Leading greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card Connection, has announced Ron & Shirley Maynard, winners of the prestigious BFA Award for the Best Micro Business in 2013, are set to retire after 19 years as Card Connection franchisees. Ron and Shirley have built their business up over the years and currently supply 172 retail outlets in the Oxford and Banbury area.
“We are tremendously proud of Ron and Shirley’s achievements during their time as Card Connection franchisees,” confirms Michael Johnson, managing director, Card Connection. “They have created a thriving business which is a testament to their hard work and dedication over the years and the whole team will be very sad to see Ron and Shirley leave our network. However, we will be helping them market their ‘franchise for sale’ and welcoming any serious enquiries from enthusiastic individuals or couples looking to take advantage of such a unique opportunity.
“We have many ‘long serving’ franchisees as our training and business model allows people with no experience of the greetings card industry to work from home to run a successful business on an ongoing basis,” continues Johnson. “Therefore, it is only occasionally that territories come up for sale. Our Newport area has recently become available and we are also currently marketing Ayr/Kilmarnock. All of these areas offer the chance to run an established and successful greeting card franchise with the opportunity for further development, all backed-up and supported by Card Connection’s experienced staff.”
Card Connection franchisees place greeting cards and accessories in retail outlets on a ‘consignment’ basis. The display equipment is supplied free on loan, minimising the retailers’ costs and maximising their profits. This is one step beyond ‘sale or return’ as retail customers don’t have to buy the stock initially; they only pay for what they sell. This award winning merchandising service provided to retailers has proved popular all over the UK and Ireland and Card Connection now has a full network of almost 70 UK franchisees.
Card Connection which last year celebrated its 21st year in operation as a franchisor is one of the UK’s largest card publishers and is the market leader in the franchised distribution of greeting cards. 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 about 12,000 retailers throughout the UK.
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: Oxford/Banbury, Newport, Ayr/Kilmarnock, Liverpool, Southport/Wigan, London - North and West, and Birmingham/Redditch.
