Positive Vibes

Mix together thousands of fabulous new designs, an incredible bunch of talented people, a host of passionate retailers, lots of super engaged overseas distributors, a sprinkling of committed trade suppliers and a mega happy feeling of being together and what do you get? Progressive Greetings Live 2023, that’s what!

PG caught up with a selection of retailers who were only too happy to share some of their top picks from the show.

“What an amazing show, I believe it was the best one yet. I loved it and wouldn’t have missed it for the world! There was even more of a buzz than ever this year. It was full of fabulous people, fantastic product, everyone just seemed so happy and so enthusiastic - there was a huge feeling of camaraderie. It was just like visiting lots of lovely friends and really not like work at all! Oh… and a huge bonus was getting up close to Laurence LlewelynBowen, he was great!”

Stand outs: “I placed order with existing suppliers Wendy JonesBlackett, Rush Design, Paper Salad and Five Dollar Shake, who all had lots of great new product.

I also placed orders with Raspberry Blossom, Paper Shed and Ohh Deer who are all new suppliers for me, all very different product, but really lovely ranges.

I loved Raspberry Blossom’s colourful and retro style designs and also liked the range of matching gifts from Widdop too.

Paper Shed Design’s gorgeous watercolours of cute animals are beautiful and I think they will sell really well. I ordered a lot of Cath Kidston cards from Ohh Deer which are really pretty and I know my customers will love them.

I actually ran out of time as I walked the hall first and then planned to go back to order, so I came back with a list of orders to place with Sarah Kelleher , White Cotton Cards , Kali Stileman , Citrus Bunn and Smiling Faces .”

“PG Live is essential for our industry - and it always has been as it is so focused on cards; fabulous cards from so many great publishers. The opportunity of seeing everyone, bringing everyone together from all sides of the greeting card industry family makes it unique. We really loved it this year, both as an exhibitor and as a retailer.”

Stand outs: “On the Village Green we thought Oh Squirrel and Stormy Knight stood out, while up in the Springboard area, we really liked Hutch Cassidy as the designs were so impactful with a great sense of colour. Sylvia Prince was also impressive, such a comprehensive range with great appeal. Dinosaurs Doing Stuff was a lot of fun; Katie Tinkler Illustration had some lovely designs, while Battered Cards and Letterbox Lane also stood out. It was also good to see so many strong refreshes and new ranges from the more established brands. We loved Redback Cards’ MOJI range, Caroline Gardner’s new mini pom poms range, all of Pigment’s new ranges and we agreed Five Dollar Shake’s collection was on top form.”

“Great show again this year, and there was definitely a real buzz. It was lovely to catch up with old and new suppliers and see all the new collections.”

Stand outs: “There were some great stand out ranges for us this year, in particular The Violet Eclectic range from East End Prints caught our eye, with its bold, fun colours and retro elements and also the wonderful cards by Sakina Saidi with their empowering messages and great design”

“It was such a great show, one of the best yet. The buzz and atmosphere around the whole place was so inspiring.”

Stand outs: “Stand out for us were the new ranges from Pango Productions and Lucie Maggie Designs. Of the latter I've been stopping by the stand for a few years now so it's nice to finally start working with her.

There was also lots of wonderful newness from most of our existing suppliers.”

“Even with severe jetlag, I really enjoyed PG Live. I was really impressed with how many companies had new releases for the show - as this is another reason to visit. I thought the social media coverage for the show this year was fantastic; it’s great to see all the exhibitors really buying into PG Live with both new ranges and social media coverage.”

Stand outs: “In the Springboard area I really liked Sarah Gregory Designs and will be following up to place an order. In the Village Green I loved Penguin Ink and will be placing an order with that publisher soon.

Lapping up all their new designs, I placed orders with Rosie Made a Thing, Susan O’Hanlon, Ohh Deer, Brainbox Candy, Kali Stileman, Stop the Clock, Pigment, Caroline Gardner, Earlybird and Redback, spending my lovely Silver and Sunshine Tickets with the latter two.”

“PG Live was great - I placed several orders and caught up with some old friends that I hadn’t seen for a while. It was so great to be back at PG Live. I was able to catch up with designers I hadn’t seen for a while, have a good chat about all the new ranges and business in general. As a retailer it’s always interesting to hear about the market from the creatives’ perspective.”

Stand outs: “I placed several orders. Special mentions go to Ricicle Cards, Oh Squirrel, Hutch Cassidy and Stormy Knight, as these all had especially fabulous new designs that I am adding to our shelves. It was also good to make some new contacts and I am very excited to be ordering from Sakina Saidi as she has been on my radar for some time so it was great to finally get to meet her.”

“The show was SO very good and we came away completely inspired. You could really tell there had been a real bounceback post pandemic. Everyone we saw brought their A game to the show. There was lots of inspiration, newness and clears points of difference between the stands!

We came en mass as it’s such a great show and we see it as important for everyone to come along to see the publishers and all the new product they have been developing and are working on. Next year we’ve already said we will come both days as there is so much to see.”

Stand outs: “We thought Paper Salad, Emotional Rescue and Danilo had some great new designs and ranges.

It was great to see some new development from Paper Saladbranching out into Christmas crackers. We all loved Folx from EMO. Danilo had some great new licences and style guide refreshes; in particular Roald Dahl and some of the book-led licences. We also saw some new designers that would be perfect for our Introducing collection, but we are keeping them under wraps for now!”

co-owner of House of Cards, a group of seven stores in the Home Counties

“What a super show with a lovely buzz and happiness about it.”

Stand Outs: “We spent our tickets with Tache, Bexy Boo, Paper Rose and Paper Shed, all of whom we felt really stood out.

In addition, we loved Bewilderbeest and also noted Raspberry Blossom , Stormy Knight , Pango , Bold & Bright and Battered Cards .”

“What a show! We love visiting PG Live, as it always has such a great atmosphere - and this year’s event felt particularly inspiring and there really seemed to be excitement in the air! It was lovely to see so many card publishers under one roof, existing suppliers, as well as discovering some new ones. We had a wonderful time seeing all of the fab new product and it is always a great chance to catch up with all of the brilliant people in the greeting card and giftwrap industry. We came away excited and inspired - the product standard was so high that it will make our selection process very tough!”

Stand outs: “Raspberry Blossom really gave a taste of summer with its wonderfully vibrant stand and was it great to see that they are bringing their unique style to giftwrap too. We also really enjoyed having a chuckle at all of the brilliant puns on the Bewilderbeest stand. However, with so much excellent product on display, we ended up with a very long list of highlights!”

Above: Bewilderbeest continues to hit the spot with its artistry.

“I thought the show was great - there was a good mix of big and small suppliers, which is what I look for when I visit a trade show. Being at PG Live gives me the opportunity to meet suppliers in person and to develop a relationship with them.”

Stand outs: “The majority of suppliers exhibiting I was aware of, but I did discover East End Prints. Their unique designs and different styles caught my eye and I have already set them up as a supplier for WHSmith and the new concept store Curi.o.city, and will be buying a range of their cards and postcards for the stores. I also liked Raspberry Blossom which has forged a licensing partnership with Widdop, a supplier I worked with previously to design a range of Christmas decorations and gifts. Their designs are colourful and on trend so we will be buying a selection of their products.”

Above: East End Prints’ stand attracted a lot of buyer attention.

“I am so happy I came to PG Live - I wouldn’t miss it for the world, what a fabulous day it was for me. It is the most lovely show - the atmosphere is so happy, upbeat and friendly. I got so carried away talking to suppliers old and new this year that I completely missed lunch!!”

Stand outs: “I was particularly pleased to see all the new suppliers in the Springboard and Springboard Intro areas and did three laps around there making sure I didn’t miss anything. While there I found KDee Designs and fell in love with Kathryn’s wooden element adorned cards, especially the cute ones with sausage dogs so I spent my Silver Ticket with her. I also spotted Petimo in the Springboard Intro area (not realising it is quite local to me) and bought a wide range of cards from them across nine different ranges. Ordered on Tuesday and hand delivered by Sophie to the shop on Friday - that’s pretty exceptional customer service isn’t it!!! I have already raised another order.

I also spent time with Raspberry Blossom ordering more stationery and cards and their joyous Christmas collaboration of cards, cushions, candle holders and mugs from Widdop & Co. Again, it was the sausage dog cushion and mug that did it for me. A bit of a theme emerging here…Henry, my miniature dachshund, said that we needed more (even more) sausage dog merchandise at the shop and his wish is my command!

Thea at Bold & Bright had some great new cards featuring the antics of Janice and Jeffrey and had made some Halloween designs in response to my request so I placed a nice big order for best sellers and newness with her.

I also visited Poet & Painter to select more funny newness; Deva Designs for cards, gift bags, and plush; Woodmansterne/Cardmix/Proper Mail and The Great British Card Company to see all their new ranges; Counting Stars for fashion and glamour from their Haute Hippie range and my friend Sarah Kelleher for floral loveliness.”

“We had such a lovely day at PG Live. I took my two store managers, Caroline and Aimee, for the first time and they really enjoyed it. It is quite a trip for us to do in a day, but well worth it to see all the fabulous greeting card companies under one roof. I'm always enthusiastic about cards, but PG Live gives a boost to that enthusiasm and really makes me think about what is working well for us, what we should do differently and what our customers would be pleased to see.

The best part though was catching up with our current suppliers and fellow retailers, hearing their news, comparing notes and friendly Retas’ rivalry banter! Thank you to everyone for the great show, champagne reception, coffees and lunch.”

Stand outs: “We bought Robert James Hull's adorable watercolours of animals with pompoms. The tricky bit was choosing which to leave out. I predict good things for this company.

We also bought a spinner of Alljoy's 3D pop-up cards to trial in our Maghull store. The price point is competitive, there is a design for everyone and something a little bit different to set us apart from the big retailers.

I thought I'd finished my Christmas card buying for this year but couldn't resist Wendy Jones-Blackett's Christmas ranges, so they were ordered as well.

It was great to see new designs from our current suppliers too. Hallmark's new offering was impressive. The new look Forever Friends will be a hit, I'm sure.

I loved the new additions to Paper Salad's Hunkydory range, which offers consistently good sellers for us. Plus, Raspberry Blossom's new gift range with Widdop was super cute! And while we're talking cute, Lucy Driver Illustrations really ticks that box, and are in my 'possibilities for the future' pile; and Ginger Betty's new baby range provoked serious “aaahs” from us."

“It was my first visit to PG Live, so I was excited to attend. I felt it gave me the opportunity to network with existing suppliers, to build my profile in the card industry and also meet new suppliers with a view to possibly bringing some newness into our current ranges. I was specifically given a mission by a couple of stores to find cards relating to farming.

What I enjoyed most about the event was getting to know other card and gift retailers, having the opportunity to share what is working for them and how they operate their own stores. There was such a fantastic buzz, and everyone was chatty and friendly.

The hospitality was outstanding, from entering the building and being greeted by the reception team and ladies dressed in cards. Upon entering the main building, I was given a goody bag, which came in useful as I visited stands and obtained more brochures. The layout of the show was easy to navigate, and signage was clear and accurate.

The complementary cups of tea and coffee were appreciated and not forgetting the free lunch with the large table seating providing another great opportunity to network and chat about the industry. The gift of vouchers for being shortlisted for The Retas finalists and winners was a lovely touch. My mission was to spend them on trialling something new in one of our stores.”

Stand outs: “Abacus’ photographic BBC Countryfile range filled the gap of my farm-related quest so I used my voucher to trial it in our Ashbourne store.

I was also drawn to Really Wild Cards and its audio greeting cards which we may give a go while Eleanor Bowmer also had a point of difference with her die cut cards.

I thought the Scribbler card kiosk was an interesting concept, enabling retailers to offer a ‘Moonpig’ experience in a bricks and mortar store. Likewise Say it with Songs’ record cards that plays a song via a scannable code eg. you are so beautiful! I am still mulling over how we would communicate the concept to customers, but it is a lovely idea.

UKG as ever was a great stand to visit, continually excelling in offering a broad selection of quality cards at all price levels and sizes.”

Above: Abacus’ BBC Countryfile range chimed with the rural/farming flavour Sharon was looking for.