Greetings today february 2016

Independently audited, ABC circulation of 6,086

The impartial voice of the greetings card industry February 2016 Issue 5 Volume 17

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SPRING FAIR HALL 3 M16 7-11 FEB

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01992 702 900 | sales@danilo.com | www.danilo.com /DaniloCalendarsUK

@CalendarsUK

Independent retailers contact Is It Art on 01926 747935

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contents

REGULARS 07

Leader

19

One of the nicest chaps in greetings, around the year’s opening shows plus Window On The World.

08

News People, Exhibiton, Licensing, Supplier and General, it’s all here and there’s more online at www.greetingstoday.co.uk

14

John Ryan The market may have changed but John believes there’s nothing to fear.

Retail Advice Henri Davis on how to make the most of this trade fair-packed time of year.

26

It’s All About Sales Whatever the weather – agents Neil and Alina talk flooding and Spring Fair planning.

74

Talk Of The Town The voice of the people who matter, greetings retailers tell it like it is.

Meet The Newbies Windles Group’s fresh perspective in this sponsored focus on industry newcomers.

18

the team

80

Spotlight & Gifts Spotlight A selection of this month’s latest releases.

● Jo Barber’s On The Shop Front will be back next month

View From GCA President

26

Fresh to the post, Ged Mace is determined to accentuate the positive.

20

Talking Shop Suzie Abel loves her job as buyer for familyowned Jarrold department stores.

24

Cover Story The pup stars of Paw Patrol are leading the 2016 charge from Danilo.

ONLINE

Advertisement Manager Gareth Liddiatt gareth@lemapublishing.co.uk 01442 289940 (direct)

Group Editor Mirella Anstey mirella@lemapublishing.co.uk Group Advertisement Manager Ryan Horwood ryan@lemapublishing.co.uk Publisher Mark Naish mark@lemapublishing.co.uk Production Director Paul Naish paul@lemapublishing.co.uk

FEATURES 16

Editor Tracey Bearton tracey@lemapublishing.co.uk

76

Spring Fair Preview

Managing Director Malcolm Naish malcolm@lemapublishing.co.uk

A bumper 47-page introduction to the UK’s largest gifts and greetings trade fair as cards make a big move into Hall 3.

Circulation Manager Robert Thomas robert@lemapublishing.co.uk

Top Drawer Spring Review

There’s lots to see in our pictorial round-up from the first show of the season.

78

Keep in touch - follow us: @greetingstoday

Your Shout Writing does matter says The London Stationery Show’s Chris Leonard-Morgan.

https://www.facebook.com/ greetingstodaymag

Go to our website - www.greetingstoday.co.uk - for all the up-to-date news where you can also read our extensive archive of online features.

HOTSPOT NEW ranges abound but there are many long-standing collections that are always hitting the hotspot and deserve recognition. In this Hotspot section Greetings Today features some of these each issue.

PIZAZZ is one of Nigel Quiney’s top ranges with 2016 marking its 10th anniversary and the constant refreshes, plus matching giftwrap, means retailers like Donna Gudgeon at Wolden Garden Centre in Enfield keep coming back for more.

Donna was one of the first to stock Pizazz designs when they came out a decade ago and the range has been a constant on her order form ever since. Pizazz is so popular that Nigel Quiney now provide a daily dose with a post of a different design on their Facebook page every day.

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PUBLISHING

Lema Publishing Ltd 1 Church Gates, Wilderness, Berkhamsted, Herts HP4 2UB

Telephone: 01442 289930 www.greetingstoday.co.uk

At the heart of retail Greetings Today is independently audited with an ABC circulation of 6,086 (July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015) Subscription per annum: UK £60 (free for people in the greetings industry), Europe £80, ROTW £100 A member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation

www.greetingstoday.co.uk 5

Save the date!

The London Stationery Show makes stationery buying a pleasure with hundreds of great brands and thousands of products from around the world, all in one place.

Beautiful pens… wonderful wrap… stunning notebooks and diaries… gorgeous gift and social stationery… stylish storage… this is where fashion meets function! Be part of it.

RSVP to stationeryshow.co.uk for free entry

Follow us @StationeryBytes

leader Editor Tracey Bearton

F YOU’VE ever needed proof of just how nice the people in the greetings industry are beyond the smiles and profuse thanks as you place an order, our lovely columnist and sales agent Neil Greenwood is a shining example.

Not only did he agree to share his views from the sharp end of the business that keeps us all employed, but he’s also a genuine all-round good guy who really doesn’t expect or seek praise.

He sent over this month’s column – see page 22 – with a note saying he thought it was appropriate because of the dreadful flooding in and around his north-west territory. As we exchanged new year pleasantries, he mentioned he’d been incredibly busy in the lead-up to the festivities because “I innocently posted a Facebook offer for a family of four to come and stay for Christmas dinner who had been affected by the floods”.

When I read his piece, it didn’t mention any of that but was all on his concern for retailers struggling to cope after their shops and stock ended up under water.

I had to persuade him to tell me how his post had snowballed into local businesses offering Christmas dinner for 31 people from the village of Appleby-inWestmoreland, coach transport and accommodation for the night.

Eventually the people were able to stay with friends and family so Neil and his pals collected cash and gifts instead to deliver 600 beautifully-wrapped presents so all had something to open on Christmas morning.

He’s such a sweetie – his normal Christmas day is spent helping at a homeless shelter – that all Neil said was: “Kept me busy, lol!”

As we’re right in the midst of show season, if you do recognise Neil anywhere in the aisles or on a stand from the picture on his Greetings Today column, I

● Cartoons by James Whitworth T: 07872 013943 – jameswhitworth@mac.com www.whitworthcartoons.com

I

think a pat on the back is most definitely in order.

Talking of shows, we already have Giving & Living, Top Drawer Spring, Wales Spring Fair and Scotland’s Trade Fair Spring firmly under our belts and we’re looking forward to the behemoth that’s Spring Fair.

Top Drawer is always interesting and particularly so this year with the revamp bringing Clarion Events’ trio of co-located shows – Home, Craft and Top Drawer itself – under one umbrella at Kensington Olympia.

There was a good selection of publishers there, from established names such as Blue Eyed Sun, Belly Button Designs, The Art File, Cinnamon Aitch, Holy Mackerel, Real & Exciting Designs, Cath Tate, Paperlink, Pigment, Artebene, and Dean Morris, through smaller companies who have their own niche like Rosanna Rossi, Redback, Gabrielle Izen and Kali Stileman, to newer publishers Always Sparkle, Pippi & Me and Bexy Boo – the last two picking up Henries in only their second year.

There were also a rash of complete newbies, including Maurice & Maude – a whole 24 hours old when I met founder Alice-Jane Hutton on the show’s second day – Paper Plane, Betty Etiquette, Nocturnal Paper, The Porch Fairies and Red Gate Arts, each with their own vision, proving the continuing diversity and elasticity of the industry.

You can take a look for yourself in our pictorial review of Top Drawer (page 76) with more pictures on the Greetings Today Facebook page.

I’m now looking forward to seeing more of what’s new and fresh as Spring Fair is coming up – to help you navigate the UK’s biggest gifts and greetings trade fair, our 47-page show preview starts on page 26.

I’ll be at the NEC for a few days with trusty camera in hand so let’s see if I can beat my Top Drawer tally of 60 publisher and retailer shots – say cheese!

Send your views and submissions for the magazine to: tracey@lemapublishing.co.uk Tel: 01442 289930

Want to appear in ?

MARCH FEATURES: Calendars Male & Father’s Day Cards Wedding & Anniversary Cards MARCH COPY DATE – FEBRUARY 2

APRIL FEATURES: British Craft Trade Fair Preview (April 10-12) London Stationery Show Preview (April 26-27) Giftwrap, Bags & Accessories Retro, Vintage & Nostalgia Cards APRIL COPY DATE – MARCH 10

MAY FEATURES:

PG Live Preview (May 10-11) Pulse Preview (May 15-17 Cute Cards

MAY COPY DATE – APRIL 7

WINDOW ON THE WORLD PAPER Tiger’s wonderful window displays cause quite a sensation, and they have numerous compliments from customers and people passing by their shops in Edinburgh’s Lothian Road and Stafford Street.

These festive fireplaces – the biggest one was in the Stafford Street store – were created by their talented visual merchandiser Helen who spent a lot of time

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and effort designing and constructing each one, and they represent a significant investment in time, talent and materials to make an impact.

With a lot of people asking about buying the displays, Paper Tiger decided they would be happy to part with them in exchange for a sizeable donation to Edinburgh Sick Kids, and have taken bids via private messages on Facebook.

They are in the process of picking the highest bid for each and the successful bidders will be notified via Facebook.

The window displays were replaced in early January at the Lothian Road shope with these paper kimonos where the geisha girls are modelling a new range of wrapping paper from 1973 Ltd – Stafford Street is currently undergoing a refurbishment and will be reopen very soon.

T: 0131 226 2390 www.papertiger.co.uk

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in the news news in brief Michael’s a bloody legend!

ACTING legend Michael Caine has been shining the spotlight on the Pigment card inspired by his classic The Italian Job scene where he says: “You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!”

He mentions it in the January issue of Radio Times and told Jonathan Ross on his show on January 16: “On my last birthday I got a card with a picture of me and it said ‘you’re only supposed to blow the bloody candles out’,” as they watch the film clip.

Hallmark on the move

HALLMARK UK have announced plans to consolidate their Bradford-based operations into a single site which will see the company move the Bingley Road head office to their existing Dawson Lane site. The transition is expected to take around a year to complete and, as well as reflecting the company’s current size and needs, will see the creation of a dedicated creative and design space and will bring head office closer to the distribution centre side. Steve Wright, International CEO of Hallmark, said: “Although we will be sad to leave Bingley Road, it gives us a real chance to bring our Bradford-based teams together under one roof and create a new culture in the process.”

£30m sales and 200th store

UK SALES of £30million saw Paperchase post a strong 11.2 per cent year-on-year increase for the five-week festive period as they opened their 200th store – and online purchases were up by 32.9 per cent. The retailers’ Christmas trading statement for 2015 shows the trend is likely to pan out over the full 12 months as the year to date trading for the 47 weeks is up by 11.4 per cent, with online sales increased by 30.7 per cent. Like-for-like sales for the November 23 to December 27 period were up 5.9 per cent against the 3.1 per cent increase in 2014, with international sales showing a 16.7 per cent increase.

Final shop winners named

THE final two winners in Cherry Orchard’s Shop Of The Month competition have been named with Wishes of Cudworth and Gem Cards taking the December and November prizes. The pair and the previous five winners now go forward to the Grand Prize Draw where one will be presented with £1,000 worth of stock at Spring Fair.

Gem Cards in Strood, Kent, is owned by Diana Scott, and Julia Keeling runs Wishes near Barnsley.

One million and counting

SHOPPING usually costs people money but for one lucky customer at Postmark in London, buying a Christmas card earned them a hamper of greetings goodies. The hand-finished card bought on December 22 in East Dulwich saw them become Postmark owner Mark Janson-Smith’s 1,000,000,000th customer across his three shops and website. The prize was sponsored

by Caroline Gardner, The Art File and Pigment.

New name, new branding

THERE’S a fresh new look at Widdop Bingham for 2016 starting with a change of trading name will change to Widdop & Co accompanied with new branding. The rebrand incorporates the trademark Widdop blue as well as the date the company was established, and will be unveiled at the Spring Fair with a celebratory breakfast from 8am on the opening Sunday morning.

500 years of service

FIVE hundred years of the Royal Mail are being celebrated this year and the postal service have teamed up with the British Postal Museum And Archive to produce an online gallery of 500 objects, people and events to mark some of the most memorable moments. including Sir Henry Cole and the changing face of Christmas cards.

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GCA label WWF report ‘unfair’ THE WWF’s latest claim that consumers wrongly assume greetings cards companies are selling ethically-sourced Christmas products has been denounced by the GCA as “unfair and inaccurate”.

Greeting Card Association CEO Sharon Little told Greetings Today: “This is a very unfair and inaccurate story – as an industry we have an excellent record of being environmentally friendly.

“Most cards are made from environmentally-certified FSC, PEFC or recycled boards.”

Having released a similar report in February about Valentine’s cards, the latest WWF claim comes from their timber scorecard, which assesses the publiclyavailable timber-buying policies of 128 UK retailers, manufacturers and traders as regards sustainability and meeting the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR), and a survey of just over 2,000 UK adults carried out for them by YouGov. The report states greetings cards are among the products not covered by the EUTR, and they picked out Hallmark as scoring highly, with Paperchase and Clintons getting the lowest timber scorecard mark.

Since this Greetings Today article was published online Julia Young, WWF-UK Corporate Stewardship Manager Timber, has responded: “I’d like to reassure readers that we do not regard the greetings card industry as being wholly unconcerned with sustainability.

“However, at present there is little or no transparency to allow a clear understanding of progress on this issue.

Many large retailers, despite reporting that they source cards from excellent publishers with high standards of sustainability, are not telling their customers what they need to know.

“We’d also like to see publishers, not just retailers, sharing credible information with the public that confirms their sustainability credentials in a clear manner.

Furthermore, legality does not automatically equal sustainability in relation to materials used, and we have found evidence of woods being used in cards that come from areas under intense pressure from deforestation.

“How can a consumer know and trust a retailer without full disclosure on their policies or sourcing practices? Only when retailers become more transparent can consumers rest assured that their expectations of businesses are being met.”

However, when GT then suggested the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) accreditation logo clearly printed on the vast majority of UK-produced greetings cards for both retailers and consumers’ information met the WWF demand for “credible information”, their press office asked: “Are you saying most publish this information?”

Neither FSC nor the Programme For The Endorsement Of Forest Certification (PEFC) are mentioned by WWF even though both certifications comply with EUTR. The GCA have now published sustainability guidance on their website and Greetings Today will be running a fuller article on the subject next month.

Karen takes over at Card Factory CARD Factory have announced that Karen Hubbard is to join the board as CEO Designate with effect from February 22 to succeed Richard Hayes.

Currently COO at B&M Bargains, Karen, pictured, said the move is “simply too good an opportunity to ignore” and Card Factory Chairman Geoff Cooper described her as

“the right person” to deliver the “significant growth still to come”.

Richard has been with the retailers since 2003 and the January 6 announcement said he will leave at the end of June, with Karen succeeding him in mid-April as CEO to run the group which has 809 stores according to their November trading statement.

Cyril focusses on buying group’s future A SHIFT in core membership has see Cardgains change their focus for their graphics and marketing programme in 2016 with the new strapline Passionate About Independent Retailing designed to reflect this.

But, despite the Sheffield-based buying group finding that many greetings retailers have changed their ratio from 90 per cent cards to include a higher percentage of ancillary products, they’ve also seen a growth for card sales as more shops offer them.

Cardgains Joint MD Chris Dyson said: “Historically many card shops were 90 per cent cards, where now our surveys show it to be a lot less percentage-wise – this is great news for the ancillary product suppliers and, consequently, Cardgains and the members have seen growth in these areas, particularly in candles and home fragrance, and also gifts, party and jewellery.

“Interestingly the shift has also meant growth for greetings cards as the consumer nsumer is drawn to shops offering more product diversity where they can also still buy quality, value for money cards at good prices, and can buy their gifts and self-purchases too.

“The Cardgains team will remain focussed on customer mer service and

supporting their loyal greetings card retailers, yet they say they now feel their advantages, trading terms, bonus opportunities and marketing offer great benefits to other retail sectors outside traditional greetings stores. This has become apparent in the type of outlets wanting to join the group.

“Part of our strategy for 2016 is our intention to develop all the store types of our existing membership.

The strength and breadth of the 2016 portfolio will also make Cardgains effective to non-traditional retailers.”

The buying group’s character Cyril Service has had a makeover, losing his hi-viz jacket from the past year for a smarter look to show how he’s a more passionate, approachable and communicative kind of guy.

Cyril now has his own email address cyril@ cardgains.co.uk and has taken on the important role of social media communication so is very active on (@CyrilService) and Facebook (Cyril both Twitter (@CyrilServ Service at Cardgains).

Cardgains are continuing their social media development programme and will provide training courses for members.

T: 0845 166 2054 www.cardgains.co.uk w

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licensing news Fun benefits 30 causes THIRTY charities are to benefit from The Light Fund’s record fund-raising year as they have an amazing £150,000 to give away. Ranging from children’s cancer charities, assistance dogs and the Alzheimer’s Society to schools abroad and funding a milking cow, the grants by the licencing industry’s charitable body range from £6,200 to £2,448. In 11 years they have raised £885,000 and chairman Trevor Jones, of Danilo has set the challenge of taking that to £1million in 2016.

Who you gonna call?

A MULTI-MILLION dollar marketing campaign will support the roster of “best-in-class� licensees who have already signed up for the major new Ghostbusters movie. Due for release in July 2106, recent signings include Danilo for calendars, cards and wrap, and Centum Books (publishing).

Palaces promote luxury

LUXURIOUS unique designs have been developed by independent charity Historic Royal Palaces, which cares for the Tower of London, working with the team at Distinkt Cards as they grow their licensing programme.

Date for Rachel Ellen

CAROUSEL Calendars are set to produce three difference formats of 2017 dated stationery as one of three new licensees for gift and greetings company Rachel Ellen Designs.

Grinch has Xmas wrapped

PLANS are afoot to let everyone be a complete Grinch at Christmas as the licensing programme for the classic Dr Seuss character is being expanded to include wrapping paper and cards. In partnership with Dr Seuss Enterprises, Rocket Licensing are in discussions to take the book How The Grinch Stole Christmas into more categories.

Dream project for designer CELEBRATED British designer Matthew Williamson has announced a brand-new licensing deal with Museums & Galleries for branded cards and gift stationery.

World-renowned for his highly-recognisable signature aesthetic, the ranges showcase patterns from Matthew’s current collections and extensive print archive of the master of print, embellishment and kaleidoscopic colour.

Museums & Galleries’ collection of Matthew Williamson greetings cards and notelets, deluxe journals and notebooks, gift wrap, gift boxes and bags, and gift tissue is now available and will premiere at Spring Fair in Birmingham.

Matthew said: "In a digital age, I still love sending and receiving cards, hand-writing notes and wrapping gifts

so I'm thrilled to be well stocked up with some personal favourites and hope everyone enjoys them too! “Working with Museums & Galleries has been a dream project for me. We have amassed such a strong print archive over our 20-year history and it's therefore been such a pleasure to revisit some of my favourites and re-imagine them as a luxury, yet affordable, category to our expanding lifestyle brand."

M&G Art Director Ben Dorney added: “Collaborating with Matthew Williamson on a range of licensed greetings cards and gift stationery is a tremendous coup for us.

T: 0116 230 4197 www.museumsgalleries.co.uk

Saffron go exclusive with Is It Art deal IS IT Art have the Saffron Cards & Gifts and The Lndon Studio ranges to their portfolio in an exclusive distribution deal covering independent retailers nationwide from January 4.

Is It Art are respected sales and marketing partners for many well-known greetings brands, already supplying to more than 1,000 independents and have launched the new collection with four ranges plus more to be revealed at Spring Fair.

Saffron MD Paul Steele said: “We’ve been looking at various ways in which we can increase the presence of our fabulous ranges in high quality independent

retailers and devolving our field-based sales operations to Is It Art will, I’m sure, provide our current and future customers with first class service and product.�

Peter Beecroft. MD of Is It Art, added: “We are delighted to be adding Saffron’s products to our portfolio. They publish exceptional ranges and will add another dimension to our overall offering.�

Saffron’s design studio will continue to operate from its Surrey base as will their National Accounts and Export team, headed up by Viv Barlow.

T: 01926 747900 www.isitart.co.uk T: 01932 888338 www.saffroncards.co.uk

LEADING CREASING PRODUCTS C&T Matrix are the world’s leading manufacturer and supplier of specialist creasing matrix products and accessories to the print and packaging industries.

C&T Matrix offer several world renowned brands of creasing matrixes including XTC, Pink, Kiss, Corrugate and Jazz.

We also manufacture and supply a broad range of accessories for diemaking, diecutting, AND PRINT kNISHING

including ejection rubbers, counter material and patch tape.

4EL r &AX r %MAIL SALES CANDTMATRIX COM WWW CANDTMATRIX COM r WWW CANDTMATRIX TECH

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exhibition news PREVIEW

Get with programme

A PROGRAMME of lectures offering topical insights has been announced for the Paperworld Academy, taking place at the leading trade fair which runs in Frankfurt from January 30 to February 2.

Paperworld director Michael Reichhold, from show organisers Messe Frankfurt, said: “In 2016, we will once again offer an attractive programme of highlights and training events.

“In the heart of the business, Paperworld is a source of information, inspiration and professional enrichment for all participants, whether exhibitors, wholesalers, retailers, buyers or trade-association representatives.”

The lectures will be held in the Paperworld Academy area of Hall 3.0 C51 and one of the main themes will be point of sale including events looking at multi-sensorial systems in shop fitting, digitalisation in the bricks-and-mortar trade and customer communication and sales in the shop.

Other aspects to be covered include retail-trade concepts, customer acquisition via online activities and developments in the trade over the coming years.

With 1596 exhibitors across the three co-located shows of Paperworld Christmaswortd and Creativeworld, there are 135 in the greetings card sector, from across Europe and around the world.

At the new Greetings Card Centre of Expertise in Hall 5.1 C80 members of AVG, the German Association of Greetings Cards Manufacturers and Publishers, will make a compact presentation of their cards on a special area where trade visitors will also find the Café Card, the 13th exhibition for the greetings-card design competition and an interactive activity.

The designers of Stilbüro bora.herke.palmisano will present the Trend Show in the foyers of Halls 5.1 and 6.1 offering retailers the latest ideas for assortment compilation and shop decoration. On behalf of Messe Frankfurt, the designers identify current trends from fashion, architecture and art, and adapt them to the realm of paper, office supplies and stationery. This year there are three trend worlds: ● Graphic Vitality – sport and functional, with intense colours ● Essential Serenity – minimalistic and relaxed ● Floral Liberty – extravagant and playful Paperworld runs at the Messe Frankfurt showgrounds alongside Christmasworld, which opens a day earlier, and Creativeworld, and there are online links to the interactive hall plan and events at all the shows.

paperworld.messefrankfurt.com/events creativeworld.messefrankfurt.com/events christmasworld.messefrankfurt.com/events

extended hours AS RECORD numbers of retailers were recorded as attending Brand Licensing Europe, extended opening hours have been announced for the 2016 event to work around Yom Kippur.

The move follows BLE organisers UBM Advanstar’s extensive consultation with exhibitors and visitors for the show that runs from October 11-13, because Yom Kippur, the holiest time of the year for Jews, falls on the event’s first two days as the timing is based on the new moon.

Darren Brechin, BLE Event Director, said “We have investigated all options to work around this unfortunate date clash, and extended opening hours are the best solution to allow colleagues celebrating Yom Kippur to fully participate in the 2016 event. We would like to apologise to all of our colleagues and friends affected and thank them for their understanding.” The 2016 show will now open as follows: Day 1 – Tuesday Open to visitors one hour earlier, at 8am, close as usual at 5pm.

Day 2 – Wednesday Open to visitors as usual at 9am, close at 5pm.

Day 3 – Thursday Open as usual at 9am, close one hour later at 5pm.

The 2015 show in October was officially the biggest yet in its 17-year history with a 19 per cent rise in the number of retailers attending, taking the total visitors across the three days to 7,203 (BPA audited) with one third from overseas.

(e) sales@realandexcitingdesigns.co.uk (t) 01223 207 080 (f) 01536 401 031

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supplier news

people news

Howard’s creasing up

Nicola joins Carousel

HOWARD Mead has been appointed by C&T Matrix as their Technical Sales Manager for their manufacturing and supply of specialist creasing matrix products.

Having started his career with one of the country’s leading carton0making companies, Howard moved to CITO UK for 18 years so has an established knowledge of the creasing matrix industry and a wealth of commercial contacts throughout the UK and Europe.

Simon Shenton, MD at C&T Matrix, said “In recent years, C&T have renewed their focus on their domestic market with increased dedicated UK stock, an improved UK customer service team and enhanced technical support on the ground.

“The appointment of Howard is the final step of our UK strategy to reposition C&T Matrix as the leading solution provider for all corrugated convertors, carton producers and print finishers in the UK”.

The company now have an improved XTC Synthetic Matrix which gives 100 per cent consistent, cost-effective creasing for a wide range of everyday creasing including greetings cards The newly improved and extended range includes a wider base, up to 12mm in width, ideal for more accurate and defined creasing, plus an extrastrong adhesive tape is also available to ensure perfect registration every time.

Howard said: “These latest improvements will further the reputation of our XTC range as one of the most consistent, cost-effective and durable products available in today’s market, with an unblemished rate of performance and reliability.”

CAROUSEL Calendars’ studio production team of eight has seen a new addition, with Nicola Bowerbank stepping into the position of Editor in November. Nicola will be taking on all of the editorial tasks and responsibilities for the calendar specialists, including proofreading and editing their full range of titles, producing calendar content and supplying information for trade magazines.

T: 01933 273444 www.candtmatrix.co.uk

T: 01392 826482 www.carouselcalendars.com ● GREETINGS card newbie Judi Folinek has joined OPC Cards as the franchisee covering West Kent, working with help from her partner Norbert.

Judit said: “We don't know much about greetings cards yet as they weren’t that popular in Hungary, but Norbert has experience in running a business and I have more than 15 years’ experience in retail.

T: 01932 267300 www.originalposter.com ● SOPHIE Wilkes has joined Cardgains as the buying group’s new sales executive. Sophie’, who joined the Sheffield-based organisation at the beginning of the year, will look after existing Cardgains members in the south west and have a strong focus on new retailer member recruitment to the buying group.

T: 0845 166 2054 www.cardgains.co.uk ● CARD Connection’s Franchisee Of The Year Daryl Perkins has added to his business by buying the additional territory of Hull, shortly after taking over the Lincoln area. Daryl will be greeting around 80 customers in Hull as well as continuing with his established customer base in Nottingham, Grantham and the surrounding areas, and has taken on former Card Connection franchisee Charlie Huggard as a part-time merchandiser.

T: 01252 892300 www.card-connection.co.uk

WE LOVE * PRINT &

FOIL&EMBOSS&FLITTER&DIE-CUTS &VARNISHING&FOLDING&FINISHING & ALL OF THE OTHER MAGIC WE BRING TO YOUR CREATIONS WWW. THEIMAGING CENTRE.CO.UK

*

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meet the newbies From the heart and soul WITH influences ranging from love and moonlight through Buddhism and castles to Phillip Guston, Giorgio Morandi and JMW Turner, art is Caroline Doyle’s life-long career path.

Now Caroline has turned her attentions to creating miniature works of art for the greetings industry which she’s publishing under her own name.

“The visual world has always captivated and had a powerful impact on me,” said the Bedford-based artist, ”which is one of the reasons I went to art school – I attended both St Martin’s and the Royal College.

“I continue to paint, and also found myself making cards, which became compulsive. The work is created using my hand-drawn, painted and typed images, and also printmaking. My cards have been stocked in Liberty London, and I’m supplying another major London store along with shops and galleries in Cambridge.

“It’s a curiously strange feeling as well as a thrill to see ideas, thoughts and emotions realised on paper and very rewarding when people want to buy the cards to give to family and friends.

“My loves and inspirations are earthy, simple and primal, including wild natural beaches, the great outdoors, real fires,

daydreaming, tea and toast – the work comes from the heart and soul and also, hopefully, shows passion, sweet fun and humour.

“I’ve had positive responses, and people within the greetings industry are very generous with their support. I very much hope to continue with these and many more designs, which will also hopefully include selling abroad and I’m also working with flourescent colour design.

“Now more than ever in the digital age – which, I must admit, at times I struggle with embracing for many reasons – I think the human touch is ever more vital to hold on to, so sending real cards to real people thankfully still is, and will continue to remain, a part of human nature.”

T: 07812 746596 http://www.axisweb.org/p/carolinedoyle/#merchandise

Well worth the wait NICK Saunders has been researching and planning his own greetings card publishers since the late 90s so now, having just launched Meany-bo-Beany, he’s determined it will be well worth the wait.

His contemporary, quirky and humorous designs have been evolved from more than 25 years working as a freelance graphic designer and contract work in animation studios and design and games companies.

Having also taught illustration on further and higher education courses, Bideford-based Nick’s most recent jobs were in the gifts and publishing industries.

“I began researching and planning a greetings company way back in the late 90s,” Nick said, “it’s taken longer than I planned but I now feel I’m in the right place personally and financially to pursue a long-held dream and start my own company.

“When shopping for cards I could never find exactly the kind I wanted and, as an image-maker, I always enjoyed making the ones I liked for friends so it was inevitable that at some point I’d begin to do it more seriously on a larger scale.

Much of my work is figurative and, at some stage, employs vintage source material either directly in the collaged and montaged designs or as inspiration for the drawn illustrations.

There are also ranges that are more humour-driven – Groovy Birds and the Pop Chart cards for example – but even though, stylistically, they may be quite different from some of the other

ranges, I’ve worked hard to make sure they still sit naturally together, part of one big family essentially.

“At the moment most of the cards fall within the everyday category however, because of the nature of some of the imagery, many of them also lend themselves to specific occasions – birthdays, valentines, congratulations, etc, so I’m hoping their versatility will be a plus.”

Nick is set to launch the Meany-bo-Beany website at the end of February and will be showing about 100 cards across five ranges in the Springboard section of PG Live in May. T: 01237 420427 www.meany-bo-beany.cards

Fearlessly representing REDUNDANCY and illness were the spurs to persuading former city worker Cheryl Johnson to set up her own greetings publishers Fearless Steps – and the lack of cards showing people that look like her friends, family and generally people of colour.

Cheryl launched the venture in November, alongside 13 other black small business owners at the Fearless Connections event she organised in London’s Enfield Town.

“My idea was that we do not know what businesses our neighbours , friends and family own,” Cheryl said, “so we showcased our businesses and shared our stories with 40 other professionally-minded guests. It was an inspirational evening and people left full of energy and positivity.”

Cheryl has spent two years battling a rare brain disorder and was eventually made redundant from her investment bank job last January so decided to take stock of her life. She came up with the idea of cards when she visited her local gift store with her mum and couldn’t find anything for her daughter, nieces or friends.

Cheryl said: “I believe there’s a huge need for positive images representing people of colour. In so much of popular culture, young black men wearing hoodies and trainers are depicted as a criminals. It’s an unfair representation of our young people and I want to turn negative stereotypes of our teenagers on their heads.”

Old school pal and poet Marcia Blake is working on the positive wording for her cards, and Chery is showcasing young black artists like 15-year-old GCSE art student Phoenix Edwards, who hand-illustrated eight of the current 10-piece collection, and they are already working on Valentine’s, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. T: 07955 720952 www.fearlesssteps.co.uk

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NEW MEMBERS THE latest publishers to join the Greeting Card Association include: SIAN ELIN CARDS Unit M101, Cardiff Bay Business Centre,Titan Road, Cardiff, CF24 5EJ, Sian Thomas sales@sianelin.com www.sianelincards.com www.sianelin.com 020 3287 0577 MEANY-BO-BEANY Tower House, 26D The Strand, Bideford, EX39 2ND Nick Saunders nick@meany-bo-beany.cards meany-bo-beany.cards 01237 420427 or 07890 435058 MEG HAWKINS ILLUSTRATIONS The Studio, Aston Botterell, Nr Bridgnorth, Shropshire, WV16 6QX Meg Hawkins mhitrade@btinternet.com www.meghawkinsillustrations.co.uk www.mhitrade.co.uk 01746 787153 or 07811 672460

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You may already have spoken to Maisie Spittles – pictured right – on the telephone or met her when visiting our production house. Windles Group recognise that delivering excellent customer service is at the heart of our business and we’re always looking for enthusiastic individuals to join our front-line team. By offering training programmes designed to give people a thorough grounding in customer service skills, we’re not only investing in our business but also in young people. Maisie, who joined us during autumn last year, is already a recognised asset as she’s proactive, bright and cheerful – and so eloquent as she carries out her daily work. Her motivation and inspiration are second to none and we hope you will join us in wishing Maisie a happy and successful career at Windles Group.

MAGIC MAISIE

The digital service at Windles Group is honest with heaps of experience and is a trusted choice. The proof is always in the pudding so we would be delighted for you to come along to give us a try, to see how your designs could look.

Some of our lovely customers continue to print digitally even as they get bigger and plan to do so where their business needs prefer. Others have been guided through to using our Flexisheet service where certain designs have outsold all others and volume requirements exceed the ideal digital level. Windles Group accommodate this by giving you the opportunity to move to the next level of printing – litho – but without the worry of filling a whole print sheet.

We strive to ensure that our customers get a finished product that they’re happy with. Having produced greetings cards for 30 years now, Windles Group have all the bespoke equipment to produce high-quality, beautifully-printed designs. The choice is vast, as we work with all materials, specialist boards, premium papers, and those such as kraft board where printing white might be required to achieve the right look. We even print on plastics which suits producing coasters or pet mats for example. Where digital demand for greetings cards has grown, we have increased our capacity with two HP Indigo presses and a third for back-up. Now located in our brand-new, super, eco-factory, our digital department are enjoying the increased space and up-to-date workflow that this has enabled.

Windles Group welcome you to visit their new digital suite which Dan Joyce – pictured below – proudly manages.

Choosing the right digital printer can be a daunting process which is why we have experts on hand to answer all your questions. Wherever possible, we encourage you to come to meet our team and see the printing process in action. This can help you understand the process leading to more ideas about how you can develop your designs.

DIGITAL DELIGHTS

VIEWFROMTHEGCAPRESIDENT

Accentuate the positive With 30 years in the business under his belt new GCA president Ged Mace knows his stuff – here the MD of The Art File talks positively about the industry, the aims of the council, plans to boost the profile of greetings cards, benefits of association membership, technology and meeting with ministers.

T

HE GREETINGS card sector has always been and always will be a tremendously creative industry full of opportunity for publishers and retailers.

My company, The Art File, joined the Greeting Card Association when we first started back in 1997 and I’ve been on the council for the last eight years.

I see the GCA as being a force for good for the whole industry. We need a representative organisation to fight our corner, give our industry’s point of view in the press and be a place where publishers can go for help and advice – the GCA does all of this in spades.

There are numerous benefits to being a member. First of all there’s a wealth of information on the GCA website, with free resources for anyone wanting to get involved as well as more in-depth information for members, who have unlimited access. This is especially helpful for new publishers, saving them time and, hopefully, money when setting up their business.

Most topics are covered in great detail and are relevant to everyone in the card trade, such as the GCA’s environmental resources, with helpful guidelines which encourage all publishers to use materials from sustainable sources. This in turn promotes a wider understanding of the responsibilities our industry has towards the environment.

Some of the GCA’s recent initiatives have included opening up the association to associate members as well as two completelynew sending occasions – Thinking of You Week and Festive Friday – both of which are proving popular across the industry.

By having publishers, suppliers and retailers involved, the whole industry is now working together through the GCA to really get behind promoting cards as positive activity which enhances life and community.

The GCA also run seminars and events to provide a great forum for ideas. Over the years we have held many seminars on important topics such as sales, agents, brokerage,

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copyright and licensing, and we‘re looking forward to organising more of these in 2016.

Both publishers and retailers have expressed concerns in the past about print-on-demand greetings cards and how this channel might impact on traditional retailing of cards.

The likes of Moonpig and Funky Pigeon embraced the new technology and realised the opportunity – in my opinion these companies have done an important job in advertising the importance of sending greetings cards which has to be a good thing for the entire industry.

Facebook has also been seen as a threat but it also reminds us when someone’s birthday is and, as one of the biggest threats to greetinga card sending is forgetfulness, now there’s no excuse!

As an association it’s incredibly important that we work to promote ourselves at trade fairs, to keep inspiring retailers to stock our products, so we must engage even more with the show organisers to bring the significance of greetings cards to the fore.

One in six retailers in the UK stocks cards which is more than any other single product, and visitors to trade fairs look forward to seeing

them as part of their mix for the next year.

Our industry brings creativity and excitement to every exhibition, so I plan to meet with Clarion Events, who run Top Drawer, the Scottish Trade Fairs and Home & Gift Harrogate, and Spring and Autumn Fair organisers i2i Events over the coming weeks to discuss how much more of a central role greetings cards can play in all the key exhibitions throughout the year.

I would highly recommend joining the GCA to any retailers, publishers or suppliers to the trade, such as printers, who aren’t yet members.

Retailers are the front line of our industry – any issue facing greetings card retailers is more than likely an issue which directly impacts on the rest of our industry.

The GCA is the voice of our industry and special thanks should go to our Chief Executive Officer Sharon Little for the many radio and TV interviews she has given to promote and represent our sector.

A good example of this is defending us against unfair criticism on the amount which charities receive from the sale of charity Christmas cards, she got this message across

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VIEWFROMTHEGCAPRESIDENT

● xxxxxx

● Complete cutie – a vital part of The Art File’s team and star of his own greetings and stationery ranges, Frank the Dachsund inspires the kind of creativity Ged wants to promote worldwide

‘

One iin six O i retailers in the UK stock cards

’

especially well just before this last festive season on Radio 4’s You & Yours programme.

The GCA also recently met with Ed Vaizey, the Culture Minister which was a great opportunity to promote our industry at ministerial level. He was impressed not only with the size of the industry but also from a creative point of view.

Topics discussed included VAT on greeting cards, a greetings card exhibition at the Palace of Westminster and even designing Ed’s official Christmas card next year!

Another area I’d like to promote during my two years as president is the creativity of our industry, particularly the link between amazing British greetings card design and promoting this creativity overseas with the help of UKTI – after all we lead the world on the creative design of cards and we need to push that even further.

We have so many talented designers within the industry who create world-class products which are then sold across the globe so it’s no wonder that the UK leads the world in greetings card design.

The GCA has a very strong council, with members from the largest publishers to the smallest elected each year at the AGM and

all giving their time for free. There are some very bright and able people and the wealth of knowledge and experience they bring to the table is huge.

I think it’s beneficial to have a different person as president every two years as it brings a change of perspective.

I was keen to do it because I’m passionate about the creativity of this industry, I felt it would be a good opportunity to share the experience I’ve built up over the last 30 years and to put forward a slightly different focus.

Ceri Stirland, from UK Greetings, is the current GCA vice-president, and our latest crop of new council members comprises Chris Bryant of Second Nature, Raj Avora of Davora, and Stephen Horne of the Postsnap Group which he founded in 2014, so it’s a dynamic composition.

Sarah Porter from My World joined the council a couple of years ago and brought with her a young publisher’s perception of the industry. She has contributed significantly since she’s been on board and naturally we want to encourage more of that.

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We occasionally invite an associate member to a meeting if we feel they have a particular expertise that they can add to a topic we are discussing and help guide us to a better understanding.

The GCA’s strength lies in fulfilling the needs of our hugely-varied membership, with small publishers it’s giving help, advice and support in the early stages of their journey; with medium and larger publishers it’s the representational side and, with everyone including the supplier and retailer associates, it’s the sense of community.

As an exciting, open and responsive organisation we are constantly changing and our focus and membership and we’re always there to help in any way we can.

I’m really looking forward to my two-year tenure and helping to keep the GCA relevant to everyone in this industry.

The greetings card industry is a great sector to be involved in having proved, yet again, its resilience to technology and recession in recent times and it remains the nation’s favourite way of communicating social messages and celebrations.

www.greetingstoday.co.uk 17

JOHN RYAN RETAIL ENVIRONMENT

Fear of the T

IME was when you went to one of the big four – aka the major supermarkets Sainsbury, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons – to buy food.

This is still the case but, today, you’re just as likely to buy a tea towel, mixing bowl, gift card for f hi retailer t il or perhaps h ti d a fashion a greetings card.

And, like all card retailers, the supermarket offers tend to be pretty movable feasts that change with the season and forthcoming events –the card aisles are currently filled with hearts and assorted vulgarity in anticipation of the love fest that is February 14.

Equally, there’s frequently a sense that because space is limited it’s the lowest common denominator that wins out because most of the ranges are just this side of bland.

But that doesn’t matter too much as far as the fab four are concerned. They have no interest in niche customer groups and head instead for the greatest acceptability for the greatest number.

This is probably the right approach as the other thing the supermarkets’ business is posited upon is footfall. This tends to be massive therefore, given that thousands of people will pass the greetings card display on a daily basis, at least a few will make impulse purchases as they push the shopping trolley towards booze alley – the bit for men that comes at the end of every supermarket layout as a reward for all that went before.

It’s a numbers game and, in greetings card terms, it means low price and high volume.

Nothing too much to be scared of then when set against the lovingly curated offers that characterise the average greetings card store, surely?

Well, yes, up to a point.

The point in this instance is that, unless considerable care is taken to understand who your local shopper is, their relative affluence, age and habits, then the likelihood is that you too will be approached by the same suppliers, selling the same ranges, as the supermarkets.

‘

fab four

The market has changed and the big grocers have expanded their product offer way beyond food but John Ryan explains why that shouldn’t be a worry for specialist greetings retailers.

In short, through a depressing mix of laziness and overall incompetence, there is a very real possibility that a few proprietors of independent greetings card stores will end up going head to head with the supermarkets.

Before you think all of this sounds particularly harsh and not a little hard-nosed, consider what the job of a greetings card shop owner is – it is to choose cards that will be different from those offered by others and to do so in an environment that will be conducive to persuading time-pressed shoppers to make a considered purchase.

The majority of T card retailers do this very much better than any supermarkett

’

John Ryan is Stores Editor at Retail Week where he’s worked for more than a decade covering store design, visual merchandising and what makes things sell in-store. In a previous life he was a retail buyer.

T: 07710 429926 twitter: @newstores

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And for the most part, the majority of card retailers, both online and bricks and mortar, do this very much better than any supermarket, despite the fact their footfall is exponentially lower than the average grocer.

Yet from the biggest dedicated card shops to the smallest indies, mention business and it will not be long before the matter of the supermarkets’ influence on the market comes up as a factor.

So here’s a thought for what is still the very early part of the new year – as a greetings retailer, you’re very good at what you do and certainly better than any supermarket. Yes, they’ll shift cards but, generally, at the lower end of the price spectrum so, for the discerning shopper who is prepared to spend a little more, their offer will be something of a non-starter.

And ask yourself this, do you really want to compete on price? Of course you don’t – life’s too short and shoppers in search of the 10p greetings card aren’t really the sort that you need as customers.

Be happy and a little more secure in the knowledge that supermarkets are one of the lesser worries that you have as we move deeper into 2016.

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RETAIL ADVICE WITH HENRI DAVIS

I

T’S JANUARY as I write this, and we’re already in the thick of show season with wonderful new cards being made available to update our ranges of everyday and occasions cards and lots of spring seasons looking wonderfully fresh and colourful.

And, of course, you don’t necessarily have to travel massive distances to these early season shows as there are a significant number of regional shows that may have cards that are relevant for your target market.

With Giving & Living in Exeter, Wales Spring Fair in Llandudno, Scotland’s Trade Fair Spring in Glasgow, Top Drawer Spring in London and Harrogate Christmas & Gift Fair in Yorkshire there are plenty to choose from – and then of course there’s Spring Fair coming up in February at the NEC. Having said that you may feel you need to stock something significantly different from your competitors so, to find this dream product, you need to go abroad be it Maison Objet in January, Ambiente or Paperworld in February or wait until the New York Stationery Show in May. Which shows are right for you will depend on your target customers and where you believe publishers with the relevant cards will be exhibiting – be that in terms of design, price, quality or all three.

Travelling to foreign shows to find products can be really insightful but how much you get out of your trip will depend on the types of products you’re looking for and the shows you are visiting.

These trips needn’t cost a lot but whether they represent value for money and a good use of time will depend on how well you prepare in terms of identifying the right show for you to visit, how long you go for and whether, in reality, you will actually be able to do business with anyone you meet there.

Greetings is a really good example of this as the UK card market leads the world in terms of design and one of our best-selling genres is humour – if you weigh up these two factors there are only going to be certain foreign shows that will have products that can sell in the UK in a reasonable volume.

The reality is that the images and colours will be critical to a range’s success and, if the card has a caption, then the phraseology used will be highly significant too.

We send cards for certain occasions here in the UK which are not all shared with our European and American cousins while humour often doesn’t translate across national boundaries. Taking all this into account, whether you’ll find many good card ranges abroad is debatable.

Having said that, there were some amazing cards from American publishers at Top Drawer Autumn which suggests that some publishers believe they will work here.

And last year when I visited the New York Stationery Show, which has a significant card section, there were a number of brands exhibiting that I think

It’s show time!

Starting a new year means there are lots of trade fairs around both in the UK and abroad. Henri Davis looks at how retailers can decide which would be the best for them to attend.

‘

Whether they represent value for money and a good use of time will depend

’

could be popular in the UK – my big challenge was to find an affordable way of getting them here as the publishers did not have UK distributors.

Whatever shows you attend, be they in the UK or abroad, there is no substitute for preparation in terms of knowing from your sales and market research the ranges you want to update or replace and the types of fresh new product you need to invigorate your offer.

It’s also worth looking at who is exhibiting that you know but not because they’re the only publishers you will see – far from it.

I’d suggest you need to identify which halls you need to go to and then to walk them aisle by aisle but plan it so you know where key exhibitors are then, when you get to their aisle, you can make time to view their ranges.

Henri Davis is an independent retail advisor to businesses in the cards, gifts, stationery and heritage industries, combining 30 years of retail experience with her knowledge of trends and consumer motivation to analyse markets and identify new opportunities. Having worked at Habitat, Next, WH Smith and the National Trust, she now works with many small and medium-sized businesses, including multi-site retailers, national and international manufacturers and suppliers and is currently vice-chairman of the Giftware Association, the first woman to hold the post. www.henridavis.co.uk

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This is particularly important if you’re going to a large fair like Spring Fair where you may be tight on time and/or have a lot of floor area to cover, then you really do need a plan of which halls you’re going to work in each day so you’re not just running backwards and forwards across the site, especially if you want to arrange meetings as well.

New and different shows are invaluable because they make you view things differently and consider new options.

I still maintain that you only need to find one or two great products or ranges to make a trip worthwhile but, if you’re going to go abroad, the exhibition must make sense for the type of product you’re looking for.

You also need to know you have the infrastructure in place to import the product so you can buy whatever you do see, and check you can afford their minimum order quantities or courier charges not just for your first order but also for top-up orders if some of the lines are successful.

My hunch is that if you’re really only looking to source cards then visiting foreign trade fairs may not be the best use of your time or money.

www.greetingstoday.co.uk 19

TALKING TALKINGSHOP SHOP

Calling all departments

● Still exciting – buyer Suzie Abel enjoys her job

New Gift Of The Year judge Suzie Abel is the buyer for Jarrold department stores in Norwich and their branches in Norfolk, who are still privately owned 245 years after being founded in Woodbridge, Suffolk, with the family very much in charge of the group.

●Front facing – the main Norwich store this Christmas (above), lit up by a firework display (below), bedecked with flags for the 1953 coronation (top right) and an early drawing (top right centre)

What’s the story behind Jarrold’s 245 years of retail success and what are their goals and aspirations now?

From our origins as booksellers and stationers on the current site, a small amount of rebuilding work took place in the 1920s but it was in the 1950s and 60s that the business acquired adjacent buildings and the traditional department store was born.

Over recent years, with the acquisition of another building and major investment, Jarrolds have beccome a flagship independent with many leading brands such as Jo Malone London, MAC, Tom Ford, Weekend Max Mara, Mint Velvet, Hackett, Gant and Longchamp, and the search for new and exciting exclusive brands is relentless. This, linked to the very best in customer service and a sense of theatre, makes us different and is the secret of our success.

When did Jarrold start selling cards and gifts, and how did that come about?

We have always been booksellers and this is still an important department today. We have also been selling stationery since the very start.

Gifts in the modern sense have been present since the 1960s.

How long have you been with Jarrold and how did you arrive there?

Having left my role with Air France after seven years, based at Heathrow, I decided on a life change and joined my parents who had semi-retired to the North Norfolk coast – what a contrast that was! I married, had a family and then wanted to get back to work when I saw the role of Counter Manager for YSL in Jarrolds was vacant. That was in 1989 and I’m still here – albeit in a slightly more demanding role.

How important is the cards and/or gifting side and what percentage of Jarrold’s turnover does it contribute?

Retail stationery, including greetings and seasonal cards and stationery gifts, is situated on the ground floor and is an essential part of the store mix. Christmas cards have their own home on floor three in the Christmas Shop. The Gift department is split between the ground floor and floor two – homewares gifts with furniture. These categories represent 3.5 per cent of the store turnover .

What’s the most exciting part of your job?

Beauty is my background and I was chairman for three years and am now a director of COPRA (Cosmetic & Perfumery Retailers’ Association). Members range from leading stores such as Harrods, Harvey Nichols and HOF to smaller independents and online retailers like www.feelunique.com We host an awards luncheon for 350 at the Dorchester every May and a fund-raising ball for 650 in November.

These are pretty exciting – but I still get a tingle when I discover and buy a range in any category that turns out to be a real success too.

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Do all your stores sell cards and gifts?

These are sold in The Forum Shop which is in the city, situated next to the Tourist Information Centre and specialises in products that are relevant to Norfolk and north Suffolk.

The tourist business is hugely important with many visitors to the historic city of Norwich, the Broads, and the beautiful coastline. The shopping is good too! The Granary is close to the main store and this provides a wide range of contemporary, stylish furniture, homewares, cards and gifts.

What’s the rough percentage split between sales of cards and gifting items?

Cards sales are 50 per cent higher than total gift sales.

How broad is the price range for gifts?

Novelty items will start from £5 and beautiful gifts for the home can be £100-plus.

What brands of cards and gifts does Jarrold sell and which sell well?

Woodmansterne Publications provide our occasions and relations, and some photographic and humour with their W Select

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TALKINGSHOP ● Seventh generation – Michelle Jarrold is both Development Director and Trading Director for Fashion and Beauty

● Family affair – founder John Jarrold and (far left) his son John Jarrold II’s “honourable intentions as a shopkeeper”

‘

I still get a tingle when I discover a range that turns out to be a real success

’

which has been extremely successful. I buy all the open, birthday, seasonal and Christmas cards from a wide range of publishers including UK Greetings, Nigel Quiney, CardMix, Five Dollar Shake, Caroline Gardner, Art Press Publishing, The Art File and many more, all of which sell very well here. In stationery gifts, Wrendale Designs, Simon Drew, David & Goliath, Rachel Ellen Designs, Paperblanks and Caroline Gardner are all established as good sellers, and a beautiful new premium range from Kate Spade has been super this season.

Do you stock different products in different outlets, or do you keep the same formula everywhere?

As a large department store our ranges have to be extensive and diverse, but in general with a contemporary feel and always with quality.

The branches are diverse and cater for their specific catchment areas and customer bases.

How many people are on the buying team, do you have separate teams or buyers for different products, such as stationery and gifts.

We are a team of 11 buyers, most of whom buy for more than one area – I buy for beauty, retail stationery, hosiery and Christmas cards, wrap, and calendars!

What makes a good buyer for Jarrold, and do you work on your own initiative or are you briefed?

Understanding the aims and objectives of the store and the depth and taste level of the merchandise ranges is the first priority. This comes from the directors and our particular trading directors. We should all be aware of current and future trends by attending trade fairs, reading trade publications and researching the internet. We are an experienced team who are generally left to “get on with the job” but help and advice is always on hand if required.

If someone has a product, card or gift, they want to pitch to you, how should they go about that?

I receive a great deal of enquiries from suppliers and I prefer to receive samples, information and price expectations first and, if I think they have potential, I would invite them to visit me in store or arrange a meeting at a trade show or showroom.

How do you choose which products to stock?

They would need to fit my range plans for the coming season: be new and innovative; fulfil a margin expectation and, ideally, be exclusive to us.

Do you attend any of the trade shows for greetings and gifts, if so, do you feel they are important and which do you like?

I think these are very important and attend as many as possible. The NEC Spring and Autumn Fairs, Home & Gift Harrogate in July, PG Live, Top Drawer and Pulse are all on my list.

What season are you buying for currently, and how does that work – is it that Christmas is bought in January, Valentines in September for instance?

I’m just about to start buying the Christmas ranges for 2016 which should be complete by early March. Seasonal cards are generally bought in September and October. I will use the shows in the early months of the year for my spring/summer card and gift ranges and

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Home & Gift Harrogate will be the starting point for my autumn/winter buy.

What are the evergreen categories that consistently sell well on both the card and gift sides? And what are the top-selling seasons for you and in what proportion?

The W Select occasions and relations cards cover the essentials here but a good selection of birthday, wedding, photographic, humour, art and contemporary cards are essential.

In stationery gifts, wedding, children’s, humorous, male and female specific, contemporary and classic ranges are absolute essentials together with a good selection of quality journals, address books, notebooks, note cards and social stationery. Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day cards work well, and Easter is surprisingly successful too, but poor old Father’s Day is always at the bottom of the list!

What are the emerging trends, and how have trends changed over the past year as well as in the time you’ve been with Jarrold?

For me, this season has been all about metallics – bronzes and antique gold in particular – monochrome and anything vintage.

It’s so far back that it’s hard to remember trends when I started in Jarrolds! I know that the store is unrecognisable now compared to the 1980s.

It has the look and feel of a successful London store, as many customers tell us, yet still retains the family ethos for excellent customer service and a friendly, comfortable atmosphere but with a very modern twist.

What was the last card you yourself sent – and which would you like to receive for your own birthday from those that Jarrold stock?

It was a lovely Christmas card from a range

by Lucy Loveheart, a renowned artist who lives in East Anglia, and I would be happy to receive any card by her or by another Norfolk artist Fiona Bishop, from her range The Porch Fairies. They are so beautifully and intricately drawn, I see something new every time I look at them.

www.greetingstoday.co.uk 21

IT’S ALL ABOUT SALES

It never rains

O

NE OF the things I always say to friends about the greetings card industry when I’m asked is that it’s quite recession proof.

After all, even in tough times people will maybe not send a birthday present or Christmas gift but they will just send a card instead.

There are always reasons to send cards too, be it birthdays, weddings, get well, thinking of you, new baby – the list goes on.

One thing I didn’t take into account, though, was Mother Nature!

Towards the end of 2015 as I watched the news I saw terrible floods affecting Cumbria which is a huge part of my area. I didn’t realise just how bad it was at first until I saw the pictures and film of water levels halfway up shop doors.

I couldn’t even imagine the devastation this would cause for my customers in these areas, especially since our industry is very much paper-based and paper and water aren’t usually a good combination.

And once the water itself has receded there’s also the mud and debris that’s left behind to contend with.

As we got nearer the end of December the floods started to move further south and suddenly it seemed like most areas in the north-west were affected including Manchester, Rochdale and Clitheroe, to name but a few.

Going into the new year and the calls had already

– it pours! started to come in from my customers asking for orders to be held back as their stores had been flooded and they’d been forced to close up shop. I spoke to one customer who explained it could take them months just to even dry out the building, never mind repair and replace damaged stock and fixtures.

Not only is this going to hit the industry as a whole but also many individuals running small businesses such as greetings and gift shops, agents, post offices etc.

Living and working in the north-west myself, it was heartwarming to see first hand how communities pulled together to rally round and help each other in such a difficult situation.

These shops will be going through an awful time over the next few months putting their businesses back together. Hopefully they will come out the other side stronger than before, but I do fear we may also lose some very good customers although hopefully it

All in the planning

Y

ES, IT’S that time of year again – the mother of all trade shows Spring Fair 2016 in now upon us.

I always approach Spring Fair with a sense of both excitement and apprehension – excitement as it’s a brand-new year, you never quite know what opportunities will come your way, it’s great to see all the new products and I can’t wait to show them off to my customers, but also with a mild sense of apprehension as there’s a whole year of selling ahead, another Christmas to brave and a brand new set of sales targets to hit!

Being heavily pregnant at a trade fair too is going to be a new one for me. I might need to nip off the stand quite frequently for a sit down and walking around between each hall might take longer than usual.

But with careful planning and understanding from my principals and customers I’m sure all will go smoothly.

Talking of careful planning, it’s not just for me in my current condition, I do think this is essential for everyone visiting Spring Fair with a mammoth

17 miles of halls to potentially walk and maze of show stands.

Over the years I hope I’ve defined my planning so here are some of my personal top tips to bear in mind before you go.

I do find the Little Black Book from organisers i2i Events totally essential – I make all notes and contacts in here and scribble my timetable down in it. It’s light to carry and easy to throw in a bag.

As an agent I think it’s essential to have a wellplanned timetable spreading your time fairly across all principals.

This can end up going to pot slightly when you get doing an order with a customer on one stand and another customer wanting to place an order rings from another and you start wishing there were five of you to be in five different places!

Do make sure you plan your timetable around each hall in turn so you’re not doing too much walking and rushing from one hall to another as it’s a long day on your feet as it is.

With travel arrangements and hotel all sorted and booked it’s the little things too that are

● Floody hell – Wishes of Cockermouth is just one business affected by the persistent rain

will only be for a while.

Let’s hope as an industry we can also pull together and be mindful of areas that have been affected and maybe help a little by offering extended payment terms, and hold back on reminders?

– Neil Anthony

● Best seller – a very proud Alina receiving two awards for 2015 sales from Stoneglow’s National Sales Manager John Sellman

essential. Don’t forget your badge each day!

Sounds obvious but I forgot mine on two consecutive days last year, I think my head was more on where I needed to be rather than how I was to get in so then I had to re register twice!

Comfy shoes are essential, plus a water bottle and business cards – I’m always really surprised how many people forget them.

So if you see me waddling between halls in my comfy shoes, Little Black Book in one hand waving water bottle and business cards in the other, please do come over and say hi, I might be in need of a break and a sit down.

– Alina Clark

Neil Anthony (Reil (Reil Agencies, T: 07766 736254) and Alina Clark (T: 07906 792420) are experienced independent greetings industry sales agents in the North West and North East of England respectively. Each month they share their experiences of life on the road.

22 www.greetingstoday.co.uk

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Part of the Pukka Pad Group

COVERSTORY

PAW PATROL CHARACTERS RYDER Ryder is the leader, rescuer, and teacher of the pups. He has heart, a can-do-spirit and the skills Paw Patrol need to get the job done! During rescues you can catch Ryder on his hi-tech jet ski that transforms into an ATV or a snowmobile.

CHASE Using his police truck and megaphone, this German Shepherd is an athletic natural doggy leader who likes to take charge. Chase may be on the case, but he has to watch out for cats and feathers because he’s allergic.

There’s been no paws-ing for thought for Paw Patrol as the preschool brand has become an unstoppable phenomenon with consumer products flying off the shelves and Danilo Promotions will be driving the pup stars’ success into the new year.

Marshall From the firehouse to his fire truck, Marshall is a Dalmatian who is all action, easily excited, and the clumsy one of the group. The pups will always hear Marshall say, “I’m okay!”

T

HE PACK of six all-action pup stars who make up the Paw Patrol phenomenon have become a brand which is literally flying off shelves right now within consumer products.

SKYE Skye is a fearless and smart cockapoo who loves to fly in her helicopter or with the wings in her pup pack. She tries everything with a backflip, grace, and a smile.

ROCKY Rocky is a mix-breed pup who always has handy resources. He’s an enthusiastic recycling dog with a thousand ideas and tools inside his pup pack.

‘

RUBBLE

’

ZUMA Zuma is all about the water! This Chocolate Labrador loves to laugh and surf. He lives in his boathouse and dives into action in his hovercraft.

EVEREST Everest is a fun-loving Husky pup and the newest member of Paw Patrol. She lives with Jake on his snowy mountain and loves bellybogganing – sliding down mountains on her belly. Ice or snow, she’s ready to go!

TRACKER

24 www.greetingstoday.co.uk

The group of community-minded pups and their human friend Ryder combine action, adventure, heroism, teamwork and comedy to solve problems within Adventure Bay. With two series under their paws in their launch year already, 2016 will see season three airing with Chase, Rocky, Marshall, Rubble, Skye and Zuma being joined with new pup Tracker.

The team are led by tech-savvy 10-year-old Ryder and are rescue dogs in training – the pups are each inspired by a real-world job like fire fighter, police officer, and construction worker, with their fun-loving Husky pal Everest, and expert scout Tracker also helping out.

With a unique blend of problem-solving skills,, cool vehicles and physical humour, all the members of the Paw Patrol work together to protect the community.

Paw Patrol takes preschoolers on exciting rescues with hi-tech gadgets and transforming vehicles that translate into amazing consumer product opportunities.

Nick Jr have a special Paw Patrol section on their website with great activities where youngsters can colour in, be creative, play and watch their favourite pups.

Paw Patrol is now the number one contributor to the Nick Jr channel, accounting for 37 per cent of their ratings – looking at the total Nickelodeon network in the UK the show was the second biggest contributor in October behind Peppa Pig, accounting for 13 per cent of total ratings across their four digital channels.

On Channel 5’s Milkshake Paw Patrol achieved its best yet audience averaging 240,000 kids (428,000 individuals) on Monday, October 26, 2015 – this was Milkshake’s second biggest ratings performance of the year.

Internationally Paw Patrol has now reached more than 42.4million viewers across 13 countries and the brand is also on target to be the No1 new toy property according to NPD – it has already reached the top spot in the year to date and it’s currently double the retail sales value of the second-placed property.

For 2016 new vehicles and new pups are coming through, with season three featuring the introduction of the Air Patroller vehicle in a special episode and then featured in further tales during the season.

Having launched their initial Paw Patrol range in May, Danilo are now extending the boy and girl ages, relation captions, gift bags, roll wrap and sheet wrapping paper – to include the new characters and vehicles, many of which will be revealed at Spring Fair.

Spring Fair stand 3M16 – T: 01992 702900 www.danilo.com

For 2016 F ne vehicles new and new pups are g coming through h

Rubble is a gruff but a loveable English bulldog that knows all about skateboards and snowboards. He loves to get dirty then jump into a bath. There’s no job Rubble’s construction digger can’t scoop up!

This new pup is an expert scout and can guide anyone through the densest of jungles

Pup stars

NEW

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COVERSTORY

● Concept only design subject to approval

AT SPRING Fair, Danilo’s stand will be packed with new product and licences as well as extensions to existing licensed characters, films and ranges.

With Beano they will be publishing a retro classic card range which includes higher age, blanks and general birthday cards.

Following on from the huge success of the D Despicable Me and Minions brand in 2015, D Danilo will be featuring two new styles in the y year with Fluffy (unicorn) in spring and King B in the summer.

Bob They will be also be c continuing to expand the g general Despicable Me and M Minions card and gift wrap r range.

A 10-minute Minions minim movie called Mower Madness i planned to be shown in is c cinemas when the new film S Secret Life Of Pets is out so t there will be extra hype for b both licences there Talking of The Secret Life Of P Pets, this should be a popular film for 2016 and D Danilo will be including blank, relation, general a ages five to eight card designs as well as and flatwrap, rollwrap and gift bags.

The remake of Ghostbusters is being r released this year and the licensed product specialists will be looking at publishing cards in both new movie and retro styles. There will be designs based on the original 80s movie look or an older retro appeal as well as newer designs for the upcoming movie plus they will also be designing giftbags and wrap.

The My Little Pony licence has

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really grown in popularity during 2015 and is on the up so Danilo have extended the Christmas range for 2016 and will also be looking at birthday card and giftwrap refreshes.

The second outing of Paddington Bear is expected to be released in 2017 so for 2016 Danilo will be looking at expanding their current classic card range as well as moving into new ages three to six, general birthday cards and giftwrap and bags with designs based on the hit movie.

Shopkins is predicted to be one of the top girls’ toy brands in 2016 and has been a new licence for Danilo in 2015. ● Subject to approval A full range of everyday cards has just gone into stores but they will have a Christmas range ready for 2016, plus in January they released a stock of new Shopkins two-sheet two-tag giftwrap, rollwrap and gift bags.

www.greetingstoday.co.uk 17 19

SINCE 1994

Renewed synergy Greetings exhibitors are on the move at this year’s Spring Fair as the sector takes up residence in Hall 3 for the biggest selection of cards, giftwrap and stationery under one roof. ● Nick D avison

W

ITH A big move into Hall 3, Spring Fair organisers i2i Events are aiming to find renewed synergy with the Greetings & Gift and Party Show sectors at this February’s big show.

Almost 300 greeting card, stationery and giftwrap suppliers will join this sector of Spring Fair at the time of going to press, with dozens more set to participate by the time the show opens its doors at the NEC from February 7-11.

The exhibition will feature the biggest selection of greetings cards, gift wrappings and stationery to be found under one roof in the UK, including many brands exclusive to Spring Fair and scores of new exhibitors.

Organisers i2i Events have made two new senior appointments as part of a raft of initiatives being implemented for the 2016 edition. Nick Davison is the new Portfolio Director while Saul Leese joins as Head of Marketing, and they have introduced a Wish List function which gives buyers the opportunity to save and print their own shopping lists of favourite items from a comprehensive database of Spring Fair exhibitors’ products.

This handy online sourcing mechanism generates leads for exhibitors throughout the year – not just around show time – while greatly facilitating the selection process for buyers.

Nick said: “My primary objective – one that I am absolutely resolute on – is improving our customer experience. Putting exhibitors at the heart of what we do is fundamental.

“I am very proud to have been put in charge of such an important event and I have been working closely with both buyers and exhibitors to ensure Spring Fair 2016 fully represents the needs of our customers. I personally look forward to welcoming back new, lapsed and our very loyal exhibitors to next year’s show.“ Alongside the innovative Wish List functionality, Saul has introduced the new guide for buyers, a trend-focused UK publication highlighting the great new products available for retailers at Spring Fair.

‘

● Saul Leese

Saul said: “We’ve launched The Product Guides, which bring to life the very latest innovations available to buy at Spring Fair and also provide a year-round source of inspiration for buyers.”

Spring Fair is a fitting showcase for the fantastic British greetings industry, with more card publishers joining the event, and taking up far more exhibition space, than any other greetings or s stationery show in the UK. Recognising and c celebrating the creativity o niche publishers and of c contemporary designers, Spring F will showcase an impressive Fair r of design talent with artists, raft d designers and publishers i including the new Bubble o offering from Belly Button D Desigh, The Art File, Holy M Mackerel, Laura Sherratt, Berni P Parker, Emma Ball, Alternative Im Image Company, RetroCo, Two Little Boys, The Little Bells, Davora and Kali Stileman, formerly the Square Card Company.

They join an impressive line-up of the UK’s bigger greetings and giftwrap suppliers including Woodmansterne, Abacus, The Great British Card Company, Simon Elvin, Nigel Quiney, Glick, Blue Eyed Sun, Cherry Orchard, Emma Ball, Museums & Galleries, Pigment, Mint, Grass Roots and Jonny Javelin.

There are also complementary products from Pioneer Europe with their Qualatex balloon collection and Thorntons’ delicious chocolate selection, while suppliers who have diversified into gift ranges will be located on a contemporary greetings and gift boulevard near to the Gift section in Hall 4, including Bluebell 33, Belly Button, Caroline Gardner and Wrendale Designs.

i2i Events aim to deliver more British buyers to the stands o off e exhibitors xhibitors

28 www.greetingstoday.co.uk

’

● Please turn to next page

AWARDS ARE ON THE SPOT WORLD-FAMOUS designer Cath Kidson has agreed to become the Gifware Association’s new ambassador and will present the Gift Of The Year Awards at the upcoming Spring Fair.

Known for her iconic spotty polka dot and floral designs, Cath (pictured) was creative director for Cath Kidson Ltd until recently.

GA CEO Sarah Ward said: “This is a terrific coup.

Cath is revered in the gift and home industry and her involvement with Gift Of The Year is testament to the esteem in which the industry’s most prestigious competition is held.

“We are delighted that she wants to become a part of the great community that is The GA. Her presence will give great encouragement to all those who take part in Gift Of The Year, irrespective of whether they are successful or not.”

There has been a notable increase in Home Accessories, Card & Wrap and Branded/Character entries for the 2016 competition, for which the winners will be announced at Spring Fair, which runs at the NEC from Sunday to Thursday, February 7-11.

The shortlisted entries for the 20 categories were announced on January 5 and are available on the website, and on January 18 these were whittled down to three finalists in each category.

Cath will present the awards on the Trends Catwalk in Hall 20 on the opening Sunday evening of the show with the winning and highly-commended products then available to be viewed on The GA’s stand 5F84-G89 throughout the rest of the fair.

Traditionally the Card & Wrap category has been smaller so all entries went straight through to the second round of judging but it has now grown sufficiently that there was an online first round from which 13 products were shortlisted, from companies including The Art File – twice, for Roar and last year’s winner Form – plus Pigment, Saffron Cards & Gifts, Chocogreetings, IF (that company called), Nauticalia, Towell & Scott, Wraptious and Yoojoo The three finalists picked out are Really Good’s Showtime Card, Colour Me Bling from the Handcrafted Card Company, and The Teapot Dude’s All You Need Is Love And Tea range.

Cherry Orchard Publishing are extremely excited as their new Down Memory Lane Mugs, developed from the original greetings card range, have now been picked as one of the three finalists in the Commemorative & Collectable Gifts Category – the Celebration Boxes from RetroCo made it to the shortlists for both this and the Occasions category.

Wrendale Designs’ Letter Writing Set is one of the finalists in the Stationery category, and they got through to the shortlist with their Boxed Napkins in Kitchen & Dining.

Card and gift company Wraptious have reached the finals in Home Accessories with their VeganSuede Cushions in Home Accessories, while Two Little Boys were on the Festive & Seasonal shortlist for Something To Keep You Happy When The Grown Ups Are Busy. www.giftoftheyear.co.uk T: 0121 236 2657 www.ga-uk.org

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● Image from www.thetimes.co.uk

SPRINGFAIRPREVIEW

I N T RO D U C I N G

AN ENCHANTING NEW COLLECTION OF 46 BEAUTIFUL CARDS

Spring Fair 7-11 February 2016 – Stand 3SO7 www.theartfile.com WW W. T H E A RT F I L E . C O M SHARE DISCOVER REVIEW

SPRINGFAIRPREVIEW Not only do i2i Events aim to deliver more British buyers to the stands of exhibitors than any other gift industry fair – tens of thousands with an interest in greetings and stationery – but it is also the country’s leading export show, with far more international visitors from more countries than any other UK trade exhibition.

Under the new banner of Greetings & Gift, this vital sector is moving to Hall 3 for 2016, alongside complementary products in The Party Show, the country’s only dedicated event for the party products industry.

The re-edited layout in the hall is designed to emphasise the great synergy between these sectors, with party products adjacent to suppliers offering gift wrappings, bags, tags and ribbons and some of the best brands in the greetings world turning out to support what promises to be a spectacular showcase.

Unrivalled cross-over buying opportunities can be found within Spring Fair’s massive presentation of gifts, which covers everything from higher-end design-led contemporary giftware from UK and international suppliers, to traditional toys for children, home accessories and every kind of general gift imaginable.

www.springfair.com

GREETINGS & STATIONERY EXHIBITORS’ LIST 28 Celsius – Stand 3W15 Abacus Cards – 3P30 Abigail Mill – 3K50 Advent Gift Boxes – 3W52 Advocate Art – 3J31 Airguitar – 3H41 NEW Alex Clark Art – 3T17 Alison Gardiner Designs – 3L54 NEW Alljoy Design – 3W39 The Alternative Image Co – 3V11 Ambiente Europe – 3K01 Armorel Clinton – 3W60 NEW Artebene – 3Q20-R25 The Art File – 3S07 Artige – 3J33 Artoz – 3H23 Artpress – 3N19 Assaf Frank Photography & Licensing – 3P56 Avonside Publishing – 3M02 Bekking & Blitz – 3M43 NEW Belly Button Designs – 3T11 Berni Parker Designs – 3U15 BGC Studios – 3M14 Bird – 3V10 Blue Eyed Sun – 3X31 Blue Island Press – 3R28 Bluebell 33 – 3S09 Blueprint Collections – 3R08 Brainbox Candy – 3S50-T51 Bright Art Licensing – 3Q52 BrownTrout Publishers – 3P41 Buddy Fernandez – 3V65 Cara Greeting – 3U52 Cardelicious – 3L56 NEW Cardgains – 3L10-M11 Caroline Gardner – 3S08 Carousel Calendars - 3R31 Carte Blanche 3U02-4A21 NEW Celebration Cracker – 3H01 Charlie Foxtrot – 3L50 NEW Cherry Orchard – 3Q31 Chilli Melon – 3U62 NEW Chris Ceaser Photography – 3J52 CID – 4G88 Claire Giles Design – 3X19 Claire Louise – 3X39 Clare Baird – 3V61NEW Club Green – 3J17 Colcards – 3X41 Copson – 3U51 Country Cards – 3N21 Courtier Fine Art – 3W14 Creative Party – 3L10-M11 Creature Candy – 3H40 NEW Crist 1 – 3R39 NEW Dandelion Stationery – 3U53 NEW Danilo Promotions – 3M16 Davora – 3W40 Dean Morris Cards – 3V64

Deepmere – 3K34 NEW Deluxebase – 3K02 Demurez Artwork – 3V15 Deva Designs – 3P16-Q17 & 3L10-M11 The DM Collection – 3V32 Dodo Pad – 3X11 Double Thumbs Up – 3K41 NEW Dowman Imports – 3N33 NEW Dress My Cupcake – 3H20 Eaglemoss – 3J42 NEW Emma Ball – 3S03 Enesco – 4H100 NEW Enveco – 3T62 Envelopes Ltd – 3X10 Eurowrap – 3J10-K11 Ever Rich International – 3H32 NEW Ezen – 3T40 Fabrications – 3L30 NEW Fat White Cat Studio – 3K40 NEW Fay’s Studio – 3W53 Five Dollar Shake – 3S30 Flame Tree Publishing – 3N31 Forever Handmade Cards – 3S31 From You To Me – 3J50 NEW Furzedown Gallery – 3R30 Garden Greetings – 3K47 NEW GB Eye – 3K10-L11 The Gifted Stationery Co – 3L21 Ginger Ray – 3S19 Glasgow Packaging & Print – 3H56 Glebe Cottage – 3U61-60 Glick – 3P10-Q11 Go Stationery– 3L20-M21 Goldbuch Georg Brueckner – 3K31 NEW Grass Roots International – 3L16-M17 & 3L10-M11 Gravecard – 3L29 NEW The Great British Card Co – 3P22-Q23 & 3L10-M11 Hambledon Studios – 3M22 Hammond Gower – 3S27 The Handcrafted Card Co – 3T60 HartDeco – 3K44 Hazel Bee – 3L31 Hearts Designs – 3S40 Heather Alstead Designs – 3L34 Holy Mackerel – 3U11 Home Gift Group – 3N40 NEW Hype Associates – 3S60 Ideawood – 3H43 NEW Image Plus – 3U21 Image Source – 3R32 International Cards & Gifts – 3M30 & 3L10-M11 Is It Art – 3L13 & 3L10-M11 Italian Options – 3J21 Jacksons – 3L10-M11 Janie Wilson – 3T30 Jean Barrington – 3Q41 Jelly N Bean – 3T50

30 www.greetingstoday.co.uk

Jo Stockdales Country Images – 3T14 Jodds – 3Q01 John Austin Postcards – 3T36 John Palmer Designs – 3L52 Johnson Greetings – 3H42 NEW Jonny Javelin Card Co – 3R40 J Salmon – 3N35 Julia Hook Designs – 3V34 The Juniper Tree Card Co – 3V50 NEW Just Gemma – 3Q50 NEW Kali Stileman/The Square Card Co – 3K28 NEW Kate Guest – 3V51 Kenro – 4C45 Kevin Milner Photography – 3V17 NEW King Cole – 5D53 Lanther Black – 3V21 NEW Laura Darrington Design – 3U30 Laura Sherratt Designs – 3W21 Leonard Smith – 3U31 Lesser Spotted Images – 3M35 NEW Leuchtturm1917 – 3K20 Licorice Trading – 3W37 Linda Wood – 3W30 Ling Design – 3Q18-R21 & 3L10-M11 The Little Bells – 3M37 NEW The Little Dog Laughed – 3S10 Little Fingy – 3W11 Little Snoring Cards – 3W10 Liz Valenti – 3K33 NEW Lola Design – 3M39 NEW London Ornaments – 1F29 Look What I Found – 3L32 NEW Louise Mulgrew Designs – 3V63 NEW Louise Tiler – 3V13 Lucy Monkman – 3W33 Lucy Pittaway – 3M47 NEW Madame Treacle – 3V12 Martin Davis Agencies – 3M33 NEW Mask-Arade – 3B21 May Arts Ribbon – 3J18-K19 Megan Claire – 3V40 Mia Hague Illustration – 3L35 NEW Mint Publishing – 3N16 Mixed With Love – 3W50 NEW Molly Mae – 3U40 Mollymac – 3J43 NEW Moongazer – 3W51 Moonraker Design – 3Q40 NEW Morrigan – 4B01 Museums & Galleries – 3P17 My World – 3W66 Nancy & Betty Studio – 3T52 NEW Natural Partners – 3V31 Netherton’s – 3U32 Neviti – 3K21 Nigel Quiney – 3P10-Q11 Ningbo Inmax Stationery – 3H30 NEW Noel Tatt Group – 3K14-L15 Olive & Belle – 3W61

Olivia Goddard Designs – 3W38 Orange Licensing – 3J30 NEW Otter House – 3R31 Paper Art Viet – 3X61 NEW Paper Island – 4E30-F31 Paper Rose – 3M10-N11 Paper Salad – 3U10 Paperclip Cards – 3Q30 Peartree Heybridge – 4A01 Peel Cards – 3R02 Penfold Card & Gift – 3T20 Penny Kennedy – 3R20 Penny Lindop Designs – 3K42 Perfect Timing – 3L47/3L40 NEW Perkins & Morley – 3V20 Piccadilly Greetings – 4B09 NEW Pigment Productions – 3R26 Pink Pineapple – 3U50 Pocket Typewriter – 3V35 Pomegranate – 3T21 Popshots Studios – 3U14 Popzle – 3W63 NEW Portfolio – 3Q08 Portfolio Select – 3M50 Pulp Cards – 3Q02 Quire Publishing – 3P20-Q21 Quotable Cards – 3S18 Qualatex 3G10-H11 & 3G12-H13 Rachel Ellen Designs – 3R07 NEW Raspberry Blossom – 3V53 Really Wild Cards – 3R42 Redback Cards – – 3U41 Regent Envelopes – 3R58 RetroCo – 4J16 Ribbon Print – 3H33 The Ribbon Printing Co – 3H16 Richard Sellmer – 3K38 Robert Frederick – 3K12 Robert W Strange – 3G35 NEW Robertston Collection – 3L44 NEW Rock Off Retail – 3J16-K17 Roger La Borde – 3T31 Rose Hill Designs – 3U20 Rothbury Publishing – 3P52 RSW International – 3H10-J11 Rush Designs – 3V60 Ryland Studios – 3L33 NEW Sabivo Design – 3W18 Sandscript Cards – 3X51 Santoro – 3S02-4A11 Sarunds – 3L10-M11 Second Nature – 3P50 Seedlings Cards & Gifts – 3M41 NEW Sensations International – 3N50 NEW Shachihata – 3F52 NEW Shenglu-Pacific Stationery Co – 3J32 Sifcon – 4G31 Silk Hat Greetings – 3N30 Simon Elvin – 3N15

Somssicard – 3S39 NEW Space Hippo – 3L10-M11 Special Editions – 3L10-M11 Special Impression – 3S20 Star Editions – 3K16-L17 The Steel Rooms – 3L36 Stellar – 3F32 NEW The Stamford Notebook Co – 3K43 The Steel Rooms – 3L36 NEW Stephanie Lidbetter Illustrations – 3K32 NEW Sue Fenlon Art – 3L58 NEW Susan Entwistle – 3W62 Susan O’Hanlon – 3L41 Suttons Packaging/Seaman Paper Co – 3H18 SWA – 3J20 Tache Crafts – 3W20 Talking Pictures – 3Q16-R19 & 3L10-M11 Talking Tables – 3Q10-R11 Tango Books – 3X21 Telegramme Paper – 3G40 NEW Think Of Me – 3T19 Thorntons – 3M01 Tizaro – 3V30 Toasted Crumpet Designs – 3J54 NEW Tomcat Cards – 3W31 Tracks Publishing – 3P31 Trinity Xtras – 4A30 Trumpers World – 3W13 Tulip Studio Products Co – 3M20 Tweet-Art – 3K30 Twizler – 3R38 Two Bad Mice – 3L46 NEW Two Little Boys – 3T33 Two Little Monkeys – 3V14 UK Creative Media – 4C40 UK Greetings – 3L10-M11 The Unique Paper Co – 3P40 NEW Veb Company – 3H31 Waggydogz – 3X13 Waverley Books – 3J44 NEW Wax Lyrical – 4D40-E41 Wendy Aldrich Textiles – 3K32 NEW Wendy Jones-Blackett – 3N17 We’ve-A-Gift – 3L10-M11 White Cotton Cards – 3T10 White Pebble – 4F40 Willow Design – 3J45 NEW Woodmansterne – 3N10-P11 Woollytales – 3G42 NEW Words ’n’ Wishes – 3L10-M11 Wraptious – 3W32 Wrendale Designs – 3R10 Xiamen Jiaxin Cardboard Display – 3G50 NEW YCUK – 3X15 Xpressions 4 U – 3L10-M11 Xystos – 3L10-M11

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SPRINGFAIRPREVIEW

Prime position secured THE GREETINGS sector may have been moved into Hall 3 for Spring Fair but it will be business as usual for Woodmansterne as they have again secured the prime front spot right at the entrance.

Managing Director Paul Woodmansterne explained: “It’s important to us to maintain our prominent position at Spring Fair. We are still principally a boutique publisher, virtually unexposed in supermarkets but, nevertheless, we try to be the independent retailer’s most relevant supplier of beautifully-produced, British cards.”

And there’s plenty going on among the Woodmansterne collections with their new Hysterical Histories range featuring Bayeux Tapestry-style action scenes with hilarious contemporary captions that has already become an instant hit in Somerset.

Launching at the show, they also have an evocative, black and white photographic range – which Paul believes is the way to put art back into photography.

Under the collective banner of Stand Up, Woodmansterne are introducing the work of two young greetings card comedians, Maria Scrivan and Berger & Wyse.

And in their new range Shine Like The Stars,

32 www.greetingstoday.co.uk

inspiration comes in the form of the words expressed, giving the sort of gentle encouragement everyone needs from time to time and the shimmering style of these cards brings a fresh approach to this genre.

Artist Matt Sewell is an avid ornithologist, regular contributor to the Caught By The River website and author of five books, including the bestselling Our Garden Birds and Our Songbirds.

Woodmansterne have come up with a wonderful selection of his engaging bird illustrations that are making an impact up and down the country.

The Woodmansterne stand is the place to find all these plus hundreds of new occasion, relation and age cards, their new Christmas Arcade with the all-new advent calendar range from Caltime, as well has what Paul believes is the best brokerage solution on the market.

Stand N10-P11 – T: 01923 200600 www.woodmansterne.com www.facebook.com/greetingstodaymag @greetingstoday

Over 90 new lines

added to the Collection See the full collection at Spring Fair in Hall 3 Stand P10/Q11

Glick, Unit 1 Allenby House, European Industrial Park Knowles Lane, Bradford BD4 9AB Tel: 01274 655980 email: sales@glick.co.uk

www.glick.co.uk

SPRINGFAIR

It’s all about the new stuff NEW HALL, new stands, new location and plenty of new products can be found on The Cardgains Village this year.

A warm welcome for members, potential members and industry friends and colleagues will also be found on The Village, right at the front of Hall 3 as visitors come into the exhibition.

Chris Dyson, Cardgains Joint Managing Director, said: “Trade shows still play a major part in ensuring retailers can see what’s on offer from suppliers. Not just in product but also in merchandising, display options and ideas.

The Village this year is full of just that – great products with some great options and ideas in displaying the product.

“The Space Hippo pod will, without a doubt, create some fantastic interest. This instore card personalisation centre is a mustsee option on this year’s Village.”

Romantic start to year HOLY Mackerel are off to a romantic start to 2016, with their new Billy Doo range that’s fabulously finished with gorgeous red glitter.

This is a brand new range from best-selling artist Erica Sturla, and the 12 designs are aimed squarely at loved-up couples everywhere.

And talking of romance, Holy Mackerel have extended their Tea For Two range featuring Kate Brazier’s beautiful decoupage artwork. Now covering anniversaries one to five, as well as the biggies – 10 (tin), 25 (silver) and 50 (gold of course) – this is the perfect range for those special celebrations.

In 2015 Holy Mackerel launched a new Small Fry range of mini cards which had such a great reaction that for 2016 there are now 52 designs in total, featuring designs from the, as well as artist Erica.

To show these cute little 100x100mm cards

34 www.greetingstoday.co.uk

off to their best advantage, the Devon-based publishers are now offering two great value spinner deals, a neat hexagonal 48 pocket spinner, and a handy little counter display unit that will take 24 designs – perfect for those little add-ons to a gift purchase!

Of course it wouldn’t be a new year without fresh One Lump Or Two designs, and 2016 is no exception – Erica Sturla has been hard at work creating her polymer clay figures, and you’ll find lots of new designs in this phenomenally successful range, which now includes around 250 cards.

Particularly exciting for this spring is the brand new series of Welsh language cards in this range – 14 designs so far with more on the way.

Stand 3U11 – T: 01395 578571 www.holy-mackerel.co.uk

This year The Village has a great new look supported by a great mix of suppliers and their product, including cards, gifts, balloons, party, chocolates, retail development and the launch of Space Hippo, the new in-store personalised greeting card concept – there really is something for everyone Cardgains suppliers exhibiting include Creative Party, Deva Designs, Grass Roots, IC & G, Is It Art, Jacksons, Ling Design, Sarunds, Space Hippo, Special Editions, Talking Pictures, The Great British Card Company, UK Greetings, We’ve-A-Gift, Words ‘n’ Wishes, Xpressions 4U and Xystos.

The annual Cardgains charity cheque presentation will take place on The Village on Monday, February 8, at 1pm, with this year’s £20,000 being handed over to representatives from The Calvert Trust.

The Cardgains charity of the year for 2015 are putting the money towards a new minibus for their Lake District centre and all challengers who took part in the Withering Thighs event to raise the sum are welcome to the presentation.

And of course, the Cardgains team will be on hand to welcome existing members and independent retailers wishing to discover what’s on offer at Cardgains –passionate about independent retailing!

Stand 3L10/M11 – T: 0845 166 2054 www.cardgains.co.uk

www.facebook.com/greetingstodaymag @greetingstoday

we’ve got giftware all wrapped up 29th Jan–2nd Feb 2016: Christmasworld, Frankfurt, Germany.

Enesco France: Hall 9.1 Stand C78 Enesco Ltd.: Hall 9.1 Stand C71

7th–11th February 2016: International Spring Fair NEC, Birmingham, Hall 4 Stand 4H80-J81 12th–16th Feb 2016: Ambiente, Frankfurt, Germany.

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SPRINGFAIRPREVIEW

Booting up a new look THERE’S A totally new look from Claire Louise with their new Clanelly range that artist Claire Hill has created as a spin off from the All In Boots range.

The artwork is influenced by her childhood memories and created using soft pastels, and each card cello-wrapped with a cream envelope.

There are six 155x155mm designs all ready for the show, and Claire is busy drawing more ready to present on her stand.

Stand 3X39 – T: 07715 373344 www.clairelouise.eu

Be there or be square PERKINS & Morley will be showcasing a fanfare of new greetings card ranges, a plethora of new gift ideas and a host of new homewares at Spring Fair.

Highlights include a new chopping board featuring Collective Noun illustrations, new tablemats and a new 2017 Collective Noun calendar – be there or be square.

Stand 3V20 T: 01539 564247 or 01626 888069 www.perkinsandmorley.com

36 www.greetingstoday.co.uk

Highlighting the big dates THE BRAND-new collection of 2017 dated calendars and diaries from BrownTrout will again number 600 fabulous titles of which about 13 per cent are new ones.

Here are a few highlights: NARCOS is the hit Netflix series about the narco-trafficking syndicates that have become the most insidious and dangerous criminal organisations in the history of the world. The first series has had sensational reviews and already gained a rabid following both here and in the USA. The second and third series are eagerly awaited. The wall calendar is hugely anticipated by the fans.

WARHAMMER has been around since 1987 and still remains the number one fantasy game for fans both old and new.

Showcasing fantastic original artwork in a square wall calendar, this title is expected to perform well both at retail and on the internet.

THE WILD ATLANTIC WAY square wall calendar has been added this year due to demand from BrownTrout’s Irish customers.

This popular tourist route runs down the

stunning West Coast of Ireland, a region that has provided the stunning backdrop for some of cinema’s most iconic and enduring moments.

NATURE’S INSPIRATION is a wonderful addition to the range this year. In 2013, artist Marjolein Bastin received a LOUIE Award for lifetime achievement from the US Greeting Card Association, one of only two artists to be honoured in this way. Her artwork is found on greetings cards, gifts, tableware and many other products. There will be a deluxe wall calendar and a diary.

JOHANNA BASFORD is a market leader in the worldwide craze of adult colouring books having sold a staggering 10,000,000 copies since 2013. Following the late addition of her Secret Garden 2016 wall calendar, Johanna returns with a full 2017 range of two wall calendars, diary and keepsake day-today calendar.

Stand 3P41 – T: 0117 317 1880 www.browntroutuk.com

www.facebook.com/greetingstodaymag @greetingstoday

Join us at the Spring Fair,

Hall 3 - Stand 3Q31, 7-11 February, NEC

Branded display stand available and FREE presentation boxes 01684 295500 cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk | info@cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk @cherryorchardp

#downmemorylane

Cards & GIFTS

At Thorntons we know that chocolate is the perfect gift for any occasion! If you run a Card and Gift shop, our delicious chocolate adds an extra special touch to all your gifts, at every season.

We want to make sure we give you the best possible options to enhance your in-store gifting opportunities – which is where “Thorntons …in your store” comes in!

“Thorntons…in your store” gives you and your shoppers

... in your store

... join us at

the full range of passionately crafted Thorntons chocolates olates in duct ranges in store. beautiful packaging, that will compliment all your product For 3 years we’ve been proud to roll out our successful ‘new ew concept stores’ that feature new furnishings and elaborate finishes, all lit up with state of the art lighting that truly showcases the fantastic range we offer. We know these finishing touches will make all the difference in your store(s)!

Come and see us for a chat and a chocolate (or two)! Next xt to the entrance, Hall 3 stand M01

SPRINGFAIR

Focus on what they do best THIS promises to be a very exciting year for Grass Roots International as, after completing a move into a new warehouse in September, they went on to consolidate their product base by selling the Card Essentials brand.

This now allows Grass Roots to move forward and enables them to focus on what they do best – concentrate on verse and sentiment product both in the traditional field and in the younger, more contemporary market.

There has already been a great new offering for January 1, which featured the work of the

Debbi Moore Design House quite heavily, among a number of other brand new ranges.

This will be followed by a rolling programme of new product throughout 2016 starting with the lovely new ranges to be launched at the Spring Fair.

As illustrated, this includes a brand new code 125 range covering a wide range of titles and finished to the usual high standard featuring sparkling flitter and gorgeous foiled detail.

Here’s looking forward to an exciting 2016!

Stand 3L16-M17 & 3L10-M11 – T: 0151 541 0448 www.writefromtheheart.co.uk

There’s a lot to show off MUSEUMS & Galleries’ stand will be bulging with exciting new developments this February as the company have a lot to show off – major new licences, new card ranges and new product categories, plus a new push into dated product with calendars and a much expanded Year Planner selection.

The eye-catching major new licence is the Matthew Williamson range of branded gift stationery, giftwrap and greetings cards. The range features a gold foil accent on many of the gift stationery products and branding, adding a premium look and feel to complement the vibrant colour of the iconic British designers’ amazing original prints.

M&G are also launching the new blank card range Crafted, a curated edit of the best contemporary craft-based art with 16 detailed, bold, vibrant, and fun designs from six designers.

In their hugely successful and long-running range The Illustrators, M&G are very proud to be working with Anita Jeram’s legendary artwork for the classic illustrated book Guess How Much I Love You, written by Sam McBratney and published

by Walker Books. There are six new blank card designs, with another four for Christmas. There are two everyday notelet formats and a mini cube box for Christmas.

Also new in The Illustrators are four designs featuring Tony Ross’s lovable and very relatable canine character Towser, from the vintage ITV series. These charming images have a subtly fun, masculine appeal.

All of the M&G’s other core ranges - Classics, Art of Print, British Library, and especially Mezzanine – have had a considerable refresh, with many new designs added.

M&G’s gift stationery selection sees wonderful new journals from the V&A and British Library, as well as the Matthew Williamson launch. The British Library Journals reproduce antique covers from classic Victorian books – Jules Verne; Sherlock Holmes, etc – in beautiful gold foil while the V&A’s range of elasticated journals is increased by four titles, and the V&A also dominates in a new range of 10 soft-cover slimline notebooks aimed at on-the-go list and note making.

40 www.greetingstoday.co.uk

M&G have traditionally been very strong in Christmas, and this year launch two exciting and very different foiled ranges – The Gilded Press featuring contemporary icons foiled and embossed on a tactile cream uncoated board, and Fitzwilliam Masterpieces featuring foiled medieval illuminated manuscripts from the collections at the Fitzwilliam Museum which celebrates its 200th anniversary in 2016. They also offer a new tented box format for Christmas, and an expanded range of Theme Packs.

M&G report their HQ is besieged every December by customers after Year Planners and, to meet demand, the company has increased the range to 12, for the first time including six of the most popular V&A designs.

Building on the strength of this product, M&G have launched six wall calendars in square and slim formats. Designs include the vintage favourite Eric Ravilious, and contemporary printmakers Richard Spare, Kay McDonagh and Sonia Rollo.

Stand 3P17 – T: 0116 230 4197 www.museumsgalleries.co.uk www.facebook.com/greetingstodaymag @greetingstoday

Christmas 2016 from Jonny Javelin

Velvet Tidings is one of our 3 brand new ranges for Christmas 2016.

Customers will be coming to your shop expecting the best! We wouldn’t want to disappoint them. Velvet Tidings is the same fantastic formula, but with dozens of magical new images.

Also in the package...

Fudge Frosties - 57 titles

Tel: 01423 563740

info@jonnyjavelin.co.uk

Mistletoe & Wine - 46 titles

www.jonnyjavelin.co.uk

SPRINGFAIRPREVIEW

Flower jewels and bows SABIVO Design are launching the chic new range Bijoux at Spring Fair with monochrome line work featuring hand-illustrated designs of fashion shoes, posh teacups, champagne flutes.

The artwork is accentuated with gold paint and hand-finished with colourful cup flower jewels and organza bows on the 20 designs across everyday and popular occasion captions.

Sabivo have expanded their popular handfinished Garden range with 20 new everyday and occasion captions, featuring chicken, sheep, birds and colourful garden blooms .

Stand 3W18 – T: 0116 225 8255 www.sabivo.co.uk

Looks a lot like Christmas NEWLY-renamed Widdop & Co’s Christmas 2016 is open right through to March 31 at their head office in Oldham, Manchester, where the collection boasts nine stunning festive stories incorporating tree decorations, festive home accessories and candle holders.

Visitors to the showroom will be treated to an amazing array of eye-catching themes with ideas galore for in-store merchandising.

Widdop’s Christmas collection is also featuring at Spring Fair where the nine stunning festive stories incorporating tree decorations, festive home accessories and candle holders. There’s an amazing array of eye-catching themes with ideas galore for in-store merchandising.

Stand 4G10-J11 – T: 0161 688 1200 www.widdop.co.uk

Showcasing designs and ranges EVERYONE at Pigment is very excited with the launch of their new 2016 product ranges.

Showcasing at both Top Drawer and Spring Fair visitors can see their comprehensive Love Unlimited photographic integrated offer, and their Henries Award-winning Alice Scott collection has a new milestone age series.

The Alice Scott range was also shortlisted in the 2016 Gift Of The Year Cards & Wrap category.

They have added 21 new integrated designs to Murray while Fabrics has a brand-new line extension with a standout colourway and an updated editorial tone.

January also saw the launch of The Thing About Dogs… with 13 beautiful lithographs by renowned illustrator Emma Thomson.

At Spring Fair they will also unveil the Fox & Butler designer collection in its unique oak-finish table display.

Stand 3R26 – T: 01423 520098 www.pigmentproductions.com

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www.facebook.com/greetingstodaymag @greetingstoday

SPRINGFAIRPREVIEW

Popping up in neons AFTER their biggest festive season in Glick’s history, the team are very excited to launch their Christmas 2016 collection.

The collection includes designs from their amazing licences Wendy Jones Blackett and Paper Salad as well as their classical foils.

The Glick accessories collection has been increased to meet demand, and there’s also a brand-new Neon Revolution range with six flat wraps, three ranges of bags and two tissue papers – it’s on trend and in your face neon chic.

Glick have also signed a reciprocal licence deal with Simsons in Australia to launch some of their beautiful Make it Pop designs into the UK. This range is dated with Born In 2016 and Married In 2016 for those very special gifts.

T: 01274 655980 www.glick.co.uk

More by popular demand THE Little Bells create cute and adorable hand-illustrated animal character cards, these unique designs appeal to children and adults alike.

Due to popular demand they have added Baby Shower and New Baby titles to The Trinkets range, which is printed on 150x150mm

44 www.greetingstoday.co.uk

textured board and sold cello-wrapped with heavyweight white envelopes.

Stand 3M37 – T: 07771 891895 www.thelittlebells.com www.facebook.com/greetingstodaymag @greetingstoday

SPRINGFAIRPREVIEW

A hectic time was had by all IT’S BEEN somewhat hectic at Emma Ball Ltd the past four months, what with designing new ranges as well as working with Eric Heyman, Shelly Perkins and Caroline Cleave for the 2016 catalogue – and they also managed to squeeze in a move to the top floor of their building!

With lots of new products launching in the spring Emma is especially excited about her super splendid set of 70x135mm pocket shopping notepads.

Finished in a lovely matt and kept closed by matching elastic, with 80 lined pages, six designs and retailing at just £3.50 – what are you waiting for??

More mad cards from the lovely Eric Heyman are available this year at Emma Ball including additions to his sporting range with golfers, skiers and a rugby-playing dragon for his Welsh language range.

Most of Eric’s cards are also available in Welsh so do contact them for more details.

From Shelly Perkins there are more lovely new cards as well as adding her gorgeous images to coasters, notebooks, padlocks and mini notecards – this one is a particular favourite with the staff this year!

Based on the mad success of Caroline Cleave’s work at Emma Ball in 2015 they’ve really gone for it this year with 18 new cards including 12 florals – some of which will be available in Welsh – plus notebooks, padlocks, coasters, melamine and fabrics.

This very lovely daffodil card is a great reminder that spring is only a few weeks away!

Stand 3S03 – T: 0115 9858081 www.emmaball.co.uk

Refreshed in lots of different languages FOLLOWING a successful 10 years in the greetings card industry and an ever-growing presence, Davora are entering their second decade with refreshed enthusiasm.

Their Welsh card brand, Pili Pala, enters 2016 with twice the number of designs as last year – now 60 in total – and, following customer requests and feedback, the range now includes Christmas, St David’s Day and age-specific birthday cards.

Also on the back of customer demand, at Spring Fair Davora will be launching their new Misiu Cards brand dedicated to Polish captions.

In case you’re wondering, Misiu is Polish for teddy bear – how cute – and the initial range of 30 designs including birthday, Easter and Polish Mother’s Day. There are new additions across the bread-andbutter Davora ranges for Eid, Diwali, Jewish Occasions and Chinese New Year too.

Don’t forget to pop over to the Davora stand at Spring Fair where you can collect your free 2016 wallplanners to keep an eye on all the ethnic occasions.

Stand 3W40 T: 0161 641 0655 www.davora.co.uk

46 www.greetingstoday.co.uk

www.facebook.com/greetingstodaymag @greetingstoday

All you need for a

M agical

Christmas

from Nigel Quiney Publications 100% Brand new!

Captions

237 fabulous designs No carry over Traditional and contemporary design content Luxurious finishing including flitter, flute foiling and die-cutting Award winning Pizazz hments Best selling honeycomb attachments New balanced plans Prices frozen

Pizazz Boxed

Pizazz P zz Snowballs

Christmas wouldn’t be the same without us! . Shire Hill . Saffron Walden . Essex CB11 3FB . T: 01799 520200 www.nigelquiney.com . facebook.com/nigelquineypublicationslimited Cloudesley House

Follow us on Twitter @NQPcards

SPRINGFAIR

New company Bubbles up BELLY Button Bubble is the new giftware company created by Rachel Hare, the founder of Belly Button Designs Ltd, and her Finance Director Kimberley Williams, that will debut at Spring Fair.

While the brand-new collections of gift bags, rollwrap and tissues are Belly Button to a tee in terms of design and quality, under the new trading name Belly Button Bubble it will stand alone as a company and the creators believe they will fill a gap in the market for fresh design led product.

Rachel heads up design for Belly Button Bubble and believes the experience gained through Belly Button producing their own bags and licensing designs has given them a strong platform to build on.

Production, stock management and lead times were a key consideration, and one of the added strengths of this venture is the partnering with a third party based in the UK, who have an excellent and well-established network of production facilities.

Belly Button Bubble will be using the same fulfillment facility as Belly Button Designs so customers will experience fast turnaround and great customer service.

Kimberley, who will look after production and sales, said “Stock will be closely managed so we can continuously offer our customers beautifully designed products that will be delivered quickly to maximize repeat orders throughout the seasons.”

Stand 3T11 – T: 0161 902 0200 www.bellybuttonbubble.com

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YOUR ONE-STOP CALENDAR SOLUTION...

www.carouselcalendars.co.uk Telesales enquiries – Cheryl Castleton National account – Andy Bissell

ccastleton@carouselcalendars.co.uk abissell@carouselcalendars.co.uk

01603 677 315 07980 767 783

HA LL VIS 3 IT ST U AN S A D T 3R 31

Stock and exclusive ranges, managed programmes, displays, advice and sales support from the industry experts.

For all categories of calendars, including art and photographic, see our brochure – The Great Big Calendar Collection

SPRINGFAIRPREVIEW

Fresh additions on display MORE than 200 new greetings card designs for 2016 will be on display from The Art File at Spring Fair this year, including additions to popular ranges Form, Rock on, and Ink Press Colour alongside fresh, new everyday designs.

The Art File’s Christmas 2016 collection will be unveiled for the first time to showgoers – after a hugely successful seasonal campaign in 2015 this latest range will be their best festive offering to date.

Having won the Card & Wrap category with Form in the 2015 Gift Of The Year, they were honoured to be shortlists again with the range this year, as well as with Roar, plus their Mirage Stationery made the shortlist in the Stationery section.

They hope to see you at Spring Fair this year in their new location for what promises to be a fantastic show.

Stand 3S07 – T: 0115 850 7490 www.theartfile.com

Ladies are out for fun NEW FOR this year the fun-loving Ladies Who Love Life collection has 16 new designs further extending the substantial range.

The new relations and designs depicting everyday situations that most ladies out for fun will have found themselves in at one time or another, make great cards that will make you and your friends smile.

The same recognisable Berni Parker humour finds its way into the complementary Men Who Love Life range of cards which has been refreshed with 13 new everyday, occasions and relations designs.

Following the successful launch of the From The Heart range of general occasions cards eight new designs have been added to the range all presented in Berni’s soft-textured 3D-style with silver foiling – also in this style are eight new Little Whispers baby cards, again with silver foiling.

A new licence for Ladies Who Love Life wine glasses has been agreed and these will be available in the UK in late spring.

All these designs along with Berni Parker’s new spring brochure can be seen on their Spring Fair stand.

Stand 3E19 – T: 01299 406098 www.berniparkerdesigns.com

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www.facebook.com/greetingstodaymag @greetingstoday

This year IC&G are excited to bring you even more new trends through our designs and with over 100 designs being launched, we have so much in store for you this year!

www.icgcards.com

01202 897 494

customerservice@icgcards.com

SPRINGFAIRPREVIEW SP S PR RIIING NG N GF FA AIR IRP PR REV EVIIE EW

Finalists make it a year to remember STARTING the celebrations for their 21st anniversary, Cherry Orchard will be seeing in the new year in style, taking a cup of kindness for Auld Lang Syne with the launch of their brand new nostalgic line of Down Memory Lane gift mugs for 2016.

To mark their 21 years and to launch several exciting new collections, including the new Christmas designs for 2016, there will be a buzz of activity as the sales team invite everyone to take a wander Down Memory Lane and compete in The Rubik’s Challenge or take part in a draw to win £500 worth of Christmas cards (based on RRP).

For all new accounts opening with an initial order of more than £250 there will be a free bonus collection included of 21 packs of different designs.

John and Jackie Collins started the company on April 1, 1995, with a range of traditional and sentiment cards and a focus on excellent customer service and value for money.

With Jackie having the key to the door 21 years later, and taking full ownership of the business, the focus remains as ever on quality, value and service, and with their leading ranges – Down Memory Lane, Lola, Ooh La La, Kaleidoscope and Mikiko – now expanding into extended lines, the launch of the mugs marks a strong brand development, diversifying into the giftware market and opening up a wealth of new possibilities.

The Down Memory Lane mugs have got the year off to a good start by first being shortlisted in the 2016 Gift Of The Year Commemorative & Collectable Gifts category – and they’ve now heard that they have been picked as one of the three finalists.

There’s a busy year ahead, with a schedule of sales training and marketing plans focusing around a theme of Looking To The Future And Embracing Change. It’s this determined focus on business and product development that drives the company forward.

Being one of just a handful of publishers who only use their own employed sales team puts the business in a uniquely strong position to listen and respond to feedback from their customer base.

Running the Shop Of The Month competition is just one of the initiatives set up to help businesses promote their shops by offering prizes as incentives for eye-catching window displays and a good range of quality products.

Cherry Orchard put publicity campaigns into place for the

52 www.greetingstoday.co.uk

chosen winners, through local press coverage and social networks, and the seven monthly winners have found new customers coming through the doors who’d seen articles in the local papers.

The finalists will now go through to the grand prize draw at Spring Fair where one will win £1,000 worth of greetings cards (based on RRP) – details of a brand-new campaign to help support independent traders will be launched at Spring Fair.

Surveys and feedback from customers will be at the forefront of the team’s business plans, to monitor and improve all areas and the company is investing in new software and technology to make sure that customer support and order processing is kept under constant review.

It was in response to retailers’ suggestions that the Down Memory Lane mugs were developed, and there are now branded display stands for the 24 male and female design plus free POS and promotional support. A branding strategy has also focused on developing the other ranges in the Cherry Orchard portfolio throughout the year, with the popular Lola, Mikiko, Ooh La La and Minor Titles in the Kingfisher Card range all adding new extensions to their lines.

Cherry Orchard are building consumer demand into their product development, understanding the market and knowing consumers are looking for hard-to-find minor titles cards with double captions for age and relations, or for male designs and contemporary square card styles.

The new Timeless Moments range launching at Spring Fair will offer a contemporary line of square male design cards and, with the market for value range cards also flourishing, the new Kaleidoscope range will focus on a wide range of quality cards that retail at 99p.

Asked to reflect on the past 21 years and the way ahead for Cherry Orchard, Jackie tells the story of the day she put the finishing touches to the Down Memory Lane products and noticed she shares the April 1 anniversary date with Apple computers, who celebrate 40 years in 2016.

The inspiration for the yearly sales conference fell into place with the words of the late Steve Jobs: “Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realise it themselves.”

Stand 3Q31 – T: 01684 295500 www.cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk www.facebook.com/greetingstodaymag @greetingstoday

SPRINGFAIRPREVIEW

Vintage evolution BLUE Eyed Sun have launched a gorgeous new range of hand-finished greetings cards called Vintage Too which is an evolution of their best-selling Vintage range.

Based on original embroidered artworks by award-winning textile artist Jo Corner, these 125x125mm designs are beautifully litho-printed on thick watercolour board and finished with jewels in the UK. Retailing for £2.99, the range includes 36 designs that cover birthdays and major card sending occasions.

Sold in sixes to trade buyers only, the cards are blank inside, barcoded and cello-wrapped with a coloured envelope and all are printed on board from sustainable sources.

Blue Eyed Sun’s cards are available to order through their easy-to-use, tradeonly website, 2016 brochure or team of sales agents across the country.

Stand 3X31 – T: 01273 823003 www.blueeyedsun.co.uk

Invested in most on-trend art THIS IS set to be another fantastic year for Mint, with a brilliant assortment of new products launching at Spring Fair.

As always, they have invested a lot into combining the most on-trend artworks with quality production materials, in order to create fabulous products for their customers.

Liquorice is a gorgeous, fashion-led range that features a lettering-based style in a stunning black and bright palette, finished with a gleaming copper-toned foil, embossing and a glossy UV varnish.

These bold designs are sure to make a huge impact in any display, with a new larger 9” x 6”size available for those extra-special occasions.

The fabulous Knit & Purl characters are at it again, this time in the brand-new range Knitted Ditties!

Written by Alison Cooke, this collection of versed cards feature humorous rhymes, ranging from pun-based whimsy to tongue-in-cheek naughtiness. Bright and colourful, these designs are finished with UV Varnish.

Mint introduced a new artist to the Cool Britannia range in the summer of 2015 and, following a great reception, 36 new designs have been added to the collection.

This fresh, updated look brings a new vitality to the range, whilst not forgetting their topselling, existing card designs.

As well as greetings cards, Mint have created a gorgeous collection of brand-new, contemporary gift wrap designs, based on top-selling ranges.

Designs feature a variety of finishes, including flitter and UV varnish and, to coordinate with the fantastic new wraps, six new gift bag designs are also being launched, each available in three sizes and finished with flitter or foiling, with coordinating ribbon or cord handles.

As well as are new ranges, there are new additions to top-selling, existing collections, with brand new designs in Jackpot, Buddi Bunni, Ha Pea Times, Sweets Tweets and many more!

Don’t forget that even more products are available to view on Mint’s brand-new website.

Stand 3N16 – T: 0116 230 4197 www.mint-publishing.co.uk

54 www.greetingstoday.co.uk

www.facebook.com/greetingstodaymag @greetingstoday

GRASS ROOTS INTERNATIONAL

Christmas Collection 2016

CODE 125 £2.99

CODE 540 BOXED £7.99

CODE 150 £3.49

COME AND SEE THE FULL CHRISTMAS COLLECTION AT...

NEC SPRING FAIR HALL 3, STAND L12-M13

CODE 75 £2.15 E-mail: sales@writefromtheheart.co.uk Web: www.writefromtheheart.co.uk Tel: 0151 541 0448

SPRINGFAIR

1,000 titles in one-stop shop EXETER-based publisher and distributor Carousel Calendars had an excellent year in 2015, distributing more than 6,500,000 calendars and diaries.

As the largest distributor of calendars in the UK, they offer over 1,000 titles to a wide range of clients, including large grocers, High Street shops, small independents and traditional bookshops.

Carousel Calendars also distributed over 400 titles for other leading UK publishers, as well as a selection from the US, creating a one-stop shop for customers where all the top calendars and diaries could be found.

Their extensive range covers all categories – humour, entertainment, sport, travel, animals and regional, plus a variety of highly popular licensed and charity titles.

Licensing has once again proven a benefit to both Carousel and their partners, with sales revenue increasing year on year and up 11.5 per cent on 2013, while licensing deals increasing by 22 per cent over the last three years.

For 2017 Carousel will hold 95 licences, which include the addition of some very exciting brands such as Beryl Cook, Marmite, Royal Horticultural Society and Tottering By Gently, ensuring a highly attractive and varied range for retailers and customers.

Sales expansion into the rest of the world continues to be a key aim for Carousel, and is proving successful with expansion into North America through publishing gift envelopes for the USA and Canadian markets. Growth in Australia also continues, with a significant increase in titles sold there, including the new title Australian Cricket Legends.

Overall sales have continued to rise for Carousel, with key retailers increasing their purchases while licensed titles have proven very popular –the top five sellers were Emma Bridgewater, Banksy, Where’s Wally, RSPB and Hallmark.

Carousel anticipate all the latest trends and developments in order to produce the most up-to-date range possible, and continue to offer new titles for all customer requirements.

They are excited to be working with a number of big-name brands to produce new ranges that boast amazing, innovative designs, stunning imagery and photography, and high functionality.

Marmite is a British institution and a truly unique brand from Unilever, and Carousel have risen to the challenge to produce their most imaginative and innovative design-led calendar to date.

Their creative Family Organiser will be cut to the shape of the famous Marmite jar, along with a backboard designed as a piece of toast, which work in conjunction to create a highly attractive display piece.

They will be working with a number of highly popular artists, and this includes the work of Rachel Ellen displayed in a fun and fresh manner.

As Springwatch is highly popular with television audiences, Carousel expect their new title to be equally as attractive. continuing the educational feel, sharing fascinating facts that are designed to illuminate and enthral.

Carousel Calendars will continue working with leading charities in 2017, offering stunning products that will appeal to a wide audience, promoting the good values of the charities and helping to raise much-needed funds. Organisations include the RSPCA and Royal Horticultural Society where they have been working hard to rebrand the range, creating a new look for new audiences, but one that is still instantly recognisable to the core RHS customer base.

Humour is an enduringly popular category and Carousel Calendars seek to always provide a wide and varied range that appeals to all tastes and types.

Tottering By Gently is a new range that will feature the humorous exploits of the Tottering Family while Carousel are especially pleased to introduce Rant!, the bold and distrinctive winner of the 2014 License This! competiton.

The unique Nudinits creations from new stop-motion animation company Woolly Vision have seen a momentous rise in popularity for the collection of hand-knitted characters that are all nudists featuring classic British double entendre and innuendo.

From the creators of Born To Shop, Paper Island and History & Heraldry comes a new humorous title, Pain In The Sass, targeted at today’s modern and sassy woman, with fun and stylish designs and bitingly witty commentary.

Stand 3R31 – T: 01392 826482 www.carouselcalendars.com

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SPRINGFAIRPREVIEW

Countryside inspiration

Greetings Cards & Gift Stationery

CHRIS Ceaser Photography have launched the Landscape Collection of 150x150mm blank cards which will be on show at Spring Fair.

Taking inspiration from the stunning British countryside the range consists of 30 generic designs from this award-winning photographer.

The cards are produced entirely in Great Britain using board that is both FSC and World Land Trust accredited and the designs are individually bagged with 140gsm white envelopes in outers of 6 cards.

Chris takes all the images and works out of his gallery in the heart of York where he also offers photographic prints, courses and seminars.

He has a free 40-page catalogue of his full range with all cards designed, printed and stored in the city for immediate shipping via Parcel Force.

Stand 3J52 – T: 07920 044094 www.chrisceaser.com

AGENTS WANTED

NEW – Available exclusively from

Spring Fair Stand P17, Hall 3 www.museumsgalleries.co.uk www.facebook.com/greetingstodaymag @greetingstoday

www.greetingstoday.co.uk 57

SPRINGFAIR

Chocolate’s an extra-special touch AT THORNTONS they know that chocolate is the perfect gift for any occasion – if you run a card and gift shop, their delicious chocolate adds an extraspecial touch to all your gifts, at every season.

They want to make sure they give you the best possible options to enhance your in-store gifting opportunities – which is where the “Thorntons … in your store” concept comes in.

The concept gives you and your shoppers the full range of passionately-crafted Thorntons chocolates in beautiful packaging, that will complement all other product ranges in store.

For three years now Thorntons have been proud to roll out their successful new concept store format that features new furnishings and elaborate finishes, all illuminated by state-ofthe-art lighting that truly showcases the fantastic range we offer.

They know these finishing touches will make all the difference in your stores – to find out more and enjoy a chat and a chocolate or two, visit the newlocated stad right next to the Hall 3 entrance.

Stand 3M01- T: 0845 075 0056 www.thorntons.co.uk

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©2015 PBC BM-1512016

From 1st birthdays to fashion catwalks —

Discover Why Every Occasion Deserves Qualatex ®

Visit us!

27 Jan – 1 Feb 2016

Hall 9, Stand D76

7 – 11 Feb 2016

Hall 3, Stand 3G10-H11 Stand 3G12-H13

Pioneer Europe Ltd

9 Stortford Hall Industrial Park • Bishops Stortford, CM23 5GZ Freephone: 0800 28 12 15 • Tel: 01279 501 090 Web: www.QualatexEurope.com • Email: pelorder@qualatex.com

Balloon dress by: Nandor Schreiter, CBA, in Budapest, Hungary Photo by: Laszlo Muhari Model: Bianka Volgyi

SPRINGFAIRPREVIEW

Big changes, same great reatt stand THE GIFT Halls at Spring Fair have seen a big change around this year but Joe Davies have been lucky enough to retain their spacious Hall 5 stand, with the moves putting them right at the beginning of the new gift section.

The stand number is about the only thing that hasn’t changed as Joe Davies pride themselves on introducing the largest collection of new products at Spring Fair and are famous for the sheer variety and diversity of their gifts.

This year, visitors will see more new products than ever with more than 2,500 brand-new lines on display – of the 7,000-plus items on show over 80 per cent will be less than one year old.

The Equilibrium Collection of jewellery and fashion accessories has grown exponentially each year and hundreds of new designs will debut at the show. Highlights include sentiment jewellery, a vintage collection packaged in retro boxes, an on-trend monogram collection and lovely new colourways for spring and summer plus some great fashion accessories.

Joe Davies’ huge frame collection goes from strength to strength and there are numerous new models at Spring Fair with wood and shabby chic the defining trend here plus new sentiment series and new frames for all of life’s special occasions.

The Rose and Co collection of bath and beauty product is an important recent addition to Joe Davies’ range where they company

distribute in partnership with the manufacturers.

Everything is lovingly handmade in the UK which is a great selling point.

Having worked together for more than 45 years, Joe Davies are proud to be the UK’s largest distributor of the Leonardo Collection from Lesser & Pavey.

Joe Davies have specialised in serving the independent retailer for more than 95 years and everything they do is designed to make life as easy as possible for their customers.

Everything across their extensive range is available to buy in small quantities and the company pioneered the Little & Often ordering system which is so relevant to today’s trade. Minimum orders are just £100 and delivery is free nationwide.

The company’s staff are proud to have won a record 13 consecutive Greats Awards for their customer service so a warm welcome and lots of good honest advice awaits visitors to Joe Davies’ convenient Hall 5 stand.

Stand 5C30/D31 – T: 0161 975 6300 www.joedavies.co.uk

Spicing up good clean fun BROADENING the appeal is the thinking behind the new humour range at Country Cards along with a rebranding from Country Humour to Humour By Country Cards.

For 2016 they have also widened the subject matter and spiced it up a bit – it may be a little bit naughty but still good clean fun without being crude.

All Country Cards designs are 7x5in, cello wrapped, very competitively priced and come in either blank or happy birthday captions.

Stand 3N21 – T: 01835 822485 www.countrycards.co.uk

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SPRINGFAIRPREVIEW

Catering for every occasion EV-WEE gift-giving occasion is catered for with the whimsical Bea’s Wees collection designed by Natalie Kibbe for Enesco, as the wideranging selection of new introductions for January 2016 reveals.

From gifts of love, for Easter and for fathers and mothers there’s a delightful character to express exactly how you feel, to whom, whenever you need.

For the perfect way to treat your sweetheart choose Lovebug or You Hold The Key, and to spread a little Easter cheer there’s Good Egg and Welcome Mr Bunny.

Whereas Wonder Mum and Super Dad, SRP £7.95, make it easy to tell the superhero in your life just how much they mean to you.

But it’s not all about special occasions, with new characters with heartfelt messages such as: Missing You, Sparkle, Celebrate, Feel Better and Proud – what better way to let someone know you are thinking about them.

The

latest addition to Gund’s Itty Bitty Boo collection is the adorable Daisy Boo, with his pretty pink daisy headdress he lives up to his name of The World’s Cutest Dog Constructed in Gund’s trademark style using soft and tactile plush, this latest 12.5cm version of Boo is far too cute to resist at SRP £9.95 from Enesco.

Boo himself, a peppy Pomeranian with a puppy cut, is an internet sensation with more 17 million fans on Facebook, tens of millions of views on YouTube and increasing presence on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest and he’s moving into the digital world– you can now download Boo stickers for Facebook Messenger app.

You can catch the spirit of bygone times with the new official VW licensed collection by Brisa with tarpaulin wallets, shoulder and

Remember the memories THE NEW range of 13 Retro Celebration Boxes includes Remember The 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s as well Child Of The… for the same key decades and there’s also the really important milestone Anniversaries – silver, pearl, ruby, diamond.

Each box contains a collection of memorabilia including a 24-page booklet greetings card, a music CD with downloads, a DVD of news stories, replica ephemera such as postcards, posters, music and TV guides plus retro surprises like coasters, magnets, badges, stickers and lots more.

The Celebration Boxes earned RetroCo two 2016 Gift Of The Year nominations, having been shortlisted in both the Commemorative & Collectable Gifts and the Occasions categories.

Stand 4J16 T: 020 8993 5966 www.retroco.com

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messenger bags, ideal for everyday leisure and business travel, Celebrating the retro appeal of the iconic Camper Van, the latest additions to the giftware collection include backpacks and shopper bags as well as a range of home accessories from bone china and enamel mugs to 3D magnets.

Nostalgic and much-loved images of the VW Type 1 Bus and the special edition VW Jeans Beetle decorate the new bags. The tarpaulin wallet, messenger and shoulder bags are available in red, black or blue, and the practical, denim-lined bags, SRP £79.95, have an inner padded compartment to hold and protect hi-tech devices such as tablets and laptops.

Ever distinctive and ever fun, it’s the details of the unique styling of the original VW Bus bonnet and boot that inspired the witty design for the bone china mugs. Available in black and red, orange or green colourways, the mugs will become a firm favourite with those who cherish the spirit and love the style of bygone times.

In 1903 Beatrix Potter herself patented a Peter Rabbit doll – the first licensed literary character in the world – and Gund are celebrating the 150th anniversary of the author’s birth with the Peter Rabbit Collection.

Just 500 of the Limited Edition Peter Rabbit 30cm soft toys are being produced worldwide, featuring the anniversary logo embroidered on to his jacket pocket in a luxury craft-card lidded gift box with gold foil detailing and numbered certificate of authenticity, SRP £65.

The second tribute piece is the irresistibly cute 16cm Peter Rabbit, SRP £9.95, presented in a celebratory gift bag and also new are Tom Kitten, Mr Tod and Tommy Brock, each available in two sizes, plus a Jumbo Jemima Puddle-Duck.

Stand 4H100 – T: 01228 404022 www.enesco.co.uk

Bold and bouncy sparkle ADD SOME sparkle to your shelves with the new Vibrance range, the brand-new, everyday collection from Hambledon Studios featuring bold artwork and bouncy editorial.

With more than 350 beautiful designs, Vibrance is Hambledon Studios’ biggest and broadest collection to date with a whole host of captions and occasions including wedding, new baby, anniversary, and general birthday – whether it’s cute, fashion forward, traditional or contemporary, Vibrance has them in abundance.

On top of all of that, the range incorporates luxury finishes at a great price, making this the ideal selection for any wholesaler or retailer’s shelves alike.

For more information visit your local wholesaler or contact wholesale shipping.

Stand number 3M22 WholesaleShipping@hallmark-uk.com www.facebook.com/greetingstodaymag @greetingstoday

(t) 0116 230 4197 (f) 01536 401 031 (w) www.mint-publishing.co.uk

SPRINGFAIRPREVIEW

Bounding on to the scene FUDGE is the cute little doggy from Jonny Javelin and he’s has been down to the vet boutique for a bit of a makeover for the new year.

He’s bounded back on the scene with brighter colours, bigger and bolder images and 32 new titles across three prices points – that’s two new ones!

Their festive ranges are looking very strong again with 243 Christmas titles in total across four ranges, “It was going to be three,” said MD Jonny Spears, “but we’ve decided to re-release Christmas Twingles from 2014.

“In everyday, we have a total of 91 new designs coming out in January. The ever-popular Velvet gets a bit of a boost with 21 new code 75 designs being released and a further 11 code 60s.

The code 75s are mainly additional female relations and the 60s are open male birthday.

“We’ve also produced a slim 9x5in version of the Velvet range called Velvet Moments with an initial release of 20 female caption/open birthday titles which have a similar but different feel to Velvets.

“They come with all the usual quality finishes – fluted foil, emboss, flitter and a shorter verse inside. The card have that unmistakable Velvet die-cut edge which clearly ties the two ranges together.

“Throw seven new Cheese ’n’ Cracker male relation humour cards into the mix with the Fudge refresh and there you have the 91 additions to the JJ portfolio.”

Stand 3R40 – T: 01423 563740 www.jonnyjavelin.co.uk

Bubbling up fresh for spring FRESH for Spring Fair, Kali Stileman are adding a range of Mother’s and Father’s Day cards to their award-nominated bubbles range.

These are cards that have an empty speech bubble that you can write any message you choose in any language – they look beautiful with your child’s writing on, making it a really special card!

The publishers, who recently changed their name to founder Kali from The Square

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Card Company because they don’t only make square cards anymore, also have the lovely Folk Art range in light bright colours which are all flowery and birdy and great for spring.

They have a matching yellow wrapping paper which is perfect for Easter.

Stand 3K28 – T: 01305 848899 www.kalistileman.co.uk www.facebook.com/greetingstodaymag @greetingstoday

SPRINGFAIRPREVIEW

Hot off the press SAY HELLO to International Cards & Gifts’ hot off the press products that kick start this year for the publishers who earned silver in the Best Service To The Independent Retailer at the 2015 Henries Awards.

IC&G are excited to bring you a flurry of all-new luxury, lovingly hand finished boxed cards to enjoy, all wrapped up in the most beautiful packaging and finished off in a colour-printed box marking that special occasion.

They have a selection of designs and titles to choose from ranging from Grandson to Daughter & Son-In-Law Wedding Day IC&G are also launching an exciting new range of social stationery invitation packs which are all finished with hot foil and sold in packs of six cards with six envelopes and are perfect for adding a personal touch to any special event!

Don’t forget to check out all their new products for 2016 by heading to their website, following them on social media @icgcards or visiting them on their own Spring Fair stand or the Cardgains Village.

Stand 3M30 & 3L10/ M11 – T: 01202 897494 www.icgcards.com

Designs to share PORTFOLIO Select are a well-established art licensing company based in Hertfordshire, strongly dedicated to customer excellence and providing fast, friendly and reliable assistance to clients.

They are looking forward to Spring Fair where they will have lots of new designs to share – and it’s all change again with the move to Hall 3, so be sure to stop by for inspiring art ideas for all products.

Portfolio Select artists are busy creating new artwork to be available for the show. Karen Tye Bentley and Ella Rose are producing beautiful contemporary everyday ranges, and Pippa Elison’s recent Henna collection was nominated for a Henries Award, so they expect to have plenty of on trend, fresh ideas for all occasions.

Their Christmas designs are sure to attract attention, with lots of fun, folky characters from Emma Leach, whose whimsical painted scenes evoke a cosy festive feeling.

Julie Oldham is ever popular for her cheery snowmen and Santas, and Sam Rudd’s bright juvenile designs are perfect for a variety of products.

They also have colourful religious art from Alison McGarrigle, and elegant nativity scenes from Sue Waddicor, featuring foiled accents for an eye-catching finish, and Toben Robbins and Michael Donnelly provide painterly winter ideas for a more traditional feel.

They are taking appointments to sit down with clients at the show, so if you’d like some time to browse their full selection of portfolios don’t hesitate to get in touch as these are offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Portfolio Select are also excited to be launching their brand-new website in time for the show, with helpful new features to make finding and selecting art easy.

Stand 3M50 – T: 01442 833458 www.portfolioselect.co.uk

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SPRINGFAIRPREVIEW

A decade of Pizazz TO CELEBRATE 10 successful years of their award-winning Pizazz collection, Nigel Quiney are launching a selection of beautiful new Pizazz and Pizazz Gallery designs fresh for Spring Fair.

There are birthday cakes, butterflies and beautiful florals, all elegantly flittered giving the cards the Pizazz touch of magic!

Stand 3P10-Q11 – T: 01799 520200 www.nigelquiney.com

Every occasion deserves pioneering quality EVERY occasion deserves Qualatex balloons and party products and Spring Fair will see the official launch of their 2016 Everyday Catalogue with fabulous new products including exciting new licences and additions.

At 32 pages bigger, with more than 240 new balloon designs, over 48 new p party y items and a new latex colour, this year’s catalogue brings together the perfect selection of products for any celebration..

The highlights of the Qualatex atex range from Pioneer Europe are: New Pink Milestone Bubbles bles – bright pink Bubble collection featuring ring Qualtex’s top selling Birthday Sparkle Design will complement the existing Bright ght Sparkle Happy Birthday Microfoil and d Latex designs.

New Milestone Latex collection lection – in pink and blue featuring the popular ar Birthday Sparkle design.

Extended Party Range – new pink and blue sparkle design available e in plate, napkin, cup, table cover, foil banner and bunting New Baby Collection – expanded xpanded with the additions of new Tiny Tatty ty Teddy Baby Girl and Baby Boy in matching ng Microfoil and Latex designs, Baby Feet Microfoil crofoil and Latex collection and new shapes including ncluding a 35” Baby Stroller and 38” Baby Boy and Baby Girl.

Air Bubbles – add a new dimension to your air-fill category with Air Bubbles.

Their smaller size makes them em perfect for air-filled store

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displays, point-of-purchase sales and fun décor accents.

Quick Link Sprays – The latest innovation, the next generation of Quick Link balloons featuring colourful swirls made with a unique spray process exclusive to Qualatex.

Available in a wide range of popular colour combinations they are perfect for creating eye-catching décor for every occasion.

Premium Inflators – check out the extended collection of Premium Professional inflators ranging from a simple economic version up to more versatile inflators to meet any decorators needs.

The Qualatex stand is a must visit destination n fo ffor or any

toy, party, greetings cards and gifts retailer as well as events and party organisers and should impress with the large-scale balloon décor, designed by world-famous balloon artist Fiona Fisher CBA. Also on offer are window displays by y respected balloon artist Sue Bowler CBA; CB retail solutions for different types of businesses; product demonstrations at the b Education Centre; knowledgeable sales team advising on the suitable product offers and the right balloon training, plus gfree balloon demonstrations at the daily Stage Seminars in Hall 3.

Michelle Comerford, Head of Sales and Marketing at Pioneer Europe, said: “We will Ma be showcasing our new 2016 products along with wi the exciting additions to our licensed balloons and partyware ranges, with inspiring ba product demonstrations and special trade pro show-only product offers, we hope to see sh you yo all at our stand.”

The Qualatex range includes an extensive selection of latex, foil and exclusive Bubble se balloons, featuring the most popular licences ba such su as Disney, Marvel, Nickelodeon, Me To You, Yo Hello Kitty, and Lalaloopsy.

Recent additions to Pioneer’s portfolio are party pa products, including tableware, candles, badges, banners and confetti. ba

Stand – T: 01279 501090 www.Qualatex.com www.QualatexEurope.com www.facebook.com/greetingstodaymag ww w ww. w.ffa ace ebo b ok @greetingstoday

SPRING FAIR, HALL 3, STAND U60 ⓣ 01626 369269

ⓦ glebecottage.co.uk

Established 1993

SPRINGFAIR

Triumphant return FOLLOWING an unprecedented bumper Christmas season and the signing of a major US distributor, Two Little Boys are making a triumphant return to Spring Fair this year where they will be proudly launching a fabulous array of new product to hit the shelves in 2016.

Their Something To Keep You Happy When The Grown Ups Are Busy range was shortlisted in the 2016 Gift Of The Year Festive & Seasonal category.

Meanwhile their bestselling – and previous GOTY nominee – I’m Going To… notebook range has previously been expanded to include greetings cards, ring binders, refill pads, pencil sets and pencil cases.

Following on from their success, titles have been added to their A6 notebook offering to include I’m Going To Be An Astronaut to grab the attention of would-be Tim Peakes as well as ever-hopeful statements I’m Going To Be Organised And This Is My Plan and I’m Going To Ace My Exams.

Taking some of their favourite statements within the range, Two Little Boys have also produced stunning porcelain mugs simply stating Boss, Fabulous, Superhero and Princess and Change The World.

And they’re taking the messages even further with a range of children’s supersoft T-shirts, beautifully packaged in tins to stack neatly on shop shelves.

All in bold, colourful and simple typography, the entire range mixes and matches for maximum impact.

In addition, their previous GOTY Highly Commended range of Things perfect-bound notebooks have been added to, with a bright yellow Things To Do That Will Make Me Happy for that ultimate pick me up gift as well as a gorgeous Things To Do Now That I’m Free for those mates who want to celebrate a new life.

Also brand-new to the market, eight new titles in the How To… For The Inept range of notebooks.

The ultimate in licensable properties, Two Little Boys’ range of teenage-centric bright and witty while entirely useless instructions on everyday 21st century issues including How To Survive A Zombie Apocalypse, How To Survive The Weekend, How To Have A Bad Day and the ubiquitous How To Be A Geek are now available in A6 notebooks for that ultimate grab purchase.

Stand 3T33 – T: 020 8400 3606 www.2littleboys.co.uk

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These are real diamonds PAPER Diamonds is a top-notch, hand-finished range being shown for the first time at Spring Fair.

Beautifully printed on to shimmering board – made in the Lake District, of course – these C6-sized cards come with a matte dovegrey envelope and are carefully finished by hand here in the UK using gems, glitter, holographic sprinkles and stars to make them really sparkle!

A selection of occasions, relations, ages and birthday designs make up the 48-strong range with cards £1.24 each trade, to retail at £2.99 – come take a look.

Stand 3N17 – T: 0113 288 8468 www.wendyjonesblackett.co.uk

Bright, simple, quirky, fun FOR SPRING Fair Olivia Goddard Designs have been busy expanding their Zentangle range – differing from the founder’s usual style these designs are made up of bright and simple patterns.

Olivia has also added new designs to her existing Fun In The Sun range which depicts seaside scenes and includes some occasions which will be exhibited alongside established favourites.

All designs are taken from original artwork, which is reflected in the bold and colourful style that give these cards a quirky and fun feel, ideal for the summer.

Stand 3W38 T: 01206 304555 www.oliviagoddard.co.uk www.facebook.com/greetingstodaymag @greetingstoday

Same great location!

Hall 5, Stand C30/D31 Sheaffer 100 Series

Engraveable Occasion Albums

Metallic Mercury LED Balloons

Patisserie de Bain Bath Melts

Cute LED Words

Chantilly Lace Hearts

Equilibrium Sentiments Progressive Gifts Greats Awards 2015

13 times winners

Best Service to the Independent Retailer

Shabby Sentiment Frames

Leonardo Farmyard Cockerel

Joe Davies (Manchester) Limited 149 Broadstone Road, Reddish Stockport SK5 7GA Tel: 0161 975 6300 Fax: 0161 975 6301 Email: sales@joedavies.co.uk www.joedavies.co.uk

Great Service G S i • Great G Products P d • Great G Prices

SPRINGFAIRPREVIEW

Split displays photographic and art ranges THE ECO-friendly card company Glebe Cottage will be exhibiting at Spring Fair with their diverse and distinctive collections of art and photographic cards.

And this year, for the first time, Glebe Cottage are splitting their portfolio over two stands in the new Hall 3 – situated conveniently opposite each other!

The publishers’ photographic ranges will be showing on stand 3U60 and include the 2016 Wildlife Trust collection of blank cards, charity Christmas, the 2017 calendar and notecards.

Lots of new additions to Glebe Cottage’s

art collections will be on display on stand 3U61 ranging from new contemporary work by best-selling artist Billy Showell to traditional designs from oil painter John Donaldson.

Stand 3U60 & 3U61 – T: 01626 369269 www.glebecottage.co.uk

On to a winner A WARM welcome and the chance to win some fabulous prizes awaits visitors to the Abacus stand at this year’s Spring Fair where they will have a number of new designs on display, including some fabulous additions to their children’s range 100% Kids.

What’s more, if you place a carriage-paid order at the show you will automatically be entered into a prize draw to win one of three fabulous prizes: ● Smeg 50s-style mixer ● Nespresso Citz & Milk Coffee Machine ● 8GB Amazon Fire 7 Tablet The draw is open to all Abacus’ UK customers, new or existing, and prizes will be drawn at the close of the show.

The winners will be contacted directly and announced on the Abacus website and via social media.

Stand 3P30 – T; 01638 569050 www.abacuscards.co.uk

Big splash of retro colour THE Alternative Image Company’s 2016 catalogue is full of fantastic new retro black and white designs plus a big splash of beautiful colour images including The Tatler magazine covers dating from 1920s.

With more than 100 new vintage/retro black and white and colour images added to their classic bestsellers, this is their best catalogue yet.

All cards are blank inside, printed on FSC board, measure 5x7in in both portrait and landscape designs and come with scarlet envelopes. They are sold in packs of six.

Stand 3V11 – T: 020 3478 4804 www.altimageco.com

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If you are an artist/cartoonist/illustrator/verse writer or image library and would like to be part of this feature contact the Gareth Liddiatt on 01442 289930 / gareth@lemapublishing.co.uk for more details

www.facebook.com/greetingstodaymag @greetingstoday

Artists’ directory

www.greetingstoday.co.uk 73

TALKOFTHETOWN

Talk of

Philip Downer & Andy Adamson, Calliope Gifts Dorking, Alton & Haywards Heath

‘

What’s the story behind Calliope Gifts?

The business came about as a result of Andy Adamson and me identifying a gap in the market for a new gift shop brand in the Home Counties.

We create stylish stores, with a self-imposed remit that customers should be able to find “a gift for anyone” at Calliope – from toys to books, jewellery to homewares, music to bath and body.

All of this is underpinned by a first-class cards/ wrap/stationery offer, which ensures we are the first choice for our customers. We opened in Dorking’s St Martin’s Walk in February 2013.

It was always our intention to be a multi-site business and, after a great first year at Dorking we opened in Alton in June 2014, and Haywards Heath in October 2015. We won a Best Newcomer Greats award in 2014, in addition to other awards nominations.

With Spring Fair looming will you be attending? If not why not and, if so, what do you hope to find at the show, especially on the card front.

Andy will be representing Calliope at Spring Fair – but I’m hoping to come along too.

As ever, we will be looking for quality cards and gifts that move existing looks and themes along.

We aren’t running metropolitan stores for hipsters, so we don’t have to be cutting edge, but our customers are well-travelled and well-informed, and they expect us to anticipate what they want!

If you’ve attended Spring Fair previously, what’s the best product you’ve found there to date?

Really, Spring Fair has been about reinforcing relationships with our best suppliers, large and small, and developing contacts with new suppliers. We’re always trying to ensure that we have ranges and brands that are unrepresented elsewhere in the towns we serve, and we find that when a stylish new brand like Temerity Jones comes along, it can very quickly become an essential part of our mix.

Where do you usually find new ideas and new products?

Trade fairs, wholesales, visits from reps and agents and looking at other retailres – it’s all of these and more. Understanding what’s happening at other retailers is critical. Reading the newspaper style supplements and home magazines. And, of course, listening to our wives, both of whom have a keen eye for the right sort of merchandise for Calliope!

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ign Currently which is your top-selling d design, publisher or genre – and is there anything that looks like being a big trend in the coming months?

We’ve had a terrific Christmas run on well-executed nostalgic humour books – the Ladybirds For Adults, and titles like The Teenager Who Came To Tea. We both have a book trade background, and understand how trade books can sit alongside other gifts in a shop like ours.

If you had £1,000 to spend on improving your shop or business, what would you spend it on?

I might need more than £1000, but I’d bring the lighting in Dorking up to the standard of the two later shops.

Of all the publishers you stock, which card would you like to receive for your birthday?

I’ll take one of Erica Sturla’s cards for Holy Mackerel, as they are always clever and warmhearted or, if I’m feeling more traditional, anything from the V&A is a guarantee of style.

’

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the town

TALKOFTHETOWN

The voice of the people who matter, greetings retailers tell it like it is.

Sean Gerrie, and Oscar, UpSide Down Presents, Newcastle upon Tyne

‘

What’s the story behind UpSide Down Presents?

It was founded by me in the spring of 2014. The small shop – at less than 200 sq ft making it smaller than most people’s living rooms – is neatly tucked under the railway arch down Newcastle’s famous Grey Street and Dean Street, sandwiched between Newcastle’s castle and the iconic Tyne Bridge. I have a background in web development, and did intend to go online first then get a shop, however this prime spot became available and I leaped into the bricks and mortar retail world. The other benefit is my border terrier Oscar can also come to work with me a lot of the time, and he’s become a local character. I’m keen to develop and grow online, and eventually make my own range of greetings cards and small presents as well. The charm of the shop, its big windows and growing range of original cards and small presents means it’s growing well. Some other ideas were to stock local ice cream, which went down too well with me as he often had one a day to cover shortfalls in sales, but this wasn’t good for my bank or weight balance! Coffee was another idea, however, with the shop having no water supply, this has proved impossible. The initial sample of greetings cards accelerated to take up 75 per cent of the shop’s prime space, and now greetings cards are my biggest earner. The name UpSide Down Presents comes from our street address, 61 Side, which leads down to the Quayside – it’s on a bank and so it’s both up and down the Side. Every Christmas an UpSide Down Christmas tree adorns the centre window, which is both fitting with the theme of the shop’s name, but also very space saving for such a little shop!

With Spring Fair looming will you be attending? If not why not and, if so, what do you hope to find at the show, especially on the card front?

I’ve only been to one trade show to date, and this was Home & Gift Harrogate which was near me. It was a good success, and I’m open to trying new fairs and markets in the new year, still not entirely sure which ones yet.

Where do you usually find new ideas and new products?

A lot of what the shop sells has a Geordie theme, and tourist demand has driven a versatile spinner that does souvenirs, from magnets to postcards, keyrings, coasters and the like – there are even Geordie candles, plaques and prints for sale. The shop also has a good range of both Geordie-themed cards – we say mam up north not mum or mom – and there’s a solid range of unique and naughty but nice cards as well from the likes of Buddy Fernadez and Ohh Deer.

Currently which is your top-selling design, publisher or genre – and is there anything that looks like being a big trend in the coming months?

Greetings cards are my best-selling product, Ohh Deer and Buddy Fernandez are great sellers for me followed, surprisingly, by magnets – it’s incredible how many people still want a magnet. Based on the prime tourist location here just up from the Tyne Bridge and the River Tyne’s other magnificent bridges, and with Newcastle’s Visitor Information Centre closing recently, this has accelerated growth in the souvenirs range. Star Editions supply a good range of local themed products through Dave Thompson’s range, as well as lots of local independent suppliers. We also stock many of the goods sold on the Quayside’s historic Sunday Market.

If you had £1,000 to spend on improving your shop or business, what would you spend it on?

It would be install a better ceiling – we have those boring office square ceiling tiles that I’ve jazzed up with hanging little trolleys and paper shapes to give it a better look and feel, however the tiles themselves are so fragile they disintegrate if you try do anything major with them.

So a better ceiling as the floor space is pretty much conquered. We like to get things done properly top to bottom after all, we are called UpSide Down Presents!

I’d also be pushing my website www.61side.co.uk some more with the change as well :) Of all the publishers you stock, which card would you like to receive for your birthday?

It would have to be Buddy Fernandez’s Literally The First Card I Saw – ironically and fittingly one of the first I stocked, and still my favourite! The owners also have two border terriers as well, so it would be Oscar’s favourite too!

Michael Apter, Operations Director, Paper Tiger, Edinburgh

‘

What’s the story behind Paper Tiger?

Paper Tiger is part of the Studio One group of companies, which were founded in 1966. Studio One was started by John Johnson – he is still chairman, and the shops are run today by his son Daniel, the Creative Director, and myself as Operations Director. Paper Tiger became a separate shop in the early 1980s and we have two branches in Edinburgh.

With Spring Fair looming will you be attending? If not why not and, if so, what do you hope to find at the show, especially on the card front.

If you’ve attended Spring Fair previously, what’s the best product you’ve found there to date?

We attend Spring Fair every year. We will be looking for some inspiration from the numerous existing suppliers who will be showing their new ranges, and we’ll be hoping to find something unexpected too. It's

very difficult to pick out a single line from the show, but we find that the Spring Fair is an excellent place to build our range.

Where do you usually find new ideas and new products?

Everywhere, somewhere, nowhere, here, there and neverwhere! We try to create something very special in Paper Tiger, there is no “usual” about what we try to do for our customers!

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’

Currently which is your top-selling design, publisher or genre – and is there anything that looks like being a big trend in the coming months?

There are a number of well-established UK publishers that consistently deliver quality products, and companies like Caroline Gardner, Roger La Borde and Urban Graphic are always among our most successful ranges.

If you had £1,000 to spend on improving your shop or business, what would you spend it on?

In-store training for our team of amazing staff.

Of all the publishers you stock, which card would you like to receive for your birthday?

I'm going to have to keep that a secret – but I'm very partial to screen-printed cards just now.

’

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TOPDRAWER TOP DRAWERREVIEW REVIEW

● Gabrielle Izen ● Megan Claire

● Sophie Loren & Giles Worrell, Belly Button Designs

● Betty Etiquette

The white

● Anneka Driscoll, Lucilla Lavender, with Why Management’s Riou Baxter

● Re

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k Ca

rds

● Red Gate Arts

● Paper Plane

The first snow of the year down south also marked the first big show of 2016 as Clarion Events’ Top Drawer Spring kicked off this trade fair season and there were plenty of exhibitors and visitors at Olympia in London determined that the white stuff wouldn’t put them off.

James & Ged Mace, The Art File “We’ve had a really busy show so far, we use Top Drawer as a spotlight for showing new product and the feedback has been very positive. The new Sara Miller collection is going down really well, everyone loves the colours, and there’s new giftwrap as well as three new stationery collections – the most popular one is Squeeze which has gone down very well. And there are range extensions for Inkdrops, Rock On and Once Upon A Time.”

Dom Greyer Lesser Spotted Images “It was all right yesterday (Sunday), there was a slow start but it got better.

I wouldn’t have got any last-minute Valentines orders if it wasn’t for this show. I have customers wanting to take delivery up to February 12!”

Debbia Williams Real & Exciting Designs “It was quiet yesterday morning (Sunday) but got busy later and is quite busy today. We have the Matthew Williamson licence to shout about with Museums & Galleries too – people are coming and asking about it. We’ve never done Top Drawer Spring before, only Top Drawer Autumn so it’s nice to have a presence here with RED and then we’re taking our other two, M&G and Mint, to Birmingham.”

Nigel Williamson, House Of Cards “We have our list of who we want to see, but we do end up talking to everybody. We deal with Redback anyway and he’s got some new stuff so we’re keen to do more business with him. I’m also looking for Bexy Boo and Belly Button. We spend the day here and we have some of our managers with us to see what’s about. You don’t want to change too quickly but you do need to look at what’s new.”

Sarah Hopkins, Holy Mackerel “It’s been good, we have a very handy position opposite the café – we didn’t do this show last year, we did Giving &Living instead to give this one a break and often that’s really helpful becase you come back and you’re fresh for people. But we don’t want to lose our spot by the café and a lot of people seem to come straight to the back and start from this end.”

76 www.greetingstoday.co.uk

Tim Porte & Bill Greeno, Paperlink “It’s been quite upbeat, it got busier in the afternoon yesterday. This is the first time back here at this show for many years, we’re very strong on humour and we’re trying to show the other side that we don’t always push as much, it’s nice to show more niche products.”

Jeannett Stevenson, Pippi & Me “We’ve had great fun – my character Mr Grumpy Pants has been giving away golden envelopes which have lucky dip discounts and prizes, one lady won a bottle of Champagne, others have had free cards. It’s been lovely. I just wanted to do something different than ordinary show discounts. This is our first show apart from PG Live so it’s been good.”

SEE MORE PICTURES FROM TOP DRAWER ON

TOPDRAWER TOP DRAWERREVIEW REVIEW

ie ● Bonn d Blackbir

stuff ● Pigment

Neil Matthews, Artebene “Last year was our first year here and we’ve probably taken twice as many orders as the first day here last year. We flew through the day, we have orders from new accounts and people who are topping up, a few export customers too.

It’s been very positive from everyone. We’ve had fantastic presales on our spring collection so we’re never quite sure what will happen at the show but it’s been good.”

● Ilon a Image Benjamin, Short,Co, with AdAlternative am The Im aging & Bob Centr e

Kali Stileman & Lucy Tolson Kali Stileman “We’re the first card company in the section and we’re quite happy we accidentally ended up with this stand.

The relaunch is going really well and it’s linking in with our licensing and books, which is nice.”

Sarah Danby & Sara Burford, Cinnamon Aitch “Trade shows are really weird, you never know what you’re going to get. This time we’ve had a lot of old customers come who haven’t ordered for a while, so that’s been nice, and there have been orders from new shops as well.”

Cath & Rosie Tate, Cath Tate Cards “It’s been quite good, yesterday (Sunday) it was quite busy and we had quite a lot of orders and interest in all the new stuff like Veronica Dearly who we’ve licensed some designs from which I think are quite funny, I’m pleased with them.”

Mark Coulson & Hannah Macleod, Coulson Macleod “We’ve never done this show before, so we thought we’d have a change.

We’ve seen new stockists, and shops we know have done some orders, we’re pleased and we love the show, it’s always a good atmosphere.”

Matt Genower Five Dollar Shake “It was good yesterday (Sunday), and for Counting Stars – our newly-launched sister company – it was extraordinary, unprecedented.

It was incredibly well attended – a bun fight, they were beating down the doors!

We’ve really had nothing new since we launched in ’99 and that was a different century so it’s good to feel wanted and it’s nice to see that buyers still have an instinct to find brandnew product.”

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● The Porch Fairies

● Lola Hoad, LH Design, with Badger Convertors’ Jason Bergdahl

Jeremy Corner, Blue Eyed Sun “We have a very snazzy new stand which is great. Fleur is a new range, we’ve had a really good reaction to that, and there’s Vintage Too, a second generation of our best-selling Vintage range. We have a new distributor in Finland potentially. We sell in Iran already but we’ve been approached by 50 shops there which is good because they’ve lifted the sanctions this week – but they do have to sell our Love cards under the counter!”

Rosanna Rossi Rosanna Rossi “It’s been fantastic, we haven’t been for a few years but we’ve been picking up old customers that we haven’t seen because we’ve not been here. The new collection has been attracting customers.”

Clare Brownlow, Clare Brownlow Pheasant Feather Art “This is my first show, I’ve had lots of interest and orders so it’s been good,” and retailers Postmark Online tweeted: “Great day at #topdrawerlondon – found some great new cards including these all hand-painted with a pheasant feather!”

Dean Morris, Dean Morris Cards “It started off slow but the afternoon was good, so it ended up as a typical show Sunday. I’ve two holidays to fit in between here and Spring Fair so I’ve got to get my trade show work in before I go away on Wednesday – but that’s why I do this job!”

www.greetingstoday.co.uk 77

Product & services directory greetings card publishers & Party product suppliers To advertise call Gareth Liddiatt on 01442 289940

Writing

Make every occasion count with greeting cards from

…and everything to do with it is hot as London Stationery Show organiser Chris LeonardMorgan considers the prospects for stationery along with some of 2015’s developments in the sector.

Abacus Cards Limited, The Studio, Oaks Drive, Newmarket, Suffolk,CB8 7SX t: 01638 569050 f: 01638 569051 e: info@abacuscards.co.uk w: www.abacuscards.co.uk

“

The UK stationery market is especially vibrant at the moment as writing and paper products continue to make the transition from a basic staple to lifestyle products – and very useful ones too – and is attracting attention from across the world.

This year may have seen the demise of Blott, with Tinc taking over some stores, and Websters Pen Shops but it has also seen several Australian retailers strengthen their claim on the UK High Street.

Smiggle have opened more than 40 stores in the past two years and are aiming for many more.

Swedish-inspired Kikki.K attracted large crowds when they opened their first two London stores in November at the start of a European-wide launch and, most recently, Australian stationery chain Typo, prompted by strong traffic on its global websites from UK consumers, have announced the formation of a dedicated UK online store, with a distribution centre and High Street shops to follow in 2016. The UK is considered to be a very sophisticated retail environment and not a territory to be entered into without considerable research and preparation beforehand.

However, the ever-increasing availability of stationery product online removes much of the guesswork, as retailers can gather a clear picture of what UK consumers are looking for long before they commit to physical stores. It is an indication of the strength of the market that brick-and-mortar stores are

‘

so high on their agenda, and being rolled out so quickly. It helps, of course, that stationery is such a universally loved product – who doesn’t like it! It’s ideally suited to impulse and online purchase and dispatch and, merchandised well, offers a perfect combination of fashionable, design-led, colourful practicality.

It’s the sort of adaptable retail offer that works well across the full gamut of sales channels – from garden centres and gift shops, to visitor attractions and department stores, to book sellers and stationery boutiques.

Paperchase have led the charge for a long time and WHSmith are at last rejuvenating their stationery offer while Oliver Bonas, Waterstones, Foyles, Scribbler and Hema are all expanding theirs. Retail stationery’s range of offer – from everyday to t truly luxurious – and its ever-closer connections to the worlds of fashion and licensing, mean that stationery is a hard-working, always-changing, fun sector to be part of.

The overseas retail interest in the UK industry is being matched by the interest from overseas suppliers wanting to be part of the London Stationery Show in order to sell and find distribution in the UK, and visitors this year came from 36 countries. In a world of digital communication, the hand-written note is now even more firmly established as a truly personal, valued gesture – perhaps this is why a recent GfK report on Black Friday sales showed that many shoppers ‘added stationery products to their online baskets, with writing instruments seeing a growth of 109 per cent online year-on-

T The UK is considered a sophisticated retail environmentt

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78 www.greetingstoday.co.uk

’

● All opinions expressed in Your Shout are the personal views of the named writer. We can’t promise to print everything we receive – especially n ot if it could land anyone in a libel court! – but we will read through everything submitted for consideration. If you have something to say please email your thoughts to tracey@lemapublishing.co.uk

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Product & services directory greetings card publishers & Party product suppliers To advertise call Gareth Liddiatt on 01442 289940

is cool

year’. Stationery today is hot, and writing is cool – 2016 promises to be an exciting year with lots of new product development and the best London Stationery Show yet, and National Stationery Week rolling out the Writing Matters campaign through World Stationery Day. Now in its sixth year, the London Stationery Show takes place during National Stationery Week which runs from April 25 to May 1, with the second World Stationery Day on Wednesday, April 27.

T: 020 8462 0721 www.stationeryshow.co.uk www.nationalstationeryweek.com

”

Caroline Doyle T: 07812 746596 www.axisweb.org/p/carolinedoyle/#merchandise See Meet the Newbies P14 www.facebook.com/greetingstodaymag @greetingstoday

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PRODUCT & SERVICES DIRECTORY GREETINGS CARD PUBLISHERS & PARTY PRODUCT SUPPLIERS To advertise call 01442 289930

spotlight

A selection of this month’s latest releases

● FOLLOWING the successful introduction of their own cards specially for The Country House Gift Company, the independent card and gift shop team have now launched the designs to the trade.

Based in Winscombe, Somerset, Country House Cards focus on using local potographers and artists from the West Country, and currently offer eight different ranges, with a total of 94 cards.

The collection includes humorous and contemporary designs by Carol Tratt, Paula Virgo and Nadine Wickenden, beautiful collage-based works of art by Anne Carpenter and stunning photographic images by Mark Taylor.

T: 01728 751333 www.countryhousecards.co.uk

INDEPENDENTLY AUDITED & LARGEST CIRCULATION To find out how Greetings Today can help you just call 01442 289930

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Designs that will get your customers coming back for more!

● MEG Hawkins’ Twitt-Twoo collection is a fun, engaging and humorous set of brightly-illustrated owls with her technique showing watercolours don't have to be a gentle, but can be bright and cheerful.

Each owl comes with its own quirky saying on the back of the card including Handy Man, Sail Away With Me and Go Sit In A Corner And Have A Quiet Chat With Yourself!

● CLARE Maddicott Publications have just introduced 13 occasion cards to their Velvet Ink range launched early last year.

This delightful luxury range, which originally only consisted of birthday designs, has proved so popular that the publishers have decided to extend into all the major occasion captions.

As with the original designs, these latest releases feature simple penned illustrations and/or modern calligraphy captions contrasted by a dash of watercolour.

Presented in a 160x160mm format, the blank cards are printed on art board and finished with de-bossed details and a special raised colourise ink complemented by coordinating printed spot envelopes.

T: 01638 569050 www.maddicott.com

T: 01746 787153 www.mhitrade.co.uk

Life quotes to make them laugh out loud

All our designs are tried and tested in an award winning store Ramblingmansion.co.uk contact@ramblingmansion.co.uk

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A selection of this month’s latest releases

spotlight

● AS ALWAYS with Tracey Russell the new year bring new designs and 2016 promises not to disappoint.

Moving away from her recent style of quirky characters, Tracey has concentrated on a much more stylised true to life approach to her artwork resulting in the One For The Girls collection of 34 designs covering titles from general birthday, teenage birthday and the all-important female relations.

Each card is individually hand finished with a metallic bronze and black bow from which hangs a lovely silver heart charm and a bespoke leopard print envelope frames the design perfectly and adds a very trendy touch.

T: 0191 373 2497 www.traceyrussell.co.uk

● PHOTOGRAPHER Chris Branfield had to get the better of some wise old birds for his latest project at 4sided.co.uk.

The owls are the subject of the latest range from the publishers so they spend a morning at Eagle Heights in Kent where Chris and

partner Jo Drake had the chance to add the fantastic birds to their collection.

Chris used his long lens to capture the feathered friends for 4sided.co.uk’s new Owl range.

T: 07803 501983 www.4sided.co.uk

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PRODUCT & SERVICES DIRECTORY GREETINGS CARD PUBLISHERS & PARTY PRODUCT SUPPLIERS To advertise call 01442 289930

INDEPENDENTLY AUDITED

CIRCULATION 6,086 July 1, 2014June 20, 2015

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Tel: 0208 594 7221 www.saundersdisplays.co.uk

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