leader
Editor Lewis Eckett
o the accountants reckon the The new site will allow us to reach an even
S
recession is over do they? wider audience and provide a platform for breaking
Hmm, I’m not so easily convinced. news, views and reaction to all aspects of the
Sure we may see a bit of a greetings card business. We’ve already been
bounceback as the banking sector producing electronic versions of Greetings Today
gets back in the casino and house buyers realise since the spring and the new site will offer a link to
there are not a lot of properties out there. But an this for people to download to their own PCs.
end to the recession seems, well, to soon to call. Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean the end of the
I’m a natural optimist at heart but even I’m magazine – we are committed to publishing GT
given to bouts of pessimism when confronted with every month, just as normal but we do feel the time
the harsh reality of life on the high street. Harsh is right for us to explore ways of delivering some
*Do you agree/disagree?
business rates, lower footfall, summer rainfall and information much more quickly via the Internet.
Send your views to:
even roadworks can all conspire to further dampen Please let us know what you think.
lewis@lemapublishing.co.uk
consumer spending, even in the traditionally
recession-resistant business of greetings. And fi nally ….
To be fair to the association of number Yours Truly boldly went where he probably
crunchers, they are not saying that retail is one shouldn’t have done last month when he
“Saying the
of those areas enjoying an uplift. Nor are they complained that the greetings card sector had all but
promising that the three consecutive quarters of forgotten the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon
recovery is
growth required to officially decree a non-recession landings.
won’t be reversed as we head into 2010. All they Nick Adsett of the Great British Card Company
‘fragile’ is a
will say is that the recovery is ‘fragile’, which is bit was on hand to put me right with the news that its
bit like saying:
like saying: “Iceberg – cold, hard” when you’re on National Geographic range of photographic cards
the bridge of the Titanic. included the iconic shot of Neil Armstrong on the
“Iceberg – cold,
Anybody in retail and in the wider business lunar surface. Doh!
of greetings will know that we are not out of the Sorry Nick, I’ll look harder next time.
hard” when
woods yet and to thrive and survive over the next
18 months or so will require focus, fortitude and
you’re on the
really great product.
Which brings me neatly to the Autumn
Editor’s favourite
bridge of the
exhibition season.
Card retailers need new product to refresh their
I’m not a big fan of cute personally,
Titanic”
ranges and attract consumers. In the market we’re
although I can see why it holds an
in, footfall is the key element of success.
integral part of the greetings scene.
This month’s GT previews both Top Drawer
But when it’s combined with
Autumn in London and Autumn Fair at the NEC in
an authentic, vintage theme I
Birmingham. I can’t stress enough how important it
suddenly sit up and take notice.
is to spend a little time at either of these two shows
This design on show at
to see what’s on offer, where the new ideas are
Harrogate Home & Gift from
coming from and what trends we are going to see
new card company, Flytrap
for Christmas and beyond.
Publishing really caught my
Even if you don’t make buying decisions at eye. It’s part of a collection
shows, it will still be worthwhile to chat to card from various members of the
companies and fellow retailers to share experiences
Venus family. They’re a highly
and chat about best practices. That, to me, is one
artistic lot by all accounts and
of the main reasons why shows are key to the
have been creating artwork
continuing success of card retailing in the UK.
for many, many years. This
particular illustration called ‘Girl
It’s all and well good waiting for the reps and
with a Basket’ was produced by
agents to come round and show the new ranges to
Sylvia Venus to accompany Enid
you but you can’t get a feel for where the market is
Blyton books.
going or enjoy the community aspect of the show
Now it’s available as a card,
environment that way.
along with other examples of her
After all, you’re not an accountant are you? work. I fi nd it utterly charming
and awfully sweet.
Greetings Today heads online
You can fi nd out more
After what seems like an eternity, Greetings Today
about Flytrap Publishing in our
is poised for launch into the world wide web. That’s
Spotlight section.
right, we’re going online at:
www.greetings-today.co.uk
www.greetingstoday.co.uk 5
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