Third store opening in six weeks as greeting card retailer continues expansion
Cards Direct has reached the big 5-0 with the opening of its new outlet in Newbury taking the store estate to the half-century mark.
Retail operations manager Mark Watson said: “A massive thank you to everyone involved in giving this former Paperchase a new lease on life and helping us reach another major milestone.”
The store in Parkway Centre is the third opened by the greetings, wrap and party retailer – which boasts “our cards are made in Britain” – in six weeks following unveilings of the pink and green logo in Wolverhampton and Solihull, alongside its online offer.
And Cards Direct was among 10 greeting card retailers in the top 100 Most Loved Retail Brands league table released in March, entering the list for the first time in the 100th position to join John Lewis & Partners, Waterstones, Card Factory, The Works, Flying Tiger, Hobbycraft, Moonpig, Thortful, and WHSmith.
With its headquarters in Hemel Hempstead, the independently-owned business was founded in 2012 and has been gradually expanding over the past decade, now covering from the Midlands down to Poole, Folkestone, and across to Lowestoft, assisted by niche retail and leisure property advisory company AS Retail – which posted on LinkedIn asking for landlords with “opportunities you might feel suitable for Cards Direct” to get in contact.
Andrew Shepherd, director at AS Retail, commented: “We are delighted to be helping Cards Direct with their store acquisition programme. We already have another batch of new stores in the pipeline for 2023 openings but are still seeking more.”
And the company post added: “We are excited to announce that our long-term clients Cards Direct have opened their 50th store. This is an amazing milestone for the company with more store openings to come in the next few weeks and months.”
