Indie Resilience Wins Through

Over a third expect to grow their business this year

For the second year in succession, ‘resilient’ is the word that independent greeting card retailers feel best sums up the greeting card industry, and the findings of the latest PG Retail Barometer back this up.

Among the fascinating insights into the independent greeting card retail sector, the responses to the annual survey, undertaken by Progressive Greetings, show that indies have started 2023 feeling relatively optimistic, with 35% expecting their business to grow in the next 12 months.

As for performance last year as compared to 2021, 44% of indies experienced growth, with another 32% remaining on a par, with social media promotions having proved invaluable in engaging with their customers.

“The ‘shop local’ pattern has clearly held strong, reflecting its being cited as the top boon to indies’ business in the last year, with the cost-of-living crisis being the number one reason for dampening trade,” commented Jakki Brown, md of Max Publishing, which undertakes the independent research every year. “The postal strikes not surprisingly come in for a hammering, with over 70% stating that their customers sent fewer Christmas cards in 2022 compared to 2021, with the industrial action as well as the cost of stamps having impacted,” she added. l For a fuller report, see pages 43-53

On the product front, while Christmas boxes showed the greatest decline in sales, spirits were lifted by humorous cards, which took the top spot for growth, followed by relations & occasions cards in 2022 v 2021 for indies.

As for which other retail types indies see as the major threat to their business, it is supermarkets that are right up there, with 72% of respondents viewing the grocers as a real concern, with garden centres also featuring highly as a thorn in their side, with 53% seeing them as a threat to business.

Jennie Rutter joins Emo board

Jennie Rutter has been appointed to the board of Emotional Rescue . Jen has been with the Tewkesbury-based publisher since 1995, initially as creative manager before becoming creative director in 2013.

“Having spent a long time at Emotional Rescue, it’s a great honour to be invited on to the board and to have the opportunity to be involved in the future of the business in a broader way,” she told PG.

David Greaves explained that he and md Brett Smith invited Jen to join the board and were mighty pleased she accepted. “Jen has been in our business for over 25 years, she continues to play a pivotal role in our product development programmes. In recent years, Jen’s role has broadened into dealing with our customers and helping to develop the company's business strategies. We are delighted to welcome her to the board.”

David was a co-owner at Emotional Rescue for 22 years until Martin Nevin bought the company in 2019, then David took over the business in its entirety in 2019, with Brett joining the company from Danilo, where he was sales director, to become managing director and a shareholder.

Card Factory’s positive trading message

Trading “ahead of expectations” was the good news from Card Factory as the giant greeting card retailer reported strong Christmas trading as customers’ continued to return to the High Street.

The announcement showed sales in the 11 months to 31 December rose to £432.6million, from £337.3m in the same period a year previous, while store revenue grew 7.1% on a like-for-like basis.

And the news comes following Card Factory’s opening of its third store trading in London’s central zone one, with a shop in High Holborn, joining those in Fenchurch Street and Tottenham Court Road.

Card Factory’s new model store format continues to roll out, with 10 stores now open and “generating an uplift to sales compared to comparative stores”, with further conversions planned for the new financial year, and its Click & Collect trial now live in 85 stores.

The strong Christmas performance has meant Card Factory has lifted its profit guidance, predicting annual earnings for the full year to 31 January 2023, of “at least £106m” up from the anticipated £96m despite online sales falling by over 27% year-on-year due to the postal strikes.

Card Factory’s ceo Darcy Willson-Rymer said: “We’re pleased and encouraged by the continued strong performance of the business,” which he said “reflects the continued good momentum within the business alongside the shift of customer spend back towards the High Street”, and he added that the strong Christmas trading was driven by improvements in both store transactions and average basket values.

A strong performance in both everyday card ranges and complementary categories supported trading with wedding, life moments, milestone and children's ranges the “best performing” of the everyday card offer, all seeing double digit LFL growth.

The report added the performance in complementary categories was driven by the range expansion work completed in the first half of the year, with confectionery, pocket money toys as well as wrap and bags among the high growth categories.