Greeting Cards on the High Street is There Any Future

Greeting Cards on the High Street is There Any Future

So what does the future hold for greeting cards on the High Street? We have seen a huge decline in greeting card retailers over recent years and I wonder if this trend can be reversed. As the supermarkets expand their greeting card departments in this highly profitable product group, are they going to exert too much pressure on High Street retailers of greeting cards and force the remaining specialists out of the market altogether?

Clinton Cards were forced to place their Birthdays brand into administration in June 2009 resulting in the closure of 136 stores. Clintons have continued to struggle and have reported subdued results for the crucial Christmas 2010 trading period. In February they announced the closure of all of their remaining Birthdays stores in Ireland. Clinton Cards still remains the dominant retailer of greeting cards on the High Street with more than 700 stores; can they maintain their position as the supermarkets continue to expand their greeting card selection?

The last two years we have seen the demise of Celebrations, Parchment, Birthdays, Thoughts and Borders leaving a big void on the High Street for design led contemporary greeting cards. This year we have already seen the closure of G store and British Book Shops leaving Clinton Cards and WH Smiths as the leading greeting card retailers on the High Street.

There now exists a great opportunity for a retailer to fill this broadening gap. Whilst Clinton Cards certainly have a large number of High Street stores their offering is still very traditional. If you are happy with a traditional mass market card from Hallmark then Clintons is fine but if you're looking for something a little bit more funky or contemporary then you won't find a very big choice. If you're lucky enough to have a Scribbler or Paperchase store nearby then you will have a much bigger choice of modern design led greeting cards from publishers such as Icon and Mint Publishing. Both Clintons and WH Smith now have a great opportunity to move forward and provide a better choice for their customers or risk the exodus of more customers to the their rising competitors or of course the supermarkets.

The Greeting Card Association state that there are still more than 1.5 billion greeting cards sold each year in the United Kingdom worth an estimated 1.47 billion pounds; that is more than the combined sales of tea and coffee put together! According to the Greeting Card Association report we each send an average of 31 greeting cards per year in the UK. This makes the greeting card sector very attractive to the supermarket giants which is why the High Street stores should be looking carefully at away to stand out from the competition. High street stores need to provide a broader mix of greeting cards that are not from the mass market publishers.

It is not too late for the few specialist greeting card retailers that remain to improve their range of products and the overall in store experience for their customers and protect the future of greeting cards on the High Street.

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