Trends in Gifts at Stationery, Hallmark, and Floral Stores

It isn’t only Valentine’s Day, Christmas, or Halloween that mark the busiest shopping days at stationery, Hallmark, and floral stores. Gift sales are robust for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and to a lesser extent, Nurse’s Day, at each of these shops. For this article, store staff and owners discussed what sells best for these holidays, and why.

At Paper Source in La Jolla, Calif., Shift Supervisor Veronica Rojas said the store has a wide selection of top-selling gifts. Regardless, she noted that “For both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, one item is a real standout for us. It’s a small booklet with pre-printed cute tickets to redeem for the giver to do tasks or generally help at home. The tickets say things like ‘we will do the dishes’ or ‘we will make dinner,’ things like that.” For Nurse’s Day, Rojas related that “To a large extent the gifts are more humorous, such as mugs that say things like ‘Even We Can’t Cure Stupid,’ jokey items like that. But we also have socks which could be used for anyone in the medical profession and that are more serious, printed with words like ‘hero’ on them. Those are really popular, too.” ner out.

At Ecru, which offers stationery and gifts in Portland, Ore., Owner LeAnn Dolan breaks down her top sellers for these holidays. With three stores ranging from 550 to 1,100 square feet, Nurse’s Day is a bigger seller at the store’s branch located near OSHU Nursing School than at her other locations. “I still don’t sell as many gifts for that holiday, but I do sell quite a lot of Nurse’s Day cards at that store.”

“Wellness. It was really big for us this year, and I think that will continue through next year. Wellness journals, nice candles, soaps, and face masks all do very well.”

- LeAnn Dolan, Ecru, Portland, Ore., commenting on her biggest merchandise category for Mother’s Day in 2021.

For all these holidays, triple-insulated tumblers and mugs are big sellers. “We partner with Rifle Paper Company to produce them. All year-round we do well with them and with triple-insulated stemless wine glasses, as well as Rifle Paper stationery products, too.”

Rojas said Mother’s Day is “usually extremely busy” and much more so than Father’s Day. She said that while dads may be feted with a meal, Mother’s Day is more oriented toward gift giving along with that din-

For Mother’s Day she cited the biggest category as “wellness. It was really big for us this year, and I think that will continue through next year. Wellness journals, nice candles, soaps, and face masks all do very well.” Additionally, she explained that “Boxed note cards that have a positive, affirmative message, pens, notebooks, locally made chocolates and sweets - these are all very popular for moms as well. We focus a lot on chocolate and tea makers from the Portland area. We have a lot of great ones in Portland, and those items are strong for all the holidays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and when selling gifts for Nurse’s Day, those tend to be the items that do best.”

Other big hits for Father’s Day are journals, notebooks, and pens, Dolan reported. “Father’s Day isn’t a super big gift holiday for us compared to Mother’s Day. But, we do sell a lot of sweets and goodies for dads, and more of them every year. That is a real track for Father’s Day as a holiday, as well as being heavy on the paper goods sales for dads.”

Like Paper Source in La Jolla, Dolan’s Oregon stores see Mother’s Day as a “far bigger” gift-giving holiday than Father’s Day. “Everyone sends a Mother’s

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