latest trends covered. I have always sold this publisher’s cards, and was really pleased to see the new gift range launch this year. Soaps with no palm oil are a huge hit, along with the coasters. Beards are big, bushy business and this is a great range - all made in the UK.
Right: Animal word play on a Citrus Bunn design. Below right: Rainbows stationery from Rachel Ellen.
72
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE