The Next Pet Rock?
By Kathy Krassner
Editor-in-Chief
Greetings etc.

Back in the 1970s, a little product hit the gift and stationery industry that would become legendary to this day: the pet rock. This simple novelty item – featuring a real rock with ink-drawn eyes and mouth – became a cultural phenomenon. It also made plenty of money for the marketing genius who came up with the idea. Since then, manufacturers and retailers have been searching for the “next pet rock.”

Over the course of my 20 years as a trade-magazine editor covering the stationery and gift marketplace, I have seen many trends come and go. Russ Berrie had huge success with its Troll dolls. Ty’s Beanie Babies took the country by storm. Pokemon trading cards were a hit with kids. And now, Webkinz from Ganz are the latest craze – cleverly combining traditional plush toys with interactive games on the Internet.

Other trends introduced over the last two decades have become more permanent parts of the stationery and gift markets. Imprintable invitations, for one, are certainly a mainstay – having taken off with the rise of personal computers and at-home printing. Scrapbooking has grown from a regional, craft-oriented segment into a nationwide pastime. Both of these categories have also provided added sales momentum for such items as stickers, rubber stamps, ribbons, glitter, paper and pens.

I’ve also seen certain trends pop up for a second time. Such is the case with the “green” movement. The environment was a hot topic back in 1990, when the twentieth anniversary of “Earth Day” prompted a surge of products printed on recycled paper. The latest round of eco-friendly merchandise goes a step further – in addition to using recycled papers and vegetable-based inks, many items are being manufactured in facilities that use alternative energy sources such as non-pollluting wind power.

Among the current trends in our industry is what I call the “three w’s”: women, wit and wine. These three themes – whether used separately or in combination – are popular on numerous stationery and gift items at the moment. Whether it’s a humorous, girlfriend-oriented phrase on a cocktail napkin, or a greeting card designed to fit over a wine bottle, products featuring the three w’s are likely to keep registers ringing for the foreseeable future.

What’s on the horizon? I think it’s obvious that technology will continue to impact gift and stationery merchandise. Hallmark has proven that greeting cards with music can be big sellers, especially since technological advances have made them sound much better than those first introduced by other companies years ago. Look for additional items with sound, light and motion to gain ground. I also predict that we’ll soon be seeing cards with scratch-off access codes – similar to Webkinz – that will offer downloadable ring tones, walllpaper images and video content (such cards are already available in the U.K.). The merging of technology with paper products will also help to lure tech-savvy, younger consumers. While I don’t know if we’ll ever see another pet rock, I do know that future opportunities abound in our industry.

Greeting Cards Market Is on the Up Swing as Card Shoppers Turn to Specialty Retailers for More Distinction Product Offerings

New study from Unity Marketing finds that greeting cards were the fastest growing category in the overall stationery market

Stevens, PA November 5, 2007 -- The market for greeting cards made a big comeback after four years of steadily declining sales, rising over 11 percent from 2004 to 2006. In 2006 the market for greeting cards climbed to over $10 billion, according to the latest report on the stationery market from Unity Marketing.

"From 2000 to 2004 the sales of greeting cards were in steady decline," reports Pam Danzgier, president of Unity Marketing and author of Shopping: Why We Love It and How Retailers Can Create the Ultimate Customer Experience. "But in 2005 the tide started to turn as a result of a shift in consumers' shopping preferences away from mass retailers and discounters, like dollar stores, toward more specialty retailers that offered better designs, higher quality and more specialized card choices. In 2006 specialty card and gift shops regained 6 market share points. As a result, the mass merchants are holding on to the market share leader position by a thread," Danziger announces.

This revival of specialty retail for greeting cards comes after years of a steady drop in the number of specialty retailers in the card and gift segments. The number of gift shops dropped 21 percent from 75,0102 stores in 2002 to 59,032 shops today. Specialty card shops declined even more � 33 percent from 8,135 in 2002 to 5,391 currently.

Danziger explains, "A few years back the mass merchants, such as Wal-Mart, were the biggest, baddest competitors in the greeting card business, driving prices down and capturing the largest share of business. This resulted in a winnowing out of the weaker specialty retailers that couldn't survive the mass retailers' onslaught. But this study shows that tide is turning. The specialty retailers that remain are robust competitors able to attract more affluent shoppers who will pay more for the better designs and higher quality greeting cards available through these stores."

PSA ESSENTIALS ACQUIRES RÖSSLER PAPIER’S US DIVISION

PSA Essentials announces the addition of the U.S. division of Rössler Papier to their growing portfolio of products. Widely known for their popular line of self-inking stamps and stampable notes, PSA Essentials brings a fresh approach to stationery with the acquisition of this well-respected branch of Rössler Papier.

“Rössler’s exceptional reputation for quality and dedication to fine papers made this acquisition irresistible for us,” said Richard Flaum, a partner with PSA Essentials. “We are very excited to work with Peter Rössler and also with Jay Rensink, who not only remains with the new division, but will also be taking on a larger role.” The new division, re-branded under the name “Paperology,” will officially launch in January 2008.  In addition to the “Wall of Color” merchandise currently available, Paperology will energize the designer paper collection with sporty new colors and offer a rousing new line of coordinating desk elements like journals, folios and the Note Pad Jotterbox.

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