Card Connection Franchisees Find Success in the North

By: Card Connection | 0 Shares 133 Reads

August 06, 2010 // Franchising.com // Leading greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card Connection, has today announced that its franchisees are finding success in the North. Former Esso station manager, Graeme Ewing, who took over the Ayr/Kilmarnock area at the end of December 09, has already secured 16 new retail customer accounts, now taking his customer base to well over 100 stores. While Andrew Orr, who was a deep-sea fisherman before joining Card Connection 15 years ago to take over the Aberdeen / Inverness area, has seen a 16% increase in sales in 2010 so far, compared with last year.

"Some of our Northern based franchisees are being particularly proactive in seeking new business and this is yielding profitable results," explains Andrew Cutler, franchise director of Card Connection. "However, as well as securing new accounts, our franchisees have been focused on selling some of our higher price point, luxury greeting cards. Because of their distinctive designs these cards are popular with retailers and consumers alike and handmade card sales for example, are currently up by 253% in Graeme Ewing's region."

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.

"Andy and Vicki Thomson, franchisees for Sunderland and Durham, are also successful franchisees based in the North, winning the top award for outstanding overall performance, at Card Connection's recent franchisee conference," continues Cutler. "These results yet again show Card Connection's solid business model and illustrate that there is a customer base ready to buy our extensive range of quality greetings cards, regardless of geographical location."

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.

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 franchisees.

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