Greetings retailers are flying high after Mary Poppins event christens new trophies
Fabulous food, great decorations and Mary Poppins herself – in the shape of Progressive Greetings co-owner and editor Jakki Brown – made for a practically perfect Retas Awards celebration yesterday, 7 July.
And the deserving greeting card retailer winners made their way home with the fabulously redesigned Retas trophies, with House Of Cards needing extra help as they had two of the heavy silver ladies to look after.
Co-owners Miles Robinson and Nigel Williamson were twice called up to the stage in the ballroom at the umbrella and kite decorated Grosvenor House Hotel, to pick up both the Best Greeting Card Small Multiple award, followed by the overall Greeting Card Retailer Of The Year trophy.
With a great comedy set from host Sara Barron on how Mother’s Day cards from her British husband and young son – all bought from Earlybird in Stoke Newington, as she gleefully namedropped – are completely unlike the sentimentality of her US homeland, the lunchtime Mary Poppins-themed event was attended by around 300 greetings retailers, publishers and suppliers.
And the effervescent Sarah Laker was jubilant as she celebrated her two Stationery Supplies stores in Marple and Wilmslow winning: “I’m chuffed to flipping bits! We only went and won Best Greeting Card Retailer Initiative for our Giving Back to charity and community programme.
“Thanks so much to my staff, customers and publishers for your support because, without you, this wouldn’t be possible – off to get properly drunk now!”
Hayley Bastable, owner of Newport Pagnell’s HBB Cards, crowed: “We did it! We won Best Greeting Card Retailer Newcomer! I am absolutely delighted and thrilled and can hardly believe it. This is just BRILLLLLLLLIENT and I’m so proud.
“We’ll be displaying this award in the shop – thank you to everyone who believed in me, my hubby who supports me all the way, my fab team who I couldn’t do it without, and all my lovely loyal customers. Dreams do come true!”
And fellow first-time winners Hannah Rudder and Paul Mordecai, co-owners of Dee’s Cards, Leighton Buzzard, added: “We are pleased to announce we are the best independent greeting card retailer in the Home Counties and the South East. We’re over the moon, thank you so much to Progressive Greetings for such a beautiful trophy and for hosting a lovely afternoon. This weekend will be full of celebrations for sure!”
At Hugs & Kisses, Tettenhall, owner Caroline Ranwell couldn’t hold back the tears after picking up the Wales & The Midlands trophy: “Guess what – we won! Thank you so much team H&K I love you! I’m still crying!
“It’s really does mean the absolute world to me and makes all the hard work so worthwhile, I’m still on cloud nine now, I still can’t quite believe it! To win a Retas award has to be the absolute highlight of my 33 years in this wonderful industry.”
Museums & Galleries is one of the incredibly important award category sponsors and the publisher’s relationship manager Sophie Bylina said: “We specifically sponsor the independent garden centres award, which was won by Yarnton Home & Garden, because it’s fabulous to see the garden centres grow – forgive the pun! – as it’s a new sector as they are going into gifting as well as cards.
“This is such a fabulous event, the food was amazing! And the host Sara Barron was great, I really liked the fact at the beginning where she related greeting cards to herself and she was namedropping shops.”
Nick Carey, md of sponsor Abacus Cards, added: “The Retas Awards are really good, a really good celebration of the industry and I love the fact that it supports the independents. Today’s event was fantastic, a lovely reception room, the service is great and the food was delicious – better than the Henries! The hard work of the staff of PG means it’s always a really good show, and it’s part of the calendar of the greetings industry.”
And Alison Butterworth, md of sponsor Nigel Quiney Publications, commented: “The Retas are a great celebration of the card retail industry, we get to meet up with the best of the industry – and I love the event, it’s just lovely being together with colleagues and retailers.”
And in her welcome speech Mary Poppins herself, aka Jakki, paid tribute to The Retas finalists and winners, saying: “Echoing today’s theme, we all know the song lyrics ‘A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down’, which is a very apt metaphor for us here today.
“With all the doom and gloom around, the cost-of-living crisis, ongoing war in Ukraine, political turmoil and supply chain disruption, we all need something sweet to take the edge of these modern-day challenges. Greeting card retailers provide a welcome antidote to all this bad stuff with their bursting racks of colour and sentiment to lift the spirits of the nation’s greeting card shoppers.”
Presenting the Retailer Of The Year award to House Of Cards, Ged Mace, md of category sponsor The Art File, said: “In the good times and the not so good times, our industry needs retailers who remain totally focused on their business, who not only know their customers but consistently over deliver on product selection, customer service and retailing environment.
“On top of this we appreciate those retailers who remain fair and true to their suppliers, both large and small, as well as being fully engaged with wider industry initiatives – today we honour a business who has done all this and so much more.
In what has been a successful, enduring partnership of the company’s two owners, they have not only invested in their store estate, prudently expanding with great aplomb, but also recognising the importance of nurturing and supporting their strong committed team.”
Now in their 17th year The Retas, organised by Progressive Greetings magazine owners Max Publishing, are the only dedicated awards for greeting card retailers.
Photos from The Retas 2022 will be available to see and download from the awards’ website over the next few days and the event will be covered in full in the next edition of Progressive Greetings magazine.
The Retas Awards 2022 Winners are:
Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer London (sponsor Ohh Deer)
The Card Collection, East Molesey
Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer Home Counties & South East (sponsor Hallmark Cards)
Dee’s Cards, Leighton Buzzard
Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer East Anglia (sponsor Abacus Cards)
The Card Centre, Felixstowe
Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer South West (sponsor Nigel Quiney Publications/Glick)
Kingfisher Cards and Gifts, Sidmouth
Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer Wales & The Midlands (sponsor Second Nature)
Hugs & Kisses, Tettenhall
Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer North & Northern Ireland (sponsor UK Greetings)
Bailey’s, Ainsdale, Crosby & Maghull
Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer Scotland (sponsor Belly Button Designs)
Penny Black, two shops in Glasgow
Best Greeting Card Retailer Newcomer (sponsor Carte Blanche Greetings)
HBB Cards, Newport Pagnell
Best Independent Bookstore Retailer Of Greeting Cards (sponsor Woodmansterne)
Blandfords, Broadway
Best Non-Specialist Independent Retailer Of Greeting Cards North (sponsor Meraki)
Utility, Liverpool & Manchester
Best Non-Specialist Independent Retailer Of Greeting Cards South (sponsor Pigment)
Mooch London, four shops in West London
Best Greeting Card Small Multiple (sponsor Ling Design)
House Of Cards, seven shops in the Home Counties
Best Department Store Retailer Of Greeting Cards (sponsor Spring Fair & Autumn Fair)
John Lewis & Partners
Best Supermarket Retailer Of Greeting Cards (sponsor PG Live)
Tesco
Best Specialist Multiple Retailer Of Greeting Cards (sponsor Paperlink)
Card Factory
Best Non-Specialist Multiple Retailer Of Greeting Cards (sponsor Cath Tate)
Lark London – 10 shops in London
Best Greeting Card Wholesaler (sponsor Sensations/Express Yourself)
BGC Wholesale
Best Garden Centre Retailer Of Greeting Cards, Independent (sponsor Museums & Galleries)
Yarnton Home & Garden, Yarnton
Best Garden Centre Retailer Of Greeting Cards, Multiple or Group (sponsor
W Select)
Dobbies Garden Centres
Best Greeting Card Retailer Initiative (sponsor Danilo Promotions)
Stationery Supplies, Wilmslow & Marple – for its Giving Back Charity Programme,
Greeting Card Retailer Of The Year (sponsor The Art File)
House Of Cards, seven shops in the Home Counties
Top: Winners all – the 2022 Retas Awards line-up
