Retail Interview Henry & Co
Henry & Co MD Mark Rees, with his son Henry, daughters Lucy and Alice, wife Katy and mum Ann
It’s a family affair Mark Rees, owner of award-winning retailer Henry & Co, talks to Naomi MacKay about how the new-look retailer was borne out of a desire to look to the future Mark Rees has greeting cards in his blood. His parents owned Penmark Cards (“the Mark bit is me!’’), and as they left the business, which coincided with lockdown, he decided to take a new look at the retail offering. “I suppose in many ways I was trying to figure out what the relevance for our business was in the future, ‘’ he explains. Penmark cards (which was founded in 1991) is a chain of shops based around the Midlands and the North West. Henry & Co is named after Mark’s nineyear-old son Henry. “The ‘& Co’ is his sisters Lucy and Alice. That might come back to bite me in the future,’’ laughs Mark. “I can see the girls asking why aren’t we in there?! “I decided it was time for me to emulate what my parents had done. I thought if I am going to develop the business, it has to have relevance to me. “It has been a family business for years but we’ve never made anything of that because we had such a big association with Thorntons and Hallmark. I realised we needed to make our customers aware of the independent nature of the business - and to give us a tone of voice, so we could engage with our customers. One of the problems we’ve had is that we haven’t really had a voice, so marketing to our customers has been very
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“On Henry’s birthday, every hour we give a free brownie away to people in store. Everybody needs a bit of fun!’’
difficult. Since we’ve rebranded it has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for us.’’ There are 11 Penmark shops in all; including two shops called We Are Cards, which is an outlet business. All of the stores were aligned to Hallmark or Thorntons for a long time. “It’s very difficult for the retailer to find your own voice when you are intrinsically linked to those big brands.’’ says Mark. “There’s been quite a few businesses that have done the same - Covid has kickstarted some of these businesses and given us the push to do it.’’
A little more unique So what is the premise behind the new Henry & Co name? “Our vision is creating special moments for our customers, who are at the heart of our stores. We’ve tried to completely modernise our store and feel, but at the same time, change the profile of gifting and the card offer that we’ve got in there. “It’s a big shift in terms of product - still commercial, a little more unique, not easily accessible online. We’re trying to create more separation between us and places like Card Factory, and hopefully create a lovely shopping environment at the same time.’’ The first store to get the Henry & Co treatment was in Nottingham, followed by Ormskirk and Bridgnorth. Mark says it has been
“hugely well embraced. We’re really starting to understand what we are from a brand point of view.’’ And they’re having some fun too: “The brand really seems to resonate - and with that family connection, it always has fun. For example, on Henry’s birthday, every hour we give a free brownie away to people in store. Everybody needs a bit of fun!’’ When it comes to the card selection, Mark says: “We’ve done a brokerage deal with UK Greetings so the model is very much about complementary brands with UK Greetings so they sit beside us - names such as Paper Salad, Second Nature and Wendy Jones Blackett.’’ As far as gifts are concerned, they are trying to move away from the usual card shop product, such as age pint glasses and wholesale gifts. Instead, they are looking at gifts from companies such as Wrendale Designs, Amelia Art Glass hand-blown reed diffusers and Popcorn Kitchen. Another focus is fragrance: “We’ve got a bit of background in fragrance [the company has four Love Aroma home fragrance stores]. Customers don’t want mass-produced product - if they want that they can go to Amazon. We are introducing our own brand of candles, which we will sell wholesale, online and in our stores.’’ Mark and his team must be on the right
