Leading greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card Connection has today announced the launch of a new Mrs Brown’s Boys birthday card, now being distributed through its network of 69 franchisees to retail stores throughout the UK. When the first design was introduced, Mrs Brown’s Boys, which is licenced by Danilo, outsold cards in similar sections of Card Connection’s range by 3 to 1.
“We are constantly on the lookout for the next best seller,” confirms Michael Johnson, managing director, Card Connection. “Across all our ranges, we regularly monitor sales to identify and promote our most popular designs to our franchisees so they are aware of the stock they should be merchandising in-store. This year we have a renewed focus to ensure that all our retailer customers have as many as possible of our top-selling designs on their displays. This helps maximise both retailers and our franchisees’ profits.
“This means making the most of the hottest licensed product, and Mrs Brown’s Boys has been hugely successful,” continues Johnson. “The slightly risqué humour appeals to many, so as well as the original design, we have this year introduced the license into our Tall card range, plus Mother’s Day, where it enjoyed similar success. We anticipate that this strong new birthday design will also meet with approval of our customer base across the UK.
“As the UK’s leading consignment greeting card publisher we are keen to work with companies who provide the best licensed product,” confirms Johnson. “Some of our other licensed designs, which include the super cute character Boofle, have also proved incredibly popular. Both the standard and tall Boofle designs featuring this character are outselling similar product in the range by 2 to 1.”
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. The business’ unique model of consignment sales has resulted in a strong brand and established reputation which has been proven over many years. Through its franchisees Card Connection supplies around 12,000 retailers throughout the UK.
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: Hull, Ayr/Kilmarnock, Edinburgh/ Borders, Lanarkshire, Cork/Limerick/Kerry/Waterford & South Tipperary, Oxford and Plymouth.
