Leading greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card Connection is today celebrating the launch of its new anniversary and wedding card range. Card Connection’s network of franchisees will now deliver and merchandise the new designs to retailers across the UK.

“Eighteen new cards have been created in time for the spring season, from cute and cuddly wedding day to humorous anniversary, with a mixture of classic designs and adorable characters all created to complement existing best sellers and have a broad appeal,” confirms Michael Johnson, managing director, Card Connection. “A slim line display is also available to show off the new range plus gift bags and wrap to maximise sales.

“We introduce new product and seasonal stock on a regular basis and have an unparalleled selection of in-house designed greetings cards including licenced ranges such as the cute phenomenon Boofle and Disney,” continues Johnson. “Our unique model of consignment sales has resulted in a strong brand and established reputation which has been proven over more than two decades. We currently have more than 65 UK franchisees supplying around 12,000 retailers across the country. As well as independent retailers, Card Connection has a national account network where the franchisees supply around 100 Regional and National retail brands such as Costcutter, WH Smiths Motorway Services, NISA, BP and Spar.”

Card Connection’s franchisees supply full ranges of greeting cards and accessories to retailers on a ‘consignment’ basis. This award winning concept means the stock and display equipment are installed on free loan to the retailer. This is one step beyond ‘sale or return’ as Card Connection customers never have to buy the stock initially, only paying for what they sell.

Dave Pickford, Commercial Director, Northeast Convenience comments: “We have been working with Card Connection for the past three and half years. The franchisees supply around 30 of our stores with greetings cards. The franchisees and head office provide excellent support and we have a really good relationship with the whole of the team. The products suit our broad demographic and prices are competitive. The seasonal service where franchisees merchandise stock such as Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day is an approach that works well. It means stores have the seasonal stock coming in at the right time and importantly retailers are not left with old stock as the franchisees come and re-fresh the ranges regularly. As well as the day-to-day greetings card displays, the seasonal selections maximise the uplift around key calendar dates. I can’t recommend Card Connection’s service highly enough.”

Card Connection is part of UK Greetings, which is a subsidiary of American Greetings Inc., one of the largest greeting card publishers in the world and has limited vacancies for franchisees that are keen to run an expanding business. Since the franchise network in the UK is complete, the available opportunities now consist of acquiring an already-established territory from an existing franchisee. These vary in price according to their level of development, but start at £7k + Stock + Card Connection fee with earnings potential in excess of £50k per annum.

Territories currently available include: Plymouth, Reading, Bournemouth, Oxford, Bath, Northampton, Coventry, Leicester, Liverpool, Ayr, Scottish Borders/Edinburgh, Motherwell and South West Ireland. For further information about franchises for sale, please fill out the form below.