Progressive Greetings’ physical and digital editions all ready to read
The Progressive Greetings’ August 2024 issue landed on desks at the start of the week, and the digital version of the magazine has now been uploaded too.
PG August’s edition is full of summer goodness, industry news and views, retailer perspectives and insightful articles…so, what are you waiting for?!
The news pages are a cornucopia of happenings, from the personal, including former Tesco exec Samantha Ody joining the Cardzone group as its head of buying, and Karen Wilson becoming the sole owner of Paper Salad, to the more corporate, such as Anagram acquiring Pioneer Europe and Jellycat giving its agents notice. Click here to read all about it.
A major presence in the issue is the big collective retailing news of The Retas greeting card retailer awards which saw leading indies, specialist groups, garden centres and a host of non-specialists being feted at a lovely Beatrix Potter-themed event held at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel. To see the happy bunnies, click here, and to enjoy a flavour of the afternoon gathering of 400 industry folk click here.
With The Retas taking place on the same day, 4 July, as the general election heralded a change of government with Keir Starmer now in the Prime Minister’s seat, Viewpoints saw members of the greeting card community share their wishes for the new cabinet. Click here to see what they have to say.
As ever, PG’s columnists are never short of something to say. With a nod to Tina Turner’s hit, Cardsharp’s Private Chancer’s article highlights how private equity-owned companies dominate the bricks-and-mortar retail scene in the UK as never before, and considers the long-term ramifications of this trend for both retailing and the greeting card industry generally. Click here to read all about it.
Upping the volume on the music theme, avid concert-goer David Robertson has swaggered through Liam Gallagher singing Live Forever in Manchester, swayed through Robbie Williams belting out Angels in Hyde Park and saluted AC/DC powering through Thunderstruck at Wembley in the last few weeks, lapping up their respective anthems. He turns his thoughts to what the greatest hits that he and other indies perform to keep their fans happy. Click here to be in tune with DR.
Meanwhile, following on from last month’s edition, even more retailers who visited PG Live share their pick of the pops from the wealth of newness that was launched at the show and now hitting the high notes with their customers. Click here to see these top hitters.
But it’s not all sunny. As Lark’s Priya Aurora-Crowe said: “Shoplifting is at crisis level. Something has to be done, and quickly. We need more police, stricter laws and funding. The level of shoplifting is really hurting the retail trade and hurting humanity.”
With King Charles’ speech at the State Opening Of Parliament putting the Crime & Policing Bill firmly on the government’s agenda, there is a hope that retail crime will be curbed. Let’s hope it’s sooner than later. Click here to read more.
While the popular What’s Hot? section sees a trio of retailers reveal which ranges are getting their tills ringing – click here to see which products are more than earning their keep – the Innovations pages bring some new contenders into the midst. To see what’s new on the product horizon, click here.
And, to end of an aesthetic high, this month’s Art Source focuses on Georgia Frost aka Georgia Breeze. Having run her own greeting card company for a few years before changing direction with a move into licensing her artwork instead, Georgia has first-hand knowledge of the greeting card sector. As she reveals that a collaboration with Paper Rose is in the pipeline under her Georgia Breeze brand, click here to read more about her creative journey thus far.
All this and more in the pages of our lovely magazine. Wouldn’t you like to hold them 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 full PG August 2024 edition online you can click here.
