Retailers’ reactions on finding out they are finalists in The Retas awards have been off the scale with their overflowing enthusiasm and sheer joy that their shop is recognised as one of the best in the UK.
“WOW!!! This is the first time after the euphoria of learning we have got to the finals to respond properly without loads of whoops and exclamations clouding how proud and honoured we feel being shortlisted,” Nigel Hamilton-Evans, who co-owns the Boroughbridge Post Office with his wife Karen, told PG Buzz about the shop being in the finals in the Best Non-specialist Card Retailer – North. “I am quite an emotional man, hence my passion for my card shop, so finding out we are in the finals of The Retas is a meaningful recognition of my 17 year journey with our card shop – it is like my ‘baby’ has now grown up and is making me so proud. Win or lose I don’t care, just the recognition is enough for me and the fact we can say ‘we are a finalist’ is priceless.
I have made this card shop supercalafragilisticexpealadosios by taking the ambrosia of many suppliers not just one. Every one of my suppliers makes my card shop the best for miles around. A very excited Nigel and Karen cannot wait until July!”
Penny Bailey, co-owner of Bailey’s Cards and Gifts in Ainsdale and Crosby (who is in the finals of the Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer – North and Northern Ireland category) is floating on air, delighted by the way her career change into becoming a card retailer is panning out.
“Wow, Simon and I are definitely having an exciting few weeks. Our new store in Crosby is now three weeks old and has had an overwhelming initial response from customers. Then we find out we are a finalist in The Retas, which is just wonderful. And, we’ve also just agreed terms on a third shop with a view to opening next February. My feet certainly haven’t touched the ground since I left my nursing career…and there was me thinking I’d get a bit of free time!” exclaimed Penny.
Like all the other finalists, Nigel and Penny will have a nail-biting wait until Wednesday 10 July when The Retas 2019 awards afternoon celebration will take place (at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London’s Park Lane) at which the winners will be announced. This year The Retas awards event will take on an exuberant Frida Kahlo theme and fittingly, the official ticket is a real work of art.
The talented team at Paper Rose was delighted to undertake the challenge of designing this year’s Retas invitation, especially as they were granted access to a wealth of creative assets by The Frida Kahlo Corporation and Art Ask Agency, the Corporation’s licensing arm.
Explaining more about the ticket’s design, Paper Rose’s Joanne Eccles said that she and the design team “loved browsing through the Frida Kahlo archive to select our favourite elements. Our aim was to focus on the iconic floral designs, while utilising bold shapes and colours inspired by the talented Mexican artist.
The diamond fold-out feature was created to reveal and showcase the beautiful portrait of Frida inside.”
The ticket is being printed by Sheffield-based greeting card specialists, Loxleys with GF Smith donating some of its wonderful board.
To secure your Retas ticket to this great networking event at which the top retailers will rub shoulders with publishers and trade suppliers, contact Clare Hollick on clare@keystonecomms.co.uk or on 01733 294524 or 07769 905959.
To see which other retailers are up for a Retas award, see https://www.pgbuzz.net/revealing-the-retas-2019-finalists-the-uks-greeting-card-retailer-awards/
Top: Penny Bailey (left) with fellow Retas’ finalist, Kim Lewis of Longacres garden centres at PG Live last year.
