Progressive Greetings’ physical and digital editions are ready to read
The lambs are gambolling in the fields, the birds are busy building their nests and Progressive Greetings’ March 2024 edition has now landed – and the digital version of the magazine has been uploaded too!
Bursting with industry news and views, retailer perspectives, cracking articles and tons of product newness, it makes for a good spring clean of a read.
It’s a bumper news section this month. Clintons being acquired by Pillarbox Designs, Cardzone’s parent company, is one of the biggest industry happenings for ages.
After several attempts to clinch the deal over the years, ceo Paul Taylor must feel mighty relieved and proud to own what he describes as “the UK’s only national chain selling quality greeting cards”.
The King gave his royal approval to the thousands of greeting cards he received from the public after his cancer diagnosis was announced, further proof of how embedded the sending of cards is in the British psyche.
And the latter is something that the GCA has been ramming home to Ofcom in its battle to safeguard a reliable and affordable postal service with Royal Mail. Click here to read all about these stories and lots of other news besides.
It would seem everyone was rather loved up last month if the Valentine’s Day card sales are anything to go by, kicking off the 2024 spring seasons with a bang!
Sally Matson, of Red Card in Petworth, reckons it was a record breaker for her; Kayleigh Hisim, of Milford Cards & Gifts, Milford-on-Sea, saw her sales soar by 25% year on year; Home Counties group House of Cards saw a double digit increase; and up in Edinburgh, Michael Apter’s trio of Paper Tiger shops had sales that were “well up on last year”. Click here to feel the indies’ hearts beat.
Columnist David Robertson has not only been feeling good about the “pretty solid” Valentine’s Day trade in the shops he owns with mum Lynda up in the Highlands but also has a spring in his step about life in general, inspiring others to accentuate the positive – and don’t mess with Mr Inbetween! Click here for your dose of positivity.
Meanwhile, fellow columnist Cardsharp is calling for some respect for our industry, feeling rather irked that it does not receive the recognition it deserves from the consumer press, and he cannot understand why City analysts don’t seem to appreciate the sterling financial performance of Cardfactory hence its rather undervalued share price. Click here to read what he has to say.
As celebrity retail businesspeople go, Theo Paphitis is right up there, wowing the audience yet again as he took to the Inspiring Retail stage at Spring Fair recently.
This born entrepreneur’s latest mission is to “disrupt” the online greeting card scene with the new Ryman app which enables the public to order a one-off personalised card on their phone and then pick it up in any of the retailer’s 192 High Street stores.
What with that and the expansion of his new Ryman Design retail concept, this former tv Dragon is breathing his own brand of fire into the greeting card sector. Click here to read about this disruption Theo-ry!
Just as Theo has done things his way, so the greeting card sector is well-blessed with interesting backstories. With this year marking notable milestones for several companies, following on from last month’s edition PG looks back and forwards with some more birthday boys and girls including Dean Morris Cards, Louise Tiler Designs, Rosanna Rossi and Rush Design. Click here to join the celebrations.
And for every celebration there are invariably gift-wrapped presents. In PG’s annual deep delve into the gift-wrappings sector, we look at the roll vs sheet wrap debate, the significant sustainable progress that has been made and the design inter-relationships between cards and wrap. To hear from the wrappers, click here.
While the tradition of gift giving is certainly not going out of fashion, it does appear an increasing number of greeting card publishers are coming up with ingenious ways of adding value to their cards, with the addition of an added extra, be it a bookmark, coaster, jewellery, chocolate or a bauble. To find out more about these cards that keep on giving, click here.
And, as we look to welcome the new season with the equinox tomorrow, so there is a call for some spring newness. To feast your eyes on some of the latest ranges, check out Innovations, by clicking here.
Someone who has designed more than his fair share of greeting cards over the years is experienced artist Ian Saxton. Click here to find out more about his creative journey.
As ever, PG ends on a high note, with the ever-popular What’s Hot? section. To see what ranges are flying off the shelves for some leading retailers, click here.
All this and more in the pages of our lovely magazine. Wouldn’t you like to hold it in your hands so you can flick through and read it wherever it takes your fancy? To SUBSCRIBE NOW go to www.max-subscriptions.net
However, if you can’t wait, to read the whole PG March 2024 edition online you can click here.
