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OVER THE
COUNTER
Valentine’s Day came early for the card and gift world with the publishing of an article in The Guardian newspaper on 13 February. The article, the online version of which was titled ‘Enduring Love: how greetings cards are surviving the smartphone era’ was a rare thing. It was an article that encompassed all aspects of our industry with lots of accurate reporting. It also spoke about the category in detail rarely given in the mainstream press and was very balanced with a real grasp on a lot of points that face us modern day card retailers. Please read it if possible before you carry on with this column, and just like that article, this column covers a lot of different strands, but with greeting cards at their heart. The GCA has done fabulous job of deflecting negativity that has been swarming around our card category. Amanda Ferguson, the association’s ceo went on a one-woman campaign in November and December, powering through a huge amount of interviews defending card retailers of all sizes and encouraging card sending. So impressed was I that I have joined the GCA, which we can do as a small retailer for just £12 a year. For me this is a worthwhile spend to support our industry and, in truth, I should have done it before now. I urge you to consider this. Amanda’s media tour was against the backdrop of the failure of Clintons and the drop in Card Factory’s shares – it’s possible The Guardian’s article could simply have
Card Hearted Independent card and gift retailer, David Robertson, coowner of JP Pozzi in Scotland, believes that the heartbeat of greeting cards are alive and well!
descended into a slating of greeting cards. It didn’t, and perhaps that is what was the most refreshing. What it did do was speak to some of the most relevant people in our industry. A fantastic publisher who has been there and done it consistently for years (25 years to be exact) - Rachel Hare of Belly Button; Cath Tate, who has pushed female rights in a way that was subtle yet highly effective on cards; Aisling Crossland, head designer of Scribbler - a retailer who has created a look and style to its stores, which personally I love in terms of the different product it brings and the way that it presents it; Paul Taylor, of whom I have had first-hand experience of his love for cards and who is backing this by expanding his operation, both in terms of opening new stores and the publishers he is supporting; Paul Woodmansterne, md of Woodmansterne who has long-been an innovator and has never been scared to rip up what he was doing and do something else instead if he believes that this is where the card category needs to go; and Laura Above: The beating heart of cards remains strong. Above right: The American high-end card chain, Papyrus, has filed for bankruptcy. Left: The Guardian’s recent article about greeting cards was well-researched and written, incorporating many views from the industry.
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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Sherratt, who, along with many others, is moving away from using plastic and pushing the fact that cards on the whole are a sustainable/recyclable purchase. When have you ever seen an article reference such a diversity of people from our industry? I certainly can’t recall that ever in the mainstream press and I have to confess to a pride in the way that all of the above got their points over. As with any good article it created for me a number of talking points. The death of high street card retailers In my opinion this is a red, or perhaps burnt orange, herring.
Clintons was being poorly run. It had historically overpaid rents for buildings and there were many issues within the business, just as there were with Papyrus in the States. To my mind Clintons’ stores right now are not particularly inspiring and the gifting is poor, and it operates in that middleground where you are most at risk as a retailer. It is not a niche player nor a discount destination. I personally was more disappointed to hear of the loss of Papyrus, Jolie Papier, Niquead, as for me the product was at the forefront of high-end card innovation.