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Diary of a greeting card shop

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Animo

Animo

Celia Leeson-Cox, visual merchandising manager at Yarnton Home & Garden in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, considers

‘what does your greetings card department say about you’?

As a customer I spend time looking for a card for a specific person and I suspect many of us do that, to make sure the message and/or words are just right.

As card buyers, we are doing just the same, just on a bigger scale – thinking of everybody! But there are of course many more factors to consider when making your selection, and it’s always worth asking yourself regularly ‘what is important to your brand and your customers?’

As a garden centre, we are above all a seasonal business, and taking our cue from the rhythm of the seasons and the colour palettes found among the flora and fauna in our plants areas, we work hard to replicate this seasonality and colour across the store. With the arrival of our new MD, Glen Sheldrake, a true plantsman at heart, the team has been reviewing the progress made so far in our programme of regeneration for the centre and we have been looking at our plans for the coming seasons and years, and our greeting card department is one that we are firmly set to ‘Grow’!

Botanical and horticultural designs continue to be found on the nations’ cards racks as much as ever, and plants of all shapes and sizes, trees, flowers and houseplants are an essential feature of our card product ranging. Our customers love the ‘seed’ cards from Stormy Knight, which come with their own little seedsticks as a point of difference to the plantable ones, Lagom’s floral themes are fabulous and great sellers, and Noi includes some wonderfully bright and fun vegetable and fruity designs.

There are all sorts of other topics and themes that add to the magic and appeal to your customers, and in fact, the selection of cards and the look and feel of your greeting card department can also tell your customer a whole lot of other things about you too! Not only are they a joy to look at, but for something so small in relative terms, they perfectly encapsulate the meaning of communication … ‘the act of giving, receiving and sharing information’… like nothing else.

A card selection communicates to the customer what the retailer wants to tell them about their brand and who their customers are: It becomes an insight into the rest of the business and a microcosm of the world at large: it can tell us exactly what is going on in society and how we all feel about it!

As one of our best- selling ranges, Rosie Made a Thing (pictured below) addresses this with a unique brand of positivity and infectious humour (I use that word hesitantly!) effective indicator to our customers that we have done our homework and buy from the companies that we believe in, and as a progressive business with the environment at heart, it is wonderful to see and support the ongoing innovation in this sector.

There are so many ways to communicate a message, and I can’t think of one better to show that you are thinking of someone than with your choice of a simple card – for your friends and family, and your customers too!

Another important requirement in retail is to understand the market and keep up to date with trends. The team at Caroline Gardner do this brilliantly, and there is always something new, which is just what is needed from a core range supplier. The scalloped edged cards (right) perfectly reflect this summer’s whimsical theme found across key sectors such as home indoor and outdoor accessories, and fashion too. Ohh Deer is a recent introduction with a great range of contemporary designs to choose from.

As consumers, we are doing more research into the brands we buy from, so it is also no surprise to note that we as retailers are increasingly judged on our stand on sustainability. Greeting cards are an

Asma came to the UK in 2010 and took up citizenship. She owned and managed several Post Offices in West Yorkshire before taking on King Edward’s Drive Post Office in Harrogate. It was a traditional backstreet, run-down branch that survived on pensioners and sold cigarettes, newspapers, sweets, and just about anything that a customer might want. Its card stock was a collection of glitter, teddy bears, and sweet words that had gathered dust for 30 years. She had cards with Martini Navratilova and Nigel Mansell on the front! Everything was cheap, cheerful and going nowhere.

Andrew, was a retired director - he had worked at companies such as Taylors Tea & Coffee, and had run factories for the likes of Rington’s Tea. He was a customer who lived locally in Harrogate and called in most days. He was very aware that the business was declining quickly and was able to professionally analyse the shop.

Asma says: “He told me I had to face an inevitable closure or take a big risk and change my trading model. It was a no-brainer, I had to change.

‘‘We stopped tying up a huge chunk of money in poor-return products such as tobacco and cigarettes. We could not compete with the supermarkets. Next, we stopped opening before 6am just to sell a few newspapers and get ourselves bogged down with paper rounds and the headache of newspaper and magazine returns. We cheaply sold off and eventually, donated endless awful cards to charity. Toys, drinks, sweets, firelighters, toilet rolls and mountains of junk followed suit. We cleaned the place up from top to bottom.

“We gave all our historic metal shelving to the scrap man and over a couple of weekends fitted slatwall shelving and modern display units. In the meantime, we very carefully identified several smaller, independent card artists and producers, some of which were local. We wanted cards that were unique, that caught the eye, and took our new customers by surprise.

‘‘We refused to stock glitter or cards with verses. Display was key, we wanted the customers to come in and see a 1m wall full of beautiful cards that could all be seen at one glance; a wall of exciting colour. A wall where we only buy cards in threes or sixes so we can change the designs and supplier on a very regular basis. We wanted our customers to know that we would have new cards every week.’’

Next, Asma and Andrew turned their attention to the gift offering, which they realised needed to be different but affordable. “We started with a price range of gifts from £2 to £20 each. We brought in Fair Trade products from certified suppliers. Marketing is key so we used the internet, a website, social media and even flyers through letterboxes. It all worked, against all the odds, and a failing backstreet local post office became the established regional place to buy good-quality cards and gifts while sorting out your mail.’’

Their strategy was so successful that they bought nearby Starbeck Post Office outright in 2020 (lockdown year), and repeated the exact process there and found a greater success despite the economic climate.

Andrew says: “We now sell 50,000 cards a year to customers right across Yorkshire and as far away as France. Our advice is take charge of your own cards and gifts. Be brave but keep fixed to the sales. Keep your quality up, your range interesting and tight. Do not be frightened of charging a fixed price for all cards and keep it high. We offer a free sixth card for every five bought.’’

Asma adds: “The best moments are when we find an exceptional artist who literally takes our breath away and stretches our imagination. These create ‘card collectors’ who will easily spend over £100 on cards in one go. We have trebled our Post Office income since we started. This is down to several factors and a change in customer demographics as our market place has grown. Our footfall has grown over 400% and our spend per customer has increased. On the back of these factors we have attracted a clientele that does not worry so much about spending and at the same time they have brought their business postage and parcels with them.’’ And what about the challenges of price increases?

Bestsellers

We have several very popular cards suppliers, and quite a few local artists such as Demelsa Haughton Illustration and Claire Baxter Fine Art.

James Owen Thomas’ (JOT), Museums & Galleries, Bug Art, The Art File, Rachel Ellen Cards, Two Little Monkeys, Woodmansterne, Lola Design, and James Ellis are popular all year round.

“Costs have gone up but there are always bargains to be had if you look hard. We have absorbed costs when we can but more often we have just battled on getting the word out there - we are the Post Office and shop to come to for first-class products and the best customer service. We invest in our online and local profile. We run a Facebook community group that puts time and money back into the community. It has attracted 2,500 members and they are now mainly loyal customers. We reward good customers with discounts or little gifts. There is always a way forward. We cannot stand still. Be brave, be adventurous, be different!’’

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