Major giftware company, Widdop and Co is expanding further on the greeting card front, both by publishing more of its own ranges as well as through a distribution agreement with US publisher, Elum.
“Greeting cards is an exciting and logical expansion for us,” says Sue Grant, marketing manager of Widdop and Co, following the launch of its Musicology and Hero card collections aimed at men, which echo the gents gifting ranges that have proved successful for the company.
“Customers like the idea of a trusted giftware partner expanding its brands to include greeting cards, given the importance of sentiment to our overall offer. Occasions are at the core of giftware and so we will be adding more ranges of greeting cards to other brands,” reveals Sue.
Widdop and Co‘s first foray into greeting cards came last year when it launched ranges of greeting cards based on its highly popular Bambino new baby brand as well as a wedding collection under its Amore brand at PG Live.
“Both Amore and Bambino have been selling really well,” says Sue. “Both are designed in-house to co-ordinate with the wider gifting lines. The Amore ranges consists of 12 cards encompassing wedding day, engagement and anniversary. We also have 12 cards in the Bambino range to cover baby shower, christening and birth.”
The new Musicology card collection is based on a gift range that features a witty play on song.
Hero, which sits within Widdop’s Harvey Makin brand is new for 2018, celebrating the special heroes in our lives.
“This collection was begging for a small range of coordinating cards for the retailer to offer as an additional purchase to the gift. Given that every item in the Hero collection can be personalised, cards are a logical extension to the range,” explains Sue.
Widdop and Co has also taken on distributorship of a number of American greeting card lines, including Studio Oh, a North American social stationery brand, which has had “a solid start in particular with independents and garden centres.”
Brand new for 2018 is a second distributorship of a greeting card range – Elum. This Californian brand is famous for crafting stylish, high quality paper products. All its greeting cards are printed using a letterpress printer giving a premium, vintage look to the cards. While still early days “all the feedback is positive,” says Sue.
