86-87_Postmark.qxp_Grid 21/08/2023 12:03 Page 1
Retailer Face to Face
Full Marks
It was no surprise that Postmark was awarded the prestigious Greeting Card Retailer of the Year award in The Retas 2023 in July, with the plucky retail group run by husband and wife duo Mark and Leona Janson-Smith having more than doubled the size of business in the last few months with the opening of eight new stores. PG enjoyed a catch up with Mark who, while now on a “new shop opening pause”, still has a hunch it could expand the design-led card and stationery retail concept to 35 stores.
Mark Janson-Smith says he will never forget making his way to the stage at The Retas in July, with his wife Leona and colleagues Shannon Fisher, Emma Cole and Graham Lease funnelling from other tables, to be presented with the Greeting Card Retailer of the Year award. “After the rollercoaster of the six months leading up to The Retas’ afternoon it was incredibly emotional to be there surrounded by many of the people who had made it happen, from the members of our team as well as our suppliers who have been so incredibly supportive in enabling us to embark on such an ambitious store opening growth,” Mark tells PG. As they say, fortune favours the brave and Mark and Leona’s decision to tender for some key travel sites previously anchored by Paperchase came good, with landlords Network Rail plumping for “something a bit different” and announcing Postmark as the champion. Entering uncharted territory for the specialist retailer, not only in taking on shop units in the high footfall train stations of London’s Waterloo, London Bridge, Kings Cross and Victoria, but also with the one in Birmingham New Street taking it out of its London heartland was only something Mark and Leona felt they could commit to knowing they had the support of Cardzone directors, Paul and James Taylor with whom they 86 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
had forged a joint venture in 2021 for new store opportunities. “Leona and I would not have had the confidence nor the expertise to go for so many new stores in such a short period of time; we could not have done it without Paul and James,” says Mark, admitting that the sheer volume of work the expansion has generated takes him back to the very early days of Postmark. “I remember someone telling me right at the start, that for the first year you work for the business, in the second year you and the business work together and in the third year, the business works for you. Right now, I do feel that we have gone back to year one!” reveals Mark, whose tenacity coupled with a healthy dose of humility has stood him in good stead in his exciting retailing journey. “Life as a retailer is challenging, but I knew that when I opened the first Postmark in 2004. As Pigment’s Steve Baker pointed out to me
Left: The new Postmark shop in Battersea Power Station, a building Mark has been obsessed with since he was a boy. Bottom: Postmark’s Leona and Mark Janson-Smith (third and fourth right) on stage with colleagues (second right-left) Shannon Fisher, Emma Cole and Graham Lease at The Retas to collect the Greeting Card Retailer of the Year trophy from Ged Mace, managing director of The Art File, sponsor of this award.
the other day that of Postmark’s 19 years, 16 of them have been in what are universally accepted as tough times for retailers, so I am used to it!” reflects Mark. While Paperchase’s demise has brought opportunities for Postmark, which in addition to the London stores has also enabled a store opening in Glasgow, Mark says in some ways he is continuing the legacy in a positive way. “You have to remember that up until three years ago when private equity got involved, Paperchase was a darling of our industry. It was a phenomenal brand that pushed designled greeting cards and stationery to UK consumers. Sure, their going has left a gap that has presented opportunities for us and