Retail Interview

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

“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

track, as at the end of last year Henry & Co won the RETA award for Best Greeting Card Retailer Newcomer or New Branch – North.

Strong branding What does he think helped them to stand out from the competition?

“I think that the branding is particularly strong. The shopfit is particularly relevant and modern, and I think if you couple that with the change of product offering and the way that the store is performing, we seem to have hit on a really good combination. When you combine all those elements, create an interesting environment, and wrap around some great service - you’ve got a winner.’’

The pandemic hit retailers hard, but for Mark there was a silver lining: “I think that the time we’ve had to reflect on our business through not running our business day to day, allowed us to reevaluate, reposition, reinvest. I think that it allowed us to reevaluate our lives too - I now take Fridays off work.

“It really gave us the ability to give time - business people don’t always spend enough time actually thinking about the business. Also in September I had a new retail director start - Sharon Green is ex-Thorntons - she’s really hit the ground running and is going to make a real difference going forward.’’ Fragrance lines So what is the plan going forward? “We are going to attempt to rebrand all or part of our business in the next two years. We are expanding our range of Henry & Co fragrance lines - we’re going to be developing that. I’m going to spend more time on that with Sharon running the retail business. Basically, getting our house in order and then looking at what growth opportunities there might be in the next one to two years.’’

Another change during lockdown was the recruitment of a buyer, Michael Leybourn. Mark says: “I knew that rebranding the business wasn’t enough to change the proposition for the customer. I always feel that we need to kick on our product offering. Michael’s been in the trade for years. With Covid hitting and no trade shows, it was hugely beneficial to have someone like him.’’ “The shopfit is particularly relevant and modern, and I think if you couple that with the change of product offering and the way that the store is performing, we seem to have hit on a really good combination’’

The buyer’s perspective

Henry & Co’s retail buyer Michael Leybourn talks about how he chooses product.

How do you source cards and what’s selling well?

The majority of our cards are sourced through UK Greetings brokerage planning, but brands from within that brokerage performing well are Second Nature, Ling Designs, Paperlink, and Nigel Quiney, along with Carlton from UK Greetings.

A high proportion of sales have come through relation captioned cards, and while there is a need for an element of open Christmas cards, most customers head to buy boxed cards .

Both boxed and single relation cards from Wrendale Designs have performed well across our store , with reorders being placed for boxes in the larger shops.

Boxed cards from Museums & Galleries have proved popular; good quality with good designs at reasonable prices.

Charity cello packs have generally been slower, perhaps due to the fact that where we have shops, there’s a number of local charities selling cards from their own premises, which are well supported by the local population. What do you look for in greeting cards and wrap?

Immediately I would look at the design, size of card and price… does it stand out? Is it appealing/appropriate to the customer looking for that type or title of card? I also look at it from an eco/sustainability perspective. Does it have any glitter or cellophane covers? And finally, which retailers have already taken the range?

With gift wrap it’s definitely about price and design, as well as ease of merchandising and the impact we could achieve from having the product on the shelves.

I think, more so now, I would be investigating where it’s sourced and its replenishment availability, because anything being shipped into the UK may be problematic going forward . What about shows?

Spring Fair gives buyers the greatest opportunity to look at trends, fashions and themes for the year ahead. Seeing what is key in greeting card design can often follow through into gifts, so it’s a very important venue to attend.