The custom of sending greeting cards can be traced back to the ancient Chinese who would exchange messages of good will for the New Year. The greeting card industry, although lumped together with the gift, novelty and souvenir shop industry, is a cornerstone of this industry and produces sales of $7.5 billion. “When you care enough to send the very best…” Almost everyone has heard this phrase by Hallmark on television or radio, seen it on the Internet or even written on the cards they send and receive. 6 The major companies in this industry include the Yankee Candle Company, Party City Corporation, Kirkland’s, Inc. Seventy-eight percent (78%) of America’s gift shops employ only one to four employees and 75% have less than $200,000 in annual sales. Gift shops primarily sell a combined line of gifts and novelty items, souvenirs, greeting cards, holiday decorations, and miscellaneous items. 3 Because of this, the gift shop industry has expanded from small operations in airports and tourist destinations into a multimillion dollar industry. “We live in a souvenir society, a world in which everything we do, everywhere we go, has to be commemorated,” said Charles Gordon, writer for Maclean’s magazine. Gift Shop & Greeting Card Industry Overview Gift Shops 9 Ninety percent (90%) of Americans surveyed said that they like to receive greeting cards and personal letters from friends and family, preferring greeting cards to e-mail, text messaging and phone calls. 1 According to the Greeting Card Association, Americans bought 7 billion greeting cards in 2005. This means that this industry’s growth has closely resembled that of the overall economy. The greeting card is the cornerstone of the gift, novelty and souvenir shop industry and is in the mature phase of the business life cycle. Now stores must be unique and different from each other to attract and keep customers. Owners are learning that store loyalty is a luxury of the past. Owning a gift shop can be a busy, exciting job calling for entrepreneurial knowledge and skills in financial, inventory, human resource management and marketing areas. The gift shop industry began as a small industry with stores in airports and tourist areas but has grown into a multimillion dollar business. But, both industries are popular and very profitable businesses in their own right. They are often located together with gift shops selling greeting cards and vice versa. Gift shop and greeting card stores are both classified under the same census heading as gift store, novelty shop and souvenir shops.
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