Esther Payne and Patricia Fitzpatrick, owners of Mustard Gift Shop, Oadby, Leicestershire, and online (and www.mustardgiftshop.com) reveal what’s selling well. Their family-run shop is located in a small town with a local and varied customer base.
Everyday: General from Jade Fisher
“Llamas are inexplicably ‘on trend’ and we love them! All of Jade’s gouache painted illustrations are very popular with our customers. The design ‘Julio the Llama’ is a great all round celebration card. We think he’s ace!”
Everyday: Across The Board from Art House Meath
“We know when we hear a chuckle by the ‘card wall’ that the ‘Congratulations on your new baby. Don’t drop it!’ card has been spotted. The range has great artwork by the artists supported by this brilliant charity. We love talking about Art House Meath with our customers, it always gets such a positive response.”
Humour: General from Kate Abey
“Another surefire chuckle from the ‘You’re annoying but I love you’ dinosaur card. Strange how many people relate to this instantly! There’s a real gap in the market for more contemporary sarcastic cards!”
Photographic: 1000 Words from U Studio
“The ‘Cat Paws’ image is a firm favourite with our customers. We’ve discovered there are a lot of cat lovers out there.”
Children’s: General from Meri Meri
“A card and stand-up flashing light robot in one! We think the ‘Flashing Robot’ is the coolest kids’ card ever! It’s a fantastic range of novelty cards made to last long after the occasion.”
Ancillary: Mood Pencils from U Studio
“This range of pencil sets have our customers chuckling every time. The funniest of which are the ‘Depressed pencils’, ‘Demotivational pencils’ and ‘Procrastination pencils’. All have funny slogans written on them, eg ‘Do your best, or don’t, whatever’.”
Ancillary: Handmade Chocolate from Art House Meath
“A delicious range of handmade chocolate all wrapped in the beautiful paper designed by their super talented artists. Eating chocolate and doing some solid charity work is a winning combination for us and our customers!”
