leader
Editor Lewis Eckett
ast month saw my first trip to the initiative being spearheaded by Jeremy Corner of
L
Harrogate Home & Gift Show – a handmade card specialists, Blue Eyed Sun. This
visit I was assured by my fellow month’s news section has more detail but the thrust
editors would be both newsworthy of it is to provide design-led exhibitors in greetings,
and enjoyable. gifts and jewellery a buzzy, creative marketplace
Well, my colleagues were right on both accounts. within startup-sized budgets.
Harrogate is a great place to visit for an exhibition, It’s an ambitious project and we wish Jeremy
with its bars, restaurants and genteel glamour it’s and Emap Connect every success because it could
easy to see why people in the industry describe it as be a real draw for retailers who are looking for the
“the trade’s favourite show”. little creative edges that can make a difference to
But what was more pleasing was seeing the their business.
*Do you agree/disagree?
creative commitment and energy of the greetings Whether or not the major publishers on their
Send your views to:
card exhibitors down in Hall F. Despite being larger, more expensive stands agree remains to be
lewis@lemapublishing.co.uk
corralled below ground in what was formerly an seen. In reality they should recognise that variety in
underground car park, the greetings exhibitors the greetings industry is the spice of life and accept
displayed a cheerful esprit de corp that was that whatever brings the buyers through the doors
infectious and uplifting. can only be a good thing.
The product was pretty good too and there were
some genuine creative flourishes brightening the
aisles and giving retail buyers plenty to think about.
Without this constant source of
As anybody in the greetings industry knows,
virtually anyone can set up a greetings card
creativity the industry would be a
company and start selling cards. The barriers to
entry are ridiculously low, which can be a blessing
very dull place and less profi table
but can also lead to a glut of mediocre tat to wade
through before you get to the good stuff.
But for retailers big and small, finding that
Editor’s favourite
buried treasure is really worthwhile because it
I don’t have a favourite this month
allows them to offer consumers something they
(OK, I have lots if the truth be
can’t get anywhere else. And in this economic
told) but one thing struck me
climate, consumers are either shopping on price
during July and that was the
or looking for something different to pique their
lack of response to one of the
interest.
most important events in the
For the independent retailer, it might mean more
history of mankind.
work, foraging through the sheer volume of creative
I’m talking of course of the
output now available to them, but keeping their
Apollo Moon landing in 1969.
racks fresh with interesting new product should
As a young boy I
be more profitable than simply buying a plan or
remember watching Neil
stocking the same as everyone else on the high
Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin
street.
take their giant leap for
Being adaptive and creative in the buying
mankind.
decision will be even more important as the
Along with Jacques
retail market contracts, which is why events like
Cousteau and Edmund Hillary,
Harrogate play a major role in showcasing new
Neil Armstrong became my
publishers and new designs. Without this constant
next big hero. And those
source of creativity, the greetings industry would be
iconic images of Armstrong
a very dull place and a lot less profitable.
and Aldrin on the moon have
In Harrogate, the real draw for retailers was
been with me ever since.
finding something new and exciting –something
I’m sure a lot of men are
previously unseen or unusual. GT’s Spotlight
the same, which is why I was
feature on page 32 rounds up some of the highlights
surprised to see the moon
but there were many more, which we will be
landings go un-celebrated by
bringing you in the coming months.
the greetings industry.
Harrogate, along with Top Drawer, Pulse and
Maybe the licensing fees are
PG Live are providing a platform for the smaller,
too onerous or perhaps the subject
boutique publishers who epitomise the creative edge
matter is too ‘male’.
of what has now become a £1.7 billion industry.
Whatever the case, I can’t help
Even Spring Fair is getting in on the act with
feeling it was a missed opportunity.
a special section being set aside for the Fresh
www.greetingstoday.co.uk 5
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