Retail Interview John Lewis
‘More diverse than ever before’ Sarah Moughtin, stationery collections, gift collections & greetings cards buyer for the John Lewis Partnership, talks to Greetings Today about buying for the department store group and its sister supermarket chain, Waitrose Tell us about you I have been at John Lewis for 11 years and worked across a number of categories, but for the past eight years I have been focused on stationery and greetings. Prior to the Partnership I worked in fashion buying and fashion wholesale.
How is trading at the moment? Trading is currently very good; the magic of a greeting card has not been lost! I buy for John Lewis and Waitrose and our branches come in a variety of shapes and sizes, which is perhaps the biggest challenge of all.
What criteria do you use when choosing cards for your stores? For greeting cards we work with category planning partner Woodmansterne, which allows me to work with a greater number of publishers. There is no shortage of beautiful greeting cards publishers, and we work hard to try to get a variety of categories and handwriting within the total mix. All the publishers we work with submit their designs for our ranging dates. We are then able to use Woodmansterne’s planning rooms to rack up our displays as you would see in branch. We have a set critical path, which we have to stick to in order for everything to run smoothly, and this is where Woodmasterne’s expertise in planning and logistics comes into play.
I always attend PG Live to seek out new designs from existing and new publishers. We will go with a focus but it’s always nice to be surprised with something unexpected.
Have you introduced anything new to your offering recently? Yes, we have three new publishers joining our assortment in SS22, so watch this space!
What about eco-friendly considerations? All of our single greeting cards are ‘naked’ so free of cellophane and saving tonnes of plastic. We are also glitter-free, meaning all cards can be widely recycled.
What about diversity within your card ranges? We try every season to be as inclusive as possible. We have expanded our multifaith offering and have a more diverse offer than ever before. There is still more work to be done but everyone from publishers to retailers are working hard on this.
Finally, if you could choose the cards people sent you - which would you prefer to receive for Christmas or a birthday or other special occasion?
“Trading is currently very good; the magic of a greeting card has not been lost!’’
I couldn’t possibly say as we work with so many lovely publishers, and it’s always nice to get a variety!
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