73_75_Sainsburys.qxp_Grid 22/05/2024 16:14 Page 1
Retailer Face to Face
SHAR-ING SAINSBURY’S
“Staying true to our company values of own it, make it better and be human, our card ranges capture the essence of what we stand for, while ensuring we are inclusive to all our customers. It is so important to us that all customers feel represented within our ranges and therefore we proudly work with our Sainsbury’s teams at UKG and publishers to create the best ranges for our customers,” sums up Shar Grothier, who with two and half years’ greeting card buying experience at Sainsbury’s is well into her stride and is loving it. “Despite shifts caused by the early timings of Spring Seasons this year, we’re really pleased with the positive growth on our greeting card sales. Our Mother’s Day card sales were phenomenal, driven by the talented artists and teams we work with,” said Shar enthusiastically. Since then, the new selections of standalone designs and wedding cards have gone into stores and by the end of this month Sainsbury’s millions of customers will be treated to a revamped children’s and occasions cards selection,
zAbove: Sainsbury’s now trades from over 1,400 stores. Below left: The greeting card selection in Sainsbury’s includes designs from 30 publishers, plus own brand cards that are developed by a dedicated team in UKG’s Dewsbury HQ. Below: Sainsbury’s Shar Grothier (third left) with colleagues (far right-left) Abi Wilson and Charmaine Fletcher at The Henries 2023 with Claire Dunstan, Zoe Callister, Rachel Wood and Sandi Parisi from the UKG team.
with a host of new captions to respond to changing buying needs. In addition to accommodating designs from 30 different card publishers, all of whom are brokered in via UK Greetings, Shar and the Sainsbury’s buying & merchandising teams work closely with the Sainsbury’s own brand team, based at UKG’s Dewsbury HQ to create cards which collectively give the supermarket a real point of difference,
From its New Designers x Habitat greeting card collaboration that brought young creative talent into the field to its value quad shippers that provided a greeting card solution to the cost-of-living crisis, plus its continued commitment on the diversity & inclusion front with its Black History Month and braille and sign language displays, Sainsbury’s has been pushing the envelope in more ways than one. PG caught up with Shar Grothier, greeting card and wrap buyer for the 1,400+ store strong grocery giant for an update. being it in a small store right up to its largest branches which accommodate up to 30 card bays. “We have an amazing partnership with the Sainsbury’s team at UKG who are based in Dewsbury. They help us to push the boundaries, bring exciting new designs and innovation to life through the own label studio and are full of strategic and creative abundance. I also love working with all the publishers we broker in, who all have their own identity and help to make our ranges stand out in store. It’s been great to forge a rapport with so many publishers, and I can’t wait to catch up with them at PG Live,” says Shar. She exudes an infectious enthusiasm towards greeting cards, but is also very commercially aware of the need that creativity needs to equate to sales which means catering for customers considerations, including on retail price.
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 73