We have carried Christina Re invitation and paper craft products in our newsagency for more than four years. Sales have been up and down over. The fall came when the supplier put the range into another store in the centre – they closed a year or so later.
It’s a fashion business this invitation and paper craft area and customers need to be regularly reminded you’re in the space. The range needs to be refreshed as well – so that there is always something new on offer. Volume is not sufficient for the retailer to carry the cost of this turn.
We were promised supplier support and since it has not happened we’re looking at alternatives.
I had it too. Was given a lot of promises by Cristina Re, but they weren’t delivered. I asked them to take their fixtures and asked for my deposit back. Initially they were hesitant, but I did eventually get the money back. I tried to make it work, but it was just too hit & miss. A lot of customers complained about the price and the volumes in the packs. Apparantly some stores split the packs and sell sheets individually, but I fear this would be a lot of trouble and would cause a lot of waste and/or damaged product.
Good margins though….