Our Father’s Day card sales are up 41% up year on year to the close of trade Thursday night and we still have two full days of trade to go not including the day itself. We are having a terrific season. Not just with Hallmark Father’s Day cards but also with gifts. The Cadbury tool boxes (full of Cadbury’s chocolates) are working a treat. It is so much easier to sell well known brands, especially brands which are advertised on TV and elsewhere. Value based brands are especially useful since the purchase of these products is less about price.
In addition to cards being up this year, so are gifts. And with the excellent margin for gifts we are very happy with the wonderful kick Father’s Day delivers to our gross margin, taking us way above the average for a newsagency.
We are very happy with Father’s Day 2011. This used to be a flat and even dying season. Not now.