The finalists of The Retas 2022 greeting card retailer awards have been announced today (May 22), collectively representing the leading greeting card retail stockists in the UK.
“Against a backdrop of ongoing retailing challenges, the UK’s top greeting card retailers have shown true grit, passion, nous, inventiveness, superb product selection and a customer service extraordinaire, inspiring the consumer by over delivering on their greeting card buying needs and expectations. Every single one of the finalists in The Retas 2022 deserve to feel rightfully proud,” commented Jakki Brown, managing director of Max Publishing, which owns and organises The Retas (as well as Progressive Greetings and PG Buzz).
Now in their 18th year, The Retas awards have become the top accolades for greeting card retailing, rewarding prowess right across the retail landscape. The 2022 awards are for retailing activity over the last year.
The finalists were arrived at following a rigorous industrywide nomination, entry and validation process.
So, come now and meet the finalists of The Retas 2022…
THE RETAS AWARDS 2022:
Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer – London
The Card Collection – East Molesey
Diverse – Brixton
Earlybird – Stoke Newington
The Indigo Tree – Crystal Palace and Streatham
Medici Gallery – Kensington
With Best Wishes – Orpington
Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer – Home Counties and South East
Best Wishes – Bishop’s Waltham
Dee’s Cards – Leighton Buzzard
Etcetera – Hitchin
Milarkey – Brighton
Panda Cards – St Albans
Red Card – Petworth
Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer – East Anglia
The Card Centre – Felixstowe
Cards n Things – Norwich
The Deck of Cards – King’s Lynn
The Eel Catcher’s Daughter – Ely
Sincerely Yours – Hornchurch and Shenfield
Taylor’s Cards – Debden
Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer – South West
Cranbornes – Shaftesbury and Dorchester
Just Cards – Honiton
Kingfisher Cards – Sidmouth
Paper Gangsta – Bristol
Southbourne Cards – Southbourne
Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer – Wales and the Midlands
Austin & Co – Malvern
Bentleys and Maddison – Harborne, Solihull and Stourport on Severn
Daisy Chain – Stratford upon Avon
Hugs & Kisses – Tettenhall
Mooch Gifts & Home – Bewdley and Stourport-on-Severn
Wishes & Kisses – Solihull and Sutton Coldfield
Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer – North and Northern Ireland
Bailey’s – Ainsdale, Crosby and Maghull
Cards & Gifts – Dronfield
Design @ Six – Wetherby
Oklahoma – Manchester
Reflections – Rugeley and Nantwich
Sweetheart Cards & Gifts – Hull
Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer – Scotland
Bijou and JP Pozzi – Elgin and Buckie
The Gift Box – Peebles
Paper Tiger – two stores in Edinburgh
Pencil Me In – Elgin
Penny Black – two stores in Glasgow
Pippin – Edinburgh
Best Greeting Card Retailer Newcomer or New Branch
HBB Cards – Newport Pagnell
Magical Moments – Wombwell
Maybugs – Bexhill-on-Sea, Eastbourne and Hailsham
Party Box – Telford
Stationery House – Clevedon
Best Independent Bookstore Retailer of Greeting Cards
Blandfords – Broadway, Hereford and Ledbury
Bookends – Christchurch
The Edge of the World Bookshop – Penzance
The Harbour Bookshop – Kingsbridge
Regency Bookshop – Surbiton
Sevenoaks Bookshop – Sevenoaks
Best Non-Specialist Independent Retailer of Greeting Cards – North
Cloud 9 – Edinburgh
In Heaven at Home – Market Harborough
Stationery Supplies – Marple and Wilmslow
The Lambing Shed – Knutsford Supplies
Utility – Liverpool and Manchester
Write Here – Shrewsbury
Best Non-Specialist Independent Retailer of Greeting Cards – South
Figgins – Frome
French Grey Interiors – five stores in the South West
Kondi Gifts – Bristol
MiMi – Hartley Witney and Wokingham
Mooch – four shops in Ealing and Fulham
No. 14 – Ampthill
Best Greeting Card Small Multiple (4+ stores)
Between The Lines – 15 stores in the South
Henry & Co – 15 stores in the Midlands
House of Cards – seven stores in the Home Counties
Postmark – six stores in South and West London
Temptation Gifts – six stores in the Home Counties
Zo & Co – four stores in Cheshire
Best Department Store Retailer of Greeting Cards
Fortnum & Mason
Harrods
Harveys of Halifax
Hoopers
John Lewis & Partners
Morley Group
Best Supermarket Retailer of Greeting Cards
Asda
Booths
Morrisons
Sainsbury’s
Tesco
Waitrose & Partners
Best Specialist Multiple Retailer of Greeting Cards (20+ branches)
Card Factory – 1,000+ stores in the UK
Cards Direct – 41 stores in the UK
Cards Galore – 50+ stores in the UK
Cardzone – 160+ stores in the UK
Clintons – 240+ stores in the UK
Paperchase – 130+ stores in the UK
Scribbler – 35 stores in the UK
Best Non-Specialist Multiple Retailer of Greeting Cards
Lark London – 10 stores in London
Oliver Bonas – 75+ stores in the UK
The Range – 180+ stores in the UK
Waterstones – 280+ stores in the UK
WHSmith – 1,100+ stores in the UK
Best Greeting Card Wholesaler
Archway Cards – Norwich
BGC Wholesale – nine branches
CAPS – Bury
Crosswear Trading – Enfield
Greetings House – Walsall
Jackson’s – Sheffield
Best Garden Centre Retailer of Greeting Cards – Independent (1-4 centres)
Burford Garden Company – Burford
Fron Goch – Caernarfon
Garsons – Esher and Titchfield
Highfield Garden World – Whitminster
Monkton Elm Garden Centre – Taunton
Yarnton Home & Garden – Yarnton
Best Garden Centre Retailer of Greeting Cards – Multiple or group (5+ centres)
Blue Diamond Group – 39 centres in the UK
Dobbies – 70+ centres in the UK
Haskins – five centres in the South
Klondyke & Strikes – 22 centres in the UK
Longacres – five centres in the South
RHS Garden Centres – five centres
Best Greeting Card Retailer Initiative
Austin & Co, Malvern – for its Christmas Thinking of You Campaign
Chirpy, Chapel Allerton – for its Card Bundle Programme
Earlybird, Stoke Newington – for its Small Acts of Sustainability Campaign
No. 14, Ampthill – for its Ukraine Fundraising campaign
Sainsbury’s – for its GCA Design A Card for Black History Month Competition
Stationery Supplies, Marple and Wilmslow – for its Giving Back Charity Programme
Greeting Card Retailer of the Year
All winners of the other categories are contenders for this award.
The Retas 2022 winners will be announced at a wonderful afternoon event – on a Mary Poppins-esque theme – on Thursday 7 July in the Ballroom of the Grosvenor House Hotel, opposite Hyde Park in London.
Tickets and tables to The Retas 2022 can be bought online via www.max-tickets.net or by contacting The Retas’ awards organiser, Clare Hollick of Createvents on 01183 340085 or by emailing her on clare@createvents.co.uk.
The Retas 2022 already has a strong roster of sponsors, leading companies, all of whom are committed to rewarding retailing expertise, with more to follow. These currently include Abacus Cards, The Art File, Belly Button Designs, Carte Blanche Greetings, Cath Tate Cards, Danilo, Glick, Hallmark, Ohh Deer, Ling Design, Museums & Galleries, Nigel Quiney Publications, Paperlink, Pigment Productions, Progressive Greetings Live, Second Nature, Sensations, UK Greetings and Woodmansterne Publications.
