16 minute read
International Perspectives
United Nations
As travel restrictions ease, following on from last month’s edition, PG continues its globetrotting mission, by checking in with some of the leading greeting card distributors and publishers in various countries to find out how trade has been in their corners of the world.
Canada: Liz Lunse, owner of North+South Distributors
The year that was: “The Canadian card market has been positive, despite all the challenges for retailers. As in many parts of the world, uncertainty was often in the minds of buyers and 2021 was slow to get going. It blossomed however into a strong year in the third and fourth quarter.
Even without Covid, January and February can be slow months in most of Canada, due to cold weather. To warm things up we ran a sale to help stimulate the market and give our customers a boost.”
Challenges and positives: “Showing ranges to buyers over the last year was more challenging than usual, as we had to avoid periods where restrictions applied. Being a large country, this varies from one Province to another. We overcame this by sending personalised mini sample ranges to many of our customers.
From our own business perspective, the cost of shipping and other cost increases challenged us to work yet more cost effectively and to accept that margins are going to be squeezed. Mostly, we absorbed cost increases, and held off as long as possible before introducing any price increases to our customers. Speaking to customers frequently on the phone has proved an important part of the last two years, helping in any way we could, so the biggest positive is that relationships were strengthened. Sending a personal note, a little gift, a sale offering, a free pack of cards…all kinds of little things are appreciated when times are tough. As it has been difficult for sales agents to always get to see customers, I am happy to report that more and more of our customers order via our website which has meant the agents have still received their commissions.”
Card buying habits: “We used to supply large cards for offices - that business has shrunk!
Humorous cards have been strong throughout the last two years while sadly sympathy cards remain a very strong category. Sales of Thinking of You and Thank You cards seem to have moved more towards Love & Friendship themes.” Hopes for 2022: “We have a positive outlook, regardless of a slow start and believe it will be a great year! We hope that everyone gets through the year with good health, lots of fun and time to rest. We are working towards a reduction in the number of cards we offer cellowrapped. First up are Caroline Gardner and Rosie Made a Thing, two of our most popular publishers.”
Left: Liz Lunse on her recent birthday. Right: North+South’s top selling and longest running card is the Pinot Grigio card from Paperlink’s Rhubarb Pie range. Below: A supportive card from Caroline Gardner, which North+South distributes in Canada.
Australia: Sara and Mark Kagan, directors of Scarpa Imports
The year that was: “Trade in our sector in 2021 was shocking, mainly because most of our retail clients were closed nationwide for about three months. There has been a lot of pent-up demand though from October until now.”
Challenges and positives: “Covid, International freight (costs and reliability), local distribution (when we finally reopened there were insufficient capable operators who could pick up and deliver on time), difficulty finding good experienced staff as a percentage were either sick or isolating, have been the main challenges.
Positives have to be, the pent-up demand for cards once we reopened. That, and the fact that we are still trading after 38 years!!”
Card buying habits: “We’ve seen a lot more happy and health-related cards being sent.”
Hopes and dreams for 2022: “To continue trading successfully with no further lockdowns.”
Germany: Marius Szanto, managing director of Anka Verlag
The year that was: “My sales in 2021 were 15% more than in 2020, but still 35% less than in 2019. Having said that, I had a good Christmas 2021!
I have talked to others in the market and most said that they had enjoyed a very good Christmas run, the rest of the year was, in most cases, difficult.”
Challenges and positives: “Germany is a Federal Republic of 16 states with differing rules per state and this has never been more apparent than during the Corona crisis with the conflicting rules leading to confusion and uncertainty on the part of the public and retailers. It is primarily the uncertainty which has caused retailers to be hesitant to buy stock in a situation where conditions could change almost by the hour.
The companies which have really profited from this pandemic are those selling online, not just Amazon. However, selling cards online is not easy as customers like to browse and physically examine a card, all of which is difficult when the numbers allowed into a shop have been limited and on top of that you have had to show proof of having been vaccinated as well as an Identification Card with photograph to validate the vaccination certificate and, of course, wear a mask. This often resulted in long queues outside shops making the whole process rather embarrassing for the retailers.
While Frankfurt’s Paperworld was cancelled, the Trendset fair in Munich went ahead in January, and Above: Marius Szanto with Ellen Kummer, given the circumstances was quite well attended. It took place held under strict Corona conditions. owner of Ihre Drogerie im Einkaufsland, in Marktheidenfeld-Altfeld in Bavaria.
The general feeling of exhibitors was mixed, some were reasonably happy with the result of the show, many were not. There a high number of empty stands, booked but not set up or manned by the respective companies.”
Hopes for 2022: “Corona is not going away; it is here to stay and we have to learn to live with it as we do with many other infectious diseases. 2022 has started well for me and so hope that the uncertainty will settle down. It is hoped that once a very large section of the population has been vaccinated and/or infected with Corona most of the restrictions will be lifted and normalcy will return, possibly by Easter.”
Ireland: Alan MacNamee, Garlanna, managing director of Garlanna Cards
The year that was: “The greeting card market in Ireland has been excellent, with retailers showing growth on growth. It has really been an amazing year, thankfully!”
Challenges and positives: “Like everyone we have experienced Covid-related issues, be it supply chain issues, shipping delays. Paper shortages, the rise in cost of paper due to this and also longer lead times have all affected us, but all challenges that can be overcome.
On the positive front, Garlanna’s brand awareness has grown, both online and in the marketplace. Our team has expanded over the last year, having taken on some talented new designers as well as expanding our sales fleet. Garlanna is now the supplier for Ireland’s National Post Office (AnPost), which has long been a dream for our company.” Card buying habits: “The public are looking for sustainable products which ties in with us having removed the plastic wrapping from our greeting cards and where possible are now using recycled board for our cards. We have published a lot of new contemporary designs which have been very popular. ‘A hug in an envelope’ is our tagline and this is something that people have been doing. People are sending more open ‘just to say’ cards so we have designed ranges to give our customer plenty of choice for these sends.” Hopes for 2022: “Our dream is a very simple one - for continued success and growth for Garlanna as we have experienced over the past year.”
Japan: Kayoko Kubo, general manager of Toy Symphony
The year that was: “I am pleased to report that the card market in Japan fared better in the last year than the year previous.
We experienced strong Christmas trade while sales of children’s cards also grew, meaning we havce been able to increase our imports of these types of cards.
We are now looking forward to further expanding our product portfolio with new designs.”
Below: Kayoko Kubo (left) with Toy Symphony’s founder Hiroshi Kawamura (second right) with Louise Tiler and Woodmansterne’s Lee Keeper at Spring Fair 2020.
Canada: Tory Wright, president of Paper E.Clips
The year that was: “As we had a series of lockdowns and Covid challenges for retailers in general, we do feel that this has affected our retailers, but we have been very surprised by how robust sales have been and our Christmas trade was great.”
Challenges and positives: “Managing Covid protocols has meant that for another year we have been wearing masks in the office and observing social distancing. It has made for an awkward working life. As for the positives, we have had the time to examine all our business processes and I think we are running tighter than we ever have before. We have also heavily invested in our social media presence and that has kept us engaged with our customers.”
Card buying habits: “I feel that ‘mean’ humour left the room for a bit. We all needed bit of encouragement and we continue to see an uptick in cards with good contemporary illustration and art cards.” Your company developments: “We have worked hard in the last year on our own range, called Halfpenny Postage which launched into the USA with Faire. We are very pleased with the results so far and look forward to being able to work with more Canadian designers and artists to expand this collection.” Hopes for 2022: “My big hope is that we can all shed the Covid protocols. It would be so nice to approach friends, family, staff and strangers with less apprehension.” Coming to PG Live in June? “We would like to come. Hopefully the timing of the show will mean that Covid restrictions will be lighter and the barriers for travel will be much less.”
Above: Tory Wright. Left: As well as distributing several UK publisher’s ranges, Paper E.Clips now publishes its own designs under the Halfpenny Postage brand.
The States: Eli Nelson, owner of The Nelson Line
The year that was: “Wow…it's been a strange and tough two years.
Business-wise 2021 was a big comeback for us over the disaster that was 2020, but just looking at the numbers doesn't begin to tell the story. The pandemic jitters are still everywhere, alongside the political/ideological divisiveness that now characterises everyday life in the United States.
While I am happy to report that many of our customers have made it through, a significant number have either closed or are still operating at a low ebb - museum stores come to mind here - which is no surprise given the tremendous drop in travel and tourism. Of course, our sales agents have suffered tremendously and have had to totally reinvent their sales methods and strategies: very few in-person appointments have made them rely more heavily on arm's length presentations with printed material, making use of electronic communication, etc. Like us and our customers they are entrepreneurs and survivors: we have all had to reinvent ourselves.”
Challenges and positives: “Major challenges? Here are the top three:
1. supply chain 2. Supply Chain 3. SUPPLY CHAIN
Every aspect - shipping and receiving goods, sourcing materials (paper, envelopes, POP displays... you name it), all supply chain related costs have jumped dramatically and in the case of the UK our historical shipping timelines have increased by a factor of at least four, forcing us to totally revamp our purchasing strategies. Because Nelson Line is also a publisher, trading and sourcing in the Far East as well as an importer/distributor, we are dealing with these issues in every facet of our business. Although we hope that these issues will begin to moderate in 2022, they haven't as yet. We have had to impose price increases for our trade accounts, but I made the decision not to price in all the added costs we have absorbed in the hope that as the year progresses some of these costs would start to fall. Not a traditional business strategy but there you have it: all of us have to think differently now.” Now for the positives: “All of us greeting card folks are in the communication business and because people want to be in touch and stay in touch, but getting together in person is difficult, sending cards has become more important for many people who simply didn't consider them before the world changed two years ago. And what do people want to share when times are tough? A good laugh always helps - our humour assortments have been exceptionally strong during this time. Our online business in general has increased dramatically, both with trade accounts and end customers.” Hopes and dreams for 2022: “My hope for this year is that we internalise all these changes, good and bad, and just get on with life. Time is our most precious resource and we cannot afford to squander it.”
Above: Eli, art director (and Eli’s wife) Elizabeth and Trixie. Above: A classic from the New Yorker range from Nelson Line.
Above: Peter Giovanazzi in exhibition mode!
Germany: Peter Giovanazzi, director of Papeteria Verlag
The year that was: “Overall 2021 was not that bad for the ranges we distribute from UK and Italy as well as our own published collection of high quality giftwrap.”
Challenges and positives: “The major challenge, of course, has been the pandemic. In the first few months of 2021 until mid March we had a lockdown in Germany. All of our 2020 trade fairs (Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Leipzig) were cancelled, our agents could not generate orders and the shops were closed. So, we did about just 25% of our normal turnover in this period. At the end of spring, the situation improved, became normal again from June onwards and Christmas business was fantastic.
In the periods of lockdown we did less work and calmed down a bit, read books and did excursions and walks in the countryside.”
Card buying habits: “There was a transition phase from lockdown to ‘Click & Collect’ and in this period we saw a big demand for greeting cards and even writing paper sets.”
Hopes and dreams for 2022: “Paperworld and Ambiente Frankfurt were cancelled again in 2022! I'm so sick of it and I hope that this pandemic will come to an end soon so that we can enjoy a summer again without these facemasks. I hope to come over to the UK again and visit my suppliers and friends.”
Coming to PG Live in June? “I will try to come over to PG Live (my initials = one of my favourite fairs) as I have done many times.”
The States: Nicky Burton, director of Calypso Cards
The year that was: “Once businesses started opening up again early in 2021 greeting card sales picked up and stayed up. Holiday (Christmas) cards sales were way up.”
Challenges and positives:
“The biggest challenge is international shipping delays and costs. With so few flights from the UK, costs have soared over the last two years, and even boat shipments rose to above the cost of air shipments pre-pandemic, while the Suez Canal fiasco only added to delays. In addition, paper is in short supply which is pushing up prices and making envelopes scarce.
As to the positives, in addition to increased sales and reduced expenses with less travel and trade shows, the pandemic has forced us to consider our priorities and has made us more efficient.”
Hopes and dreams for 2022: “That this might be the year we put the worst of the pandemic behind us and that we can travel to meet our customers again! We are looking forward to exhibiting at *Noted in San Francisco at the end of April”.
Above: Cards by Maureen Flynn, a new artist for Calypso in its Carte collection. Below: Nicky Burton in Calypso’s office in Newport, Rhode Island.
The States: Steve Gimbelman, president and ceo of Designer Greetings
The year that was: “Fortunately, we are focused heavily on the grocery and drugstore sectors. These stores remained open in 2021 and thrived so we feel lucky to have a large presence in these two channels of distribution.”
Challenges and positives:
“Container rate increases continue to impact our bottom line, as it is now 4-6 times more expensive to bring in our product and on top of that there is still a shortage of containers.
On the positive front, our employees all returned to work throughout the pandemic. As a family-owned-and-operated business, we value our employees’ loyalty. We also expanded our product line last year to include a full line of stationery products.”
Card buying habits: “In the last few years, embellishments, such as tip-on attachments, seem more important than ever to the consumer. The consumer demands are for higher-end, handmade cards combined with the right sentiment.”
Your company
developments: “We are in the middle of another large acquisition and are also will be ‘breaking ground’ in the spring with additional space, which will total more than 200,000 sqft. being added to our current property in Edison, New Jersey.”
