Cardzone has acquired the Card Land group of nine card shops in Northern Ireland, meaning that the growing greeting card multiple now has 14 card shops in the country, and a presence in most of the larger towns and cities.
Allan and Elaine Mackinnon, who have owned the group of nine shops, which traded under the Card Land banner in Northern Ireland for the last few years, have now joined the Cardzone management team. They are now responsible for the management of all 14 stores owned by Cardzone in Northern Ireland.
Commenting, James Taylor, trading director of the Cardzone group told PG Buzz that he was delighted that Allan and Elaine have joined the team: “We have further ambitions to grow in Northern Ireland should the right opportunities come before us. It will be interesting seeing our Christmas performance in Northern Ireland as Allan and Elaine delivered some strong numbers last year. If we can grow these sales numbers it will give us more confidence in 2019 to acquire or perhaps open new stores in the country.”
While all the newly acquired stores currently trade under Card Land branding, James confirmed that it has been agreed “they will be rebranded in the near future. We are still deliberating the branding for these new stores however currently we have two Hallmark stores and two Card Centre branded stores in Northern Ireland from our existing estate.”
This expansion comes only a few days after the announcement that Cardzone has committed 70% of its greeting card shop estate to Hallmark, making it the dominant card supplier – and the greeting card brand being added to the fascia of the shops.
Cardzone is on an ambitious growth with plans to double the business in the next three years. The group, headed up by founder Paul Taylor, now comprises 129 stores, including specialist card shops, Hallmark factory outlets and some standalone home fragrance stores.
