20-21_David Robertson.qxp_Grid 05/10/2024 13:18 Page 1
OVER THE
COUNTER
BY DAVID ROBERTSON OF JP POZZI, ELGIN AND BUCKIE.
Inset: Are you ready to roll with the punches?
Taking The Punches Everyone loves a comeback story. The classic narrative is of great success followed by a major fall or setback only for the team/person to rise again and triumph in a spectacular way. I am writing this after watching AJ get knocked spark out by the young lion Dubois. In the boxing world AJ was the experienced former champion. He had previously fought in front of 96,000 people and won, yet this time he hardly landed a punch and went out on his shield trying valiantly to turn it round. Right away he spoke about coming back and revenging the loss. So, what’s your fighting spirit?! Prior to the recent high profile AJ v Dubois boxing match, Liam Gallagher belted out three of Oasis’ greatest tunes as a something of a warm-up to next year’s mega sellout comeback concerts. Some 15 years after they imploded in France, the Gallagher brothers are back, bringing their swagger and noise to 50-year-olds wanting to relive their youth as well as a new generation of gig goers. Being of the former, my Stone Island outfit is pressed, my Red Stripe is chilling and I am mad for it, and there are still 11 months to go! There are so many examples of comebacks of which I could fill this column, but it got me thinking about where I am in business and where some others in are sector are too. Judging by the LinkedIn posts, several of the presenters at the recent GCA conference and AGM spoke about their respective struggles, triumphs and acts of 20 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Top: There was no maybe about it, David’s 50th birthday cake show paid full homage to Oasis. Above: The reunion of the Gallagher brothers has sparked a whole wave of Oasis licensing deals through Global Merchandising Services. (Photo credit: Kevin Cummins)
determination, reminding attendees that the challenges apply to everyone - from retailers to publishers and all points in between. Length of operation, experience and even wealth may not be enough to solve things. It is often sheer willpower and determination that will be the deciding factors. A question that has been asked often in these last few years is whether retail businesses can lift themselves off the floor when all is lost? Obviously, they can go under and start again. They can wipe out debt - limited company = limited responsibility - and we have seen that many times in cards and gifts. Paperchase may seem like a footnote, but it bounced back a few times, though never making it back to where it needed to be. Clintons is perhaps the biggest possible comeback story in our sector as the once all mighty orange 900+ store behemoth is now being reborn under the leadership of the Taylor family. Our sector needs a Clintons. It needs it to keep the RRP of cards at a decent level and offer a credible alternative to Cardfactory. Being privileged enough to know Cardzone directors Paul and James Taylor (now Clintons’ owners) pretty well, if anyone can drive Clintons off the ropes and back to the centre of the ring with punches swinging, it’s them. I do believe however it will take a boxer mentality; a belief that it will actually happen. Looking at my own situation in recent times, it has been hard. On the back of our strongest years, around 2015 we went on a very aggressive growth path, investing heavily in buying and fitting out our