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OVER THE COUNTER Left: Fiona Trees, owner of Memorable Moments, Ripon (centre), with daughter Jen Trees and David Robertson at The Retas 2019. Below left: Scribbler celebrated the Pride Week on its Instagram page. Bottom: Carl Dunne and Oliver Guise-Smith of Cards & Gifts, Sheffield, were overcome with emotion (as was most of the audience) when they heard that they were the winners of a Retas award last month.
On A Positive Note Independent card and gift retailer, David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi in Scotland, reflects on the positivity in the room at the recent Retas Awards and how retailers can keep their chin up in difficult times. The Retas Awards 2019 have been and gone and I write this literally the day after the greeting card retailing ‘Oscars’! Normally this day is one where I am really tired as I have commuted to and from Scotland to London in a day, or it can be one of wandering around London trying to clear my head as best I can before a flight home. This year was the 14th Retas Awards event, and yet again it highlighted so much positivity about the product category we work in and the people within our industry. A 14th anniversary is Ivory, and, as we are all about the planet, I won’t be sending The Retas’ organisers Jakki Brown and Warren Lomax any tusks in the post to congratulate them and their team on their achievement. What I do want to do is kinda give us all a pat on the back. Now “self-praise is no honour” my granny used to say, and in a week where it is reported that these sayings are disappearing I wanted to highlight some positives without blowing our own trumpet too much. It was well-publicised that The Retas switched its venue from London’s Dorchester Hotel to The Grosvenor House Hotel, as owner of The Dorchester, the Sultan of 20
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Brunei’s stance on the gay death penalty is one that no human being can agree on. While I respect other religions and beliefs, to stone someone for simply being themselves and being true to how they feel is simply wrong. As we recently celebrated Pride Week, love is love and I am proud to work in an industry where people accept all. Indeed with my own staff we have a great cross section of society and this adds to the working environment and makes for a better workplace I feel. The card industry is one which is very inclusive, and while we can never say never I don’t think I have ever seen or heard any ‘anti’ language. We embrace all the myriad of skills and talents that everyone brings. It is also great to see that many of our humour cards are reflecting society, and in the best cases are changing, adapting and still having fun. It is often said that we can’t be funny anymore and that is not true. Comedians, like cards, will simply adapt and find humour in different places. So I think, while not being complacent, we can say as an industry that we are inclusive.
Another positive is that we are supportive. The Retas Awards ceremony always highlights this. I didn’t win an award but friends of mine did, and other friends sitting alongside me didn't win, but we all enjoyed the day, and the warmth that many of The Retas winners were shown from the audience was fantastic. I knew three of the six finalists in my category (Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - Scotland) and I could honestly say I would have been pleased for any of them to win, but obviously I wanted those I knew to do so more; that is just human nature. The atmosphere at The Retas, for anyone who hasn’t been, is not one of aggressive competition or an awards event for ‘the chosen few’. And the new venue seemed to bring everyone together even more than usual as we were all in one central area. For those who maybe thought it’s not for them or would find it awkward, don’t feel like that. Enter and if you are selected as a finalist then go. It really is a celebration. Talking of celebrations…Cards & Gifts, Sheffield’s owners, Carl Dunne and Ollie