Indie retailers reveal why they’re enjoying the festive tingles
A decent Christmas trade is the aim for all greetings stores as the sector is so reliant on the festive period.
And indie retailers have been making sure the joy from sending and receiving Christmas cards is kept at the forefront of everyone’s minds.
PG has been checking in with members of The Cardmitments WhatApp independent retail group to discover their Christmas hunches, in this final instalment we hear from Jo Sorrell, of Cardies in Stevenage, and Jo McBeath, who runs Chirpy in Chapel Allerton…
Jo Sorrell, owner of Cardies, Stevenage
Christmas hunch: “We sense this year many people preferred to start their buying early to spread out the cost of Christmas. We’ve also had one lady who bought all of her Christmas cards in October, saying that, as her eyesight is deteriorating with age, it takes her longer to write her cards and she prefers to have plenty of time.
“I was heavily involved in the town’s Christmas lights switch-on and ran a poster competition so we revved up the festive feeling.”
Playing your cards: “We started our Christmas trading season at the end of September/beginning of October when our deliveries started arriving. The boxes and packs of Christmas cards were the first to go out, mainly because we don’t have space in our stock room for them! Our main display of individual Christmas cards went out in early October.
“Sometimes we hear people comment that it’s too early for Christmas cards to be out, but then in the next breath they were coming to the till with a load of Christmas cards!”
Jo McBeath, Chirpy, Chapel Allerton
Christmas hunch: “For us this year it felt like people started their Christmas shopping later – not sure if the October budget just made people a bit more nervous. November was busy as usual and I’m confident that December will be too, I think we just might have the rush a bit later this year.”
Playing your cards: “We sold a lot more packs of cards last year, so I’ve stocked up this year and hope that happens again.
“We start selling our Christmas cards in store from the beginning of November, which coincides with the anniversary of my owning Chirpy, so we had lots of celebrations which was a great time to launch more festive stock and put some decorations up.
“Christmas cards have been available at Chirpy online for some time and I’ve also been doing some supplier Focus on… activity on my website and social media, including makers of Christmas cards and featuring them as my Card Of The Week, starting at the beginning of November.
“Our Christmas window was launched mid-November, after our birthday celebrations and in time for our village light switch on – and that’s when I started to feel festive.”
These views appear in the November issue of Progressive Greetings which can be read online, and any indie retailer who wants to join the Cardmitments WhatsApp group should email Heidi Early heidi@earlybirddesigns.co.uk.
