On the day of The Retas (July 10) there was much ‘punching in the air’ by the winners in celebration of their victories, and some even had a chance meeting with famous boxer Chris Eubank when he ventured into ‘the ring’ of Retas attendees as they continued the festivities at The Market Tavern in Shepherd’s Market.
But ‘round two’ has seen the 2019 Retas’ winners continue to make the most of their wins by securing fabulous coverage in the media, holding parties in their shops to the delight of customers and notching up ‘likes’ galore on social media channels.
Bluestone Gift Shops, which won Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer – Scotland, has not only been buoyed up by the swathe of positive reactions to its triumph from those in the trade, but how the good news has also spread to the Scottish press.
As Jeanette Park-Patterson, co-founder of the business with her husband Campbell (which has stores in Barrhead, Largs and Lochgilhead) commented: “On our recent trip to the Home & Gift show at Harrogate we were amazed by the number of people who were congratulating us on our award, some of whom we knew and others we didn’t. We have also received many congratulations cards through the post, which has been really lovely. We are feeling very humbled and grateful to win this award.”
Barrhead News jumped at the chance to share the success of a local business with an extensive article which carried the headline ‘Special delivery for Barrhead retailer as it claims top award’ detailing how the family-owned and run business that was founded in 2000 now boasts four branches.
Daughter of the founders, Sara Still, who collected The Retas’ trophy with her brother Haydn Park-Patterson, told the Barrhead News: “Greeting cards have always been the bread and butter of our business. People come from all over to choose cards from our shops, so to be given this award is amazing… As we approach our 20th year of trading, achievements like this mean everything to our small family business.”
The retailer has also recently won the Customer Excellence category in the All About Barrhead Awards, so as Sara adds “it has been an exciting year for us.”
Meanwhile down in the south of England, Red Card in Petworth has also been clocking up column inches in the local press after its win as Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer – Home Counties.
The Midhurst and Petworth Observer published a lovely article about the highly popular retailer, owned by Sally Matson.
When asked by the newspaper to sum up her secret of success, Sally responded: “That we are independent, have a huge range of cards and are based Petworth, which is a great market town.”
The 2019 Retas trophy already has a ‘friend’ at Red Card as the retailer won the Best Newcomer award when it first opened six years ago.
Top: Medici Gallery in South Kensington, which won Best Independent Card Retailer – London in The Retas has been attracting attention with its window display which features the trophy as well as many of the flowers from the event.
