Content about Greeting card

CLEVELAND — American Greetings greeting card company has agreed to be taken private by a group led by some of its top executives for about $602 million, the company announced today.

The executive group was formed by the Weiss family — including chairman Morry Weiss; CEO Zev Weiss; director, president and COO Jeffrey Weiss and others — and will buy the shares of the company they don't already own for $18.20 a piece in cash. This amounts to a 13% premium to American Greetings' closing price of $16.10 last Thursday.

CLEVELAND — "Romantic," "sweet" and "funny" are three of the words that might describe American Greetings' line of Valentine's Day cards for this year.

The company highlighted one card in its American Greetings Premier collection that says, "Will you make me the happiest person in the world … Will you marry me?" saying the entire collection was designed for people seeking a "sophisticated touch."

SUPPLIER NEWS — According to a Nielsen report issued last month, higher consumer confidence levels, increased impulse buying and consumer intent to spend more could all lead to an upside surprise in 2012 holiday spending. Pet care will be one growth sector; Neilsen predicted pet owners will drive 5.9% dollar and 3.1% unit growth. The rest of home care, including cleaning and households products — even holiday wrapping paper — will see modest, price-driven dollar gains and unit sales declines, according to Nielsen.


Industry experts say growth in the photo department will come from personalized products. “The photo category of the future is in user-generated content,” said Steve Giordano Jr., president of Lucidiom. “Customers should be able to go into a drug store and purchase personalized invitations, banners and thank you notes for a party.”

Retailers, Giordano said, have to go deep in the category to be competitive. That means offering everything from invitations and sticky notes to photobooks.

EDISON, N.J. — Greeting card publisher Designer Greetings announced the launch of more than 13 new collections, including:


The supplier in the greeting card aisle may not be enough to capture consumer interest. While smaller, niche players make up less than 5% of category sales, according to one manufacturer, those companies can offer a point of differentiation to retailers that larger manufacturers can’t provide.


KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Hallmark is touting postage-paid greeting cards for Mother's Day.

The greeting card maker said it has developed 90 postage-paid greetings specifically for Mother's Day, ranging from $2.69 to $3.99.

Hallmark postage-paid greetings feature the U.S. Postal Service's Intelligent Mail bar code on the front of the envelope, the company said. When the cards are processed at a Postal Service facility, the bar code automatically indicates to the Postal Service that the postage is paid.

Hallmark cards are available in retailers nationwide.

CLEVELAND — American Greetings is making kids' birthday cards extra special with its Surprise Inside line.

Each Surprise Inside card features a surprise gift pouch that the child can open to reveal a small toy that coordinates with the card's theme, the company said. A sticker reveals to the sender what the secret gift will be.

CLEVELAND — Greeting card enthusiasts that want to know what's new in the card aisles before hitting the stores now can see the latest innovations online, thanks to a new page on American Greetings' website.

AmericanGreetings.com's new page now features the latest product introductions, a special downloadable coupon and a store locator so consumers instantly can find retailers in their area.

TAMPA, Fla. — Happy Valentine’s Day!

The greeting card department at this Tampa, Fla.-area SuperTarget is prominently located near the store entrance, which contributed to the throng of last-minute love-birds who were drawn to the card assortment upon realizing it was late Sunday afternoon and they had yet to purchase a card to express their emotions.

LOS ANGELES —  According to a PriceGrabber survey on consumer purchasing decisions for Valentine's Day, 52% of Valentine’s Day shoppers indicated that the economy will not have any effect on their purchasing decisions for Valentine’s Day 2011. Despite their confidence in the economy, 78% of survey respondents indicated they will not spend more money on Valentine’s Day shopping this year compared with last year. The remaining 22% of consumers plan to spend more on Valentine’s Day shopping this year.

CLEVELAND — American Greetings has teamed up with BigDates Solutions to further enhance the birthday calendar application on Facebook.