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Industry: Email Alert RSS FeedRetro-inspired designs making comeback
Drug Store News, May 19, 2003
Troubled times typically help people realize that life is richer when family and friends reach out to one another. That simple fact of life is a key reason why the greeting card category has been doing much better this year.
"When the going gets tough, people yearn to be close and connect with people and things most important to them," said Marianne McDermott, executive vice president of the Greeting Card Association. "And sending a card to remember those we care about helps both the giver and the receiver."
With the war in Iraq winding down, the average American has grown closer to family and friends, and this bears itself out in recent sales trends for greeting cards. The category has seen significant upswings in sales in what GCA calls "everyday general" friendship cards and more "emotion-based me-to-you" messages, McDermott explained.
According to the GCA, approximately 7 billion greeting cards are purchased annually, while the total dollars spent on greeting cards per year exceeds $7.5 billion.
According to McDermott, the hottest trends this year have been retro-inspired designs and colors nostalgic of the 1950s and 1960s, which McDermott noted are "making a huge comeback."
TOP SELLERS IN SEASONAL CARDS
$ %
Seasonal cards sales * of sales
Christmas $2,280 61%
Valentine's Day 930 25
Mother's Day 150 4
Easter 112 3
Father's Day 93 3
Other 168 4
Total seasonal cards 3,750
TOTAL ALL GREETING CARDS 7,500
Source: Greeting Cards Association
* Sales in millions
TOP SELLERS IN EVERYDAY CARDS
$ %
Everyday cards sales * of sales
Birthday $2,250 60%
Anniversary 300 8
Get Well 262 7
Friendship 225 6
Sympathy 225 6
Other 480 13
TOTAL EVERYDAY CARDS 3,750
Source: Greeting Cards Association
* Sales in millions
RELATED ARTICLE: GREETING CARD FACTS
90% of U.S. households buy at least one greeting card per year.
87% of those who purchase at least one card a year for an everyday occasion buy at least one birthday card.
70% of those who purchase at least one card a year buy at least one seasonal card a ear.
Source: Greeting Cards Association
COPYRIGHT 2003 Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
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