Diary of a Card Shop

Diary of a greeting card shop

Paul and Helen Southgate, owners of Cards n Things in Hellesdon, Norwich, are enjoying the buzz as business is back to normal and trade fairs are in full swing

It’s hard to believe it’s now been just over a year since non-essential shops were allowed to fully reopen and, so far, 2022 has been good, enabling us to build back some momentum after the stop-start of 2020 and 2021. Already we have packed so much in this year and here we are halfway through. We’ve enjoyed getting back to trade fairs such as Spring Fair and Top Drawer, ordering new products, meeting suppliers and generally getting back to business. PG Live is just around the corner too as we write, and we are looking forward to another London trip and meeting suppliers and friends from the industry - the buzz is back!

The spring seasons were nice and busy, with Mother’s Day being our busiest in years! Alongside spring we have been adding to our everyday ranges - all of which have proved very successful.

We are so lucky in the card industry to have such talented artists always making fresh designs - like humour from Rosie Made a Thing, plantable cards from Made By Shannon, and beautiful new Grayson designs from Cherry Orchard We’ve now added a new feature wall so that we can showcase new card designs in store. This also helps as you can see the full size of the card - sometimes this can get lost in our traditional card racks; something that we are looking to change. New gift lines from Widdop, Rachel Ellen and The Puppet Company have all been well received. We’ve found Kikkerland to be a great addition to gifting, especially for men who are sometimes hard to buy for. The range has everything from 3D build-your-own dinosaurs to desk phone holders to bike-shaped bottle openers; it really is a well thought-out range.

Platinum celebrations

As we write we are into the Platinum Jubilee week and customers really seem to be embracing it. We’ve had lots of fun decorating the window with a great range from Talking Tables, and we love seeing people’s faces and reactions as they walk past the shop and see the life-size cardboard cutout of the Queen. Kikkerland has produced some solar-powered waving Queens, which are designed to make you smile! The Double Decker bus from Ginger Ray has also been a popular feature. What a fantastic time it is to celebrate the Queen’s seven-year reign. Seeing people unite to honour her dedication and service is so heart-warming - and she loves a good greeting card! I hope all of us can feed off that and as shopkeepers in our communities we can bring a touch of happiness and kindness to those around us.

“We are so lucky in the card industry to have such talented artists always making fresh designs’’

Looking forward…

As we now head into the warm sunny days of summer it’s always the quieter time for us in the shop after the run of spring seasons ending with Father’s Day. There is still lots to do though, with many important celebrations such as weddings, anniversaries and exam congratulations. We are always trying to expand our ranges and add to the selection of cards for these events, and we have found some great gift lines from Widdop and Co, and Gainsborough Giftware to sit alongside our card offering.

The biggest honour is that we have been listed as a finalist for The Retas in July and cannot wait to be a part of the day celebrating our industry and all the other stores that have put so much work into their businesses. We are especially grateful for our staff who work so hard to give the best customer service.

Our shop dog Boris was particularly proud (see above), so we all have fingers and paws crossed!