Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know
Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.
Subbing printed birthday cards for a “Happy...Birthday...to...Sarah…” IG story has consequences. As greeting card sales decline, 110-year-old Hallmark is reorganizing a retail business that spans around 2,000 mostly independently owned U.S. stores, the WSJ reports.
Hallmark's planned overhaul includes...
- Redesigning its app to encourage personalized paper card purchases.
- Opening stores inside other businesses, like hospitals and hardware stores.
- Shaking up the top brass. Retail President Steve Farley is leaving the company.
Pros and condolences. A Hallmark spokesperson said it doesn’t plan to close company-owned stores while it attempts to turn around stagnant sales.
But franchise owners are closing stores on their own because Hallmark’s alternative retail channels cannibalize business, they claim. “They started to sell our product everywhere and that was a devastating blow,” one franchise owner told the WSJ.
School of card knocks
U.S. printed greeting card sales slid nearly 13% over the past five years, per IBISWorld data cited by the WSJ. And Hallmark’s not the only one with papercuts: Last week, Schurman Fine Papers, owner of Papyrus, American Greetings, and Carlton Card, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Those three brands’ 254 stores will close.
Bigger chains are also backing out. Last year, CVS and Walmart planned to cut store space devoted to last-minute office birthday cards, citing underperforming sales.
What happened? The rise of “Nice to e-greet you.”
- When younger consumers want to send a one-on-one message, they turn to digital communication channels like Instagram DMs and text messages.
- Digital card providers like Paperless Post now focus on bulk products like party invitations. One-on-one cards like Hallmark’s aren’t a growing category, Paperless Post cofounder James Hirschfeld told the WSJ.
My take: Hallmark could learn from indie sellers on Etsy and Instagram, who report thriving business with the help of personalized (and premium-priced) stationery.