VARIETY DRAWS GREETING CARD SHOPPERS

JOEL ELSON

Adding a little glitz to the mix is enhancing some supermarkets' image as a destination for greeting cards.

The premium card segment is gaining in importance for supermarkets able to devote the space to a broad mix of greeting cards and wraps, according to an SN survey.

Larger card departments have become the destination for greeting cards and other accessories, said Jan Winn, director of health and beauty care and general merchandise at Big Y Foods, Springfield, Mass.

"Thirty to 40 feet of space won't enable you to offer the variety needed to satisfy card customers today," she added.

At Big Y's remodeled stores, card departments are running 150 to 200 feet, and Winn is devoting more footage to the premium segment.

Hy-Vee Food Stores, Chariton, Iowa, also is merchandising upper-end cards and wraps at its larger combination stores. "There's a market out there for premium products, and we're putting these in where we have the room. We must offer shoppers what they want," said John Susich, vice president of general merchandise.

"As competition increases from other retailing formats that sell greeting cards, the pure card shop is on a decline," Susich added.

Premium cards are characterized by higher retails that appear to meet with little if any consumer price resistance. "If you want a really nice card, price doesn't matter. You try to buy the very best you can," said Winn.

"I haven't seen a top end on what people are willing to pay for cards," observed Joe Sinkula, director of general merchandise and HBC at Haggen, Bellingham, Wash. "There is a place for the premium-end customer if you have a large card department base," he stressed.

"We run up to 120 feet of cards, which we feel is sufficiently large enough to incorporate high-end selections. We're seeing more business in our overall greeting cards, including the premium business," Sinkula added.

The card category has proved highly profitable for retailers. On average, they can enjoy 50% margins on card sales. The premium segment is not necessarily generating higher margins, but it is generating greater dollar volume.

Tony Federico, vice president for general merchandise at Ingles Markets, Black Mountain, N.C., said premium cards, wrapping paper and bows "carry the same margins as the lower-priced items; however, the upgraded selections bring you higher gross dollar register rings."

Winn of Big Y said the premium card section can attract the high-end purchaser to the card department.

"It depends on what you are trying to do in the card department. Typically retailers with a lower-end card department such as discounters cut their card retails 40% to 50% to attract the price-conscious customer who looks for a deal," she said.

"We aren't trying to capture the price-conscious greeting card customer looking for discounted lower-end cards and wraps."

Premium cards and wraps also denote quality. The quality is in the fine papers and finishes, and in specialty printing. These items, sold for special occasions such as weddings and anniversaries, or what the card industry refers to as "obligatory" occasions, are often imprinted in fancy, sometimes glitzy, embossed, prismatic and iridescent designs.

"We're putting in the new glitzy papers and upgraded cards where we have more space and the footage to work them in," said Susich.

Federico said premium items and accessories are especially sought for weddings and special occasions, "including the better metallic gold and silver wrapping papers, bows and cards."

"The trend at supermarkets in premium cards and gift wraps is in a variety of designs in special embosses, papers and finishes in iridescent and prismatic prints that attract the high-end consumer," said Tod Marks, merchandising manager at Fleming GMD West, Sacramento, Calif. "Retailers are expanding their card sections for profit in the section, and to reach consumers who will spend a little more on the premium cards and wrappings for special occasions like weddings and anniversaries," added the Fleming merchandising executive.

Offering "a wide variety of greeting cards and wraps, whether in low- or high-end, or in between, enhances one-stop shopping and increases shopper convenience," he added.

At Ingles Markets, premium cards and wraps are getting prime display space on an island fixture that runs down the center of the greeting card department. "We're merchandising the pricier cards and wraps on a two-sided 10-foot long by 4-foot wide display or in-line in 70 stores," said Federico.

"When you put general merchandise in the right position with signing and make it look good, people will buy it." Premium cards and wraps are being placed at stores most likely to attract high-end shoppers at Pallios Bros., Ceres, Calif.

"Our five stores are in upper-middle-class areas and our clientele looks for more premium selections," said Nick Pallios, buyer-merchandiser. He said supermarkets can cash in on higher-quality greeting cards because of the high impulse nature of the supermarket shopper.