December 01, 2008 // Franchising.com // Leading greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card Connection's franchisee for Richmond and Ealing, Theo Kleanthous, is aiming to 'more than double' profits despite the widely publicised credit crunch. Theo has just purchased the additional Card Connection territory of North London as part of his business expansion plan and is working closely with the outgoing franchisee to ensure a smooth handover.
"Even in difficult economic times, our experience over many years has shown that people still send special occasion and birthday cards," explains Andrew Cutler, franchise director at Card Connection. "This means the greeting card market is essentially a recession-proof industry and so our franchises are proving more popular than ever."
"Theo worked for many years in the printing and graphics industry in various management level roles," continues Cutler. "Although the greeting card sector was new to him when he started with Card Connection three years ago, he has been able to draw on his management experience to develop his current area and now has some exciting plans for expansion."
"I have just acquired a storage unit in the centre of my extended territory," confirms Kleanthous. "In addition, I have bought another delivery vehicle and hired new staff which will take my team up to four, well before the busy Christmas period. The new territory increases my existing customer base by 150% so we are now looking forward to developing this further and to optimise the profit of the forthcoming festive season and well beyond."
Card Connection itself is one of the UK's largest card publishers and is the market leader in the franchised distribution of greeting cards. Using a proven system, franchisees place greeting card ranges in retail outlets on a 'consignment' basis. The award winning merchandising service provided to retailers by local franchisees is second to none and has established the company's excellent reputation especially within the convenience sector. Card Connection supplies numerous national accounts, which include the likes of Welcome Break, Total, Budgens, Londis, Spar and Shell.
Card Connection has limited vacancies for franchisees who are keen to run an expanding business. Successful candidates would ideally have some management experience as, once established, they would be expected to employ a small team, operate a warehouse and have several liveried vans on the road.
Because the franchise networks in the UK and Ireland are 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 £20,000 (+ stock) with earnings potential in excess of £50,000 per annum.
"Our most successful franchisees and those that run the most profitable operations run larger territories, usually employ a small team of staff to pack and distribute cards from a warehouse, using liveried vans," confirms Cutler. "By expanding his business in this way Theo will be taking advantage of economies of scale offered by running a more substantial business and the dedicated Card Connection team is looking forward to supporting him every step of the way to ensure he significantly improves his profit margins."
Notes to Editor
Card Connection is one of the UK's most successful card publishers and is the market leader in the franchised distribution of greeting cards.
The company was established in 1992 and became a Full Member of the British Franchise Association in 1995. It now distributes greeting cards to around 15,000 outlets through its network of 99 franchisees.
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