Hallmark is building up to a complete relaunch of its Gold Crown programme, installing the new look and approach in another five stores over the next few months, in advance of a major relaunch event to be held at the publisher’s Dawson Lane HQ in Bradford on September 26 and 27.
Ciaran Leonard, Hallmark’s head of sales for UK and Ireland, confirmed that the plans are to build the Gold Crown network back up to 200 stores over the next couple of years, from its current base of 122 stores.
“We have not revamped the Gold Crown programme since 2012 and a lot has changed in the world and in the industry over that time, resulting in new challenges for independent retailers,” Ciaran told PG Buzz. “You cannot ignore the decline in footfall, growth of Card Factory and supermarkets, as well as how consumer shopping patterns generally have changed. We have spoken to a great number of retailers and consumers as well as drawn on the immense insights from our Kansas City parent company to create the new Gold Crown approach,” Ciaran added.
The new Gold Crown look trial, which debuted in Philip and Maxine Nield’s Hallmark Reflections store in Nantwich and in the Hallmark Something Special store in Widnes, co-owned by Helen Nixon and Claire Lenton at the end of last year have both shown encouraging results.
By the time of the two-day launch event at the end of September, to which existing Gold Crown retailers as well as prospective customers will be invited, the new look and approach will have been installed into another five stores in the UK and Eire, in various permutations.
As Graeme Francis, head of the UK Gold Crown programme explained, the new approach encompasses both improvements to the shopping environment, product selection (including Hallmark and other card publishers and gift suppliers) as well as a retail support programme.
“There has been positive feedback from customers to the new look and feel, which has been reflected in the trading patterns of Philip and Maxine’s store [Reflections, Nantwich) as well as in Helen and Claire’s [Something Special, Widnes]. We are now looking to expand on this by installing the new approach as a ‘store within a store’ concept, as well as a partial refit,” revealed Graeme.
Independent Sheffield department store, Atkinsons is to install a Gold Crown ‘store within a store’ in July, which will encompass 100’ of greeting cards display, 24’ of gifts, as well as ‘gifting tables’, ‘feature ends’ and an event area. The department will feature Hallmark branding but will also encompass other publishers’ products.
Sandbatch-based Burnells, owned by sisters Sarah and Cathy Masters and I&A’s store in Parkhead, Glasgow are both to trial a partial refit using elements of the new Gold Crown look.
Meanwhile in Eire, Carroll’s of Dundalk and The Card Shop in St Stephen’s Green in Dublin are to be converted to the new Gold Crown look, both of which will be completed by the time of the programme’s official relaunch of at the end of September.
As Ciaran reinforced: “We are fiercely protective of the independent retailer. The Gold Crown programme gives them the opportunity to maintain their independence but with the support and drawing on the insights that we at Hallmark can offer. The revamp of Gold Crown is long overdue, but we are excited about what it can offer our customers,” he said. Elaborating, he believes that through the improvements offered by the new Gold Crown programme in three key areas: “to the retailing environment, exclusive products, plus the ‘soft benefits’ of support through training, advice and group engagement” will appeal to a great number of retailers “of all shapes and sizes.”
