Leading greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card
Connection has announced Richard and Susan Webb, franchisees for
Peterborough and Cambridge have seen sales increase by 8% in the
past year. The couple who have recently renewed their
franchise licence for a further five years were also named as Card
Connection’s regional franchisees of the year for the Central
region.
“Before becoming franchisees we ran our own sub-Post Office,” explains Richard Webb. “We knew of Card Connection and liked the greetings cards as the old franchisee used to deliver and merchandise them in our post office store. We got chatting and after a bit of research agreed to buy the franchised business. That was more than five years ago and we haven’t looked back!
“The past 12 months we have focused on improving our existing retail accounts,” confirms Richard. “By this I mean providing better fixtures and display equipment where necessary and more closely tailoring displays of greetings cards and accessories to retail customers’ needs. If I have noticed high price point cards selling well, then I have gradually increased the stock of these in the appropriate stores.
“I also make a point of visiting my retailers as regularly as possible – for larger stores that may be as often as every three weeks. This ensures stock and displays are always looking fresh and inviting and I can top-up seasonal stock: as a result, more greetings cards sell! This creates a win-win situation for me and my retailers as they only pay for stock that is sold. Susan works back at base and prepares the stock ready for delivery.”
Darren Hawkins, regional sales manager confirms: “Richard and Susan are model franchisees in all respects! They work well as a team and continue to grow sales plus Richard has a great relationship with all of his retailers. His focus on frequent merchandising of the displays of cards sets him apart. Richard and Susan are a pleasure to work with and worthy winners of our regional franchisee of our year award.”
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. 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 £12,500 + Stock + Card Connection fee with earnings potential in excess of £50k per annum.
Territories currently available include: Fife, Edinburgh/Scottish Borders, Stirling, Brighton, Plymouth, Bath, Northampton, Liverpool, Macclesfield and South West Ireland.
For further information about franchises for sale, please email Hannah
