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NEWS NEWS IN BRIEF
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Nearer And Father Let’s hear it for Dad’s Day With Father’s Day a few weeks away still, sales for most retailers are started to pick up pace, but most greeting card retailers are expecting (hoping) the final few days to be frantic. Although the event will never be on the same level as Mother’s Day, sales are still looking OK for the last of the Spring Seasons. Claire Jarvis and Nicky Stephenson, owners of The Tutbury Present Company in Staffordshire, have had their Father’s Day offering out since Easter. “Sales have started to trickle in, but we think most people will shop in June when they remember 'Oh yeah, it's Father’s Day this month!' Early sellers this year include the Daddy captioned cards and some of the high-end hand-finished designs. We pretty much sold out last year, so we have extended our offering this year. We also have more Granddad titles, which, like Grandma on Mother’s Day, seems to be getting very popular.” At John Lewis Father's Day has been building slowly, and Lizzie Batchelar, assistant buyer for giftwrap, cards and
seasonal events, expects a last minute surge. “We have our Father's Day Pop Up Shop launching on the 3 June, so we expect to see an uplift when this goes live. Belly Button has performed well for us so far, with its best seller to date being the below 'Dad in a Million' card. Susan O'Hanlon has been trading well, with the best seller from her being the 'Dog in Glasses' card. One of our best sellers within the humour category is one from Emotional Rescue poking fun at the not-so tech savvy Dads out there!” “Father's Day has been pretty good for us the last couple of years,” says Nik Gornall, owner of three Romantica stores in Bristol, “but as with most retailers we probably won't see many sales until June and most will be in the last few days leading up to 17 June.” Above: A luxurious Father’s Day card from Lagom. Left: One of the best sellers for John Lewis so far is this one from Emotional Rescue.
Thinking of You Week - home and away For the first time ever Thinking of You Week will be held in the US this year at the same time as in the UK - 24 to 30 September. The US Greeting Card Association (GCA) launched the concept, together with the US-branding at the 2018 National Stationery Show, which took place at New York’s Javits Center from May 20-23. US-based Nicky Burton, md of Calypso Cards (which distributes many UK publishers in the States) spotted the potential of translating the UK’s Thinking of You Week initiative in America and has headed up the GCA sub-committee, which has seen it come to fruition. Nicky told PG why she wanted to bring the concept to the US: “I love the idea of encouraging people to connect through sending cards. We all know the joy of finding a hand-written card or letter in the mail and in these days of electronic communication we can become very isolated. A card can really make someone’s day.” “It is fantastic to see that this initiative is being picked up by the American Greeting Card Association as well,” says Sharon Little, ceo of the GCA (UK). “The message behind Thinking of You Week is one that works across the globe.” Meanwhile, back on home turf, the 2018 Thinking of You Week logos and posters have been designed and are now available to download for free from the dedicated website (www.thinkingofyouweek.cards) and will be on display at PG Live (5 - 6 June) on the GCA area outside the Gallery Hall (where the lunch is served). This year’s livery has again been designed by Miki Rose of The Great British Card Company and Raj Arora, md of Davora has built the website. “The Thinking of You Week website has now gone live and the build-up to this year’s event has already started,” says Sharon Little, ceo of the GCA. Above: The US branding for Thinking of You Week. Left: The UK Thinking of You Week assets are now available to download.
l Gift and card group, Between the Lines, which currently trades from 14 stores in the south of England, is all set to expand geographically by opening a further two stores over the summer in Witney in Oxfordshire and Saffron Walden in Hertfordshire. l The Just a Card campaign continues to go from strength to strength, with buying group Cardgains now pledging its support by printing Just a Card shop window stickers for free and will help distribute them to its retailer members. The Just a Card campaign was started over three years ago by artist and publisher Sarah Hamilton to highlight how important every sale to a small independent is, even if it is ‘just a card’. Above: The new window sticker printed for free by Cardgains.
l Dragonfly Cards & Gifts in Knaresborough is running a calendar competition, inviting customers to submit their favourite photos of the town to be included in a calendar that the retailer is going to print and sell in the shop. Above: A poster for Dragonfly Cards & Gifts’ calendar competition.
l Expansion is very much on the cards for Scribbler, with the edgy card retailer having just opened a new store in Bishopsgate, directly opposite London’s Liverpool Street station, and negotiations for another three new sites with the solicitors. Once all four open it will take Scribbler’s estate up to 40 stores. l Major supplier of plush to card retailers, Keel Toys, joined forces with The Wyvern School in Ashford, to break the Guinness World Record for the most people simultaneously hugging a soft toy. “We achieved 374 hugs, up from 261, which was the previous record,” confirmed Keel Toys’ UK sales director Steve Cox after the record-breaking event that took place on 11 May. Above: Keel Toys broke the world record for the number of people simultaneously hugging a soft toy.
l Hallmark’s US parent company teamed up with American actress and model Julie Bowen to surprise mums with an oversized Mother’s Day card in a series of YouTube clips. The States celebrated Mother’s Day on Sunday 13 May and in the clips families brought their mums to the giant card in a park in Los Angeles and surprised them with a special handwritten message in the card.
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