Still here!!!

Haven't posted for a while now, so just to say we are still here and the shop is going very well at the moment. We do seem to be one of the success stories to come out of the recession.

We now offer you not only the main section of the shop, which sells a very wide range of quality greetings cards and gifts but also our new Discount Zone at the far end of the shop which also has a very wide range of cards - but priced so competitively that we just know you will be back for more.

We are open every day until Christmas during all the normal opening hours of the shopping centre - so do pop in. We love to see you.

Paul.

DISCOUNT ZONE now open!!!!

Yes the Discount Zone is now open, selling all the lines my dad used to sell in his shop - and more besides.

Lots of other new lines in stock as well. the newest arrival is a display of charity christmas card packs, supporting many of ther well known national charity organisations.

:)

New discount zone.

My father's discount card shop - also in the Pride Hill Centre - is closing down this weekend due to his well earned retirement.

Dad, I hope you have a great time over the years to come - although with the long list of DIY jobs Mom has ready for you it may be that you will soon wish you were back at work....

To ensure customers can still buy many of the products dad used to sell, Green Ginger will be opening a new 'Discount Zone' on Monday 27th July. There will be a large range of recession beating 'value' cards, as well as banners, badges, balloons and many of the other handy things you need to make that special occasion that little bit more of an event.

Rest assured however that the full range of quality cards and the full range of our famous 'Name Cards, will still be there and the ranges will continue to grow as before as the business expands.

Wesite down for improvements

The website is still down for another month as we make some changes to it. Don't worry though, it will be back eventually (- never enough time....)

New lines at Green ginger Cards...

Several new product lines have arrived since I last blogged.

There is yet another range of mugs in the shop. I think that makes it 4 ranges in there now, with another on order for a month or so!

There are some lovely fair trade pens - £4.95 each but really nice and hand carved (if I remember rightly as I'm at home right now) in Kenya.

A new range of fair trade greetings cards , from the same supplier.

There are new ceramic and new acrylic fridge magnets, all with Shrewsbury or Shropshire themes.

There is a wonderful boxed pen featuring Rowley's House (an old black and white building in Shrewsbury) and the word Shropshire. This is a perfect gift and costs only 99p!!!!!

There is a brilliant range of humourous cards from a company called 'Dog's Paw'.

And finally there is a display of puzzle books just by the till (sudoku, crossword, etc, etc) all priced at £1 each and selling like hot cakes right now. Ideal for holiday makers and those visiting hospital patients, for example.

Don't forget - Father's Day this Sunday (21st June, 2009).

Paul. :)

Video of my shop.

Took a video of the Green Ginger shop this week.

It's OK at best, I must admit, but it does give an idea of what we are all about to anyone who has not visited us in person.

Essentially we sell lots of lovely cards - mostly from smaller publishers - and these are supplimented by some of the more usual bits and pieces you will find in other cards shops - and also a few local items of interest.

As you can see there is still lots of room for the shop to grow. There is no rush and over the last 2 years something new has been added almost every week as we reinvest the profits. Essentially we'll just keep doing this until we are full to the rafters and can't get any more in anywhere - so it's always worth a visit!!!!

we look forward to seeing you soon. :)

Closed Mothers Day Sunday.

Just another reminder that we close on Mothers Day Sunday and Easter Sunday.

We are normally open on all other Sundays.

Norman Hood.

Part of the display of caricature cards by artist Norman Hood.

I sell over 150 designs of Norman's cards. Just a few of these are on my website http://www.greengingercards.com/ but I will be adding a lot more of them soon when I can find the time!

Norman is one of the finest artists in the country and is constantly updating his designs.

In the shop we also keep a catalogue of even more of his work so you can order those lines I don't actually keep in stock.

Notebooks

A range of lovely notebooks from a company called Heritage Art Papers.

There are so many of them available that I only carry a few designs at a time and order different ones every month or so.

They are only £1.95 each and make a great gift.

Mothers Day!Here is the Mothers Day display.

Here is the Mothers Day display. A fine range!!!

New line!

Just in this week is a range of personalised cards on a spinner from a company called Paper Island.

These feature cards which are, frankly, a bit cheeky (!) and which have peoples' names on them or occupations such as Plumber or Builder.

They are £1.50 each.

Halcyon cards back in stock!

Finally the Halcyon cards are back in stock.

Formerly produced by the well loved company in Wem, Shropshire, Halcyon stopped trading when a nearby fire spread into their warehouse. The cards are now being produced true to their original designs by a Devon based company.

Closed on two Sundays!!!!

Please note that as usual the Green Ginger shop at Shrewsbury will be closed on Easter Sunday and Mothers Day Sunday.

Like all shops we are required to close on Easter Sunday. On Mothers Day Elaine's kids take her out and I go out with my Mom, so we do hope you will understand.

We normally open on all other Sundays throughout the year.

Thank you to everyone!

We have just had two really good weeks at Green Ginger and I would simply like to thank all customers old and new for their support. I know a lot of you have started to resd this blog.

You can print out some vouchers to use in the Shrewsbury shop if you go to the website and look for the link at the top and bottom of the page.

www.greengingercards.com

Thank you again.

Paul

New stand.

A couple of pics of the new stand from EKard of Derbyshire.

It contains embroidered cards with names on and also purses, bookmarks, keyrings and glasses cases with initials on.

Sheep poo!!

A rather untidy day for the sheep poo stand!

Yes, that's cards made from sheep poo!!!!!

Also bookmarks and - wait for it - air fresheners.....

Relations display.

Just a small part of the relations birthday display.

Name card display.

Here is about one third of the Personalised Name Card Display! We carry literally hundreds of names, including a growing Welsh language range, and can produce any name at all to order - the price is the same but it can sometimes take a couple of weeks. We can advise the exact time when the order is being placed.

Just a photo.

Here's a more up to date photo of the shop.

This was a few weeks ago though when we still had a few calendars left. (On that note I have just ordered a load of 2010 calendars - talk about wishing the year away!!)

New gift wrap display.

The new gift wrap display is now half built and I think it looks ok. We are selling more gift wrap from it now - even though it's behind the counter - than we did on the old stands in the main part of the shop. I think i will build another just like it to go right next door to it. Of course, now I need to order some more wrapping paper to go out on it. One thing at a time!

Gift bags and gift boxes.

I continue to grow the range of gift bags and gift boxes and I must admit there is still some way to go before it is as good as I am aiming for. That said it isn't too bad really. Some more expensive ones have now arrived from Penny Kennedy - although I'm not sure of the prices I paid for them so it will be the start of next week before they go out on display.

Mothers Day

The full mothers day display is out now and it is a darned fine range though I say so myself!

More items added to the website.

More items added to the website, including some real bargains in discount corner.

Also there is a new category for money wallets. The wallets are the oriental type ones we sell in the shop and trust me they are lovely and worth the money.

And there are a couple of designs of the fair trade cards on the site now as well

Improvements to the website

I have added a 'Discount Corner' to the website so I can put all my bargains in one place. This area really is about getting customers new and old to keep coming back to the site to see what is new, so I shall make sure that the prices on there are really keen. Take a look at www.greengingercards.com

Also that annoying pop up has gone - on some older software it just wouldn't go away when asked to for some reason. You can now subscribe to the free newsletter at the bottom of any page on the website. Please do.

Paul.

Been to the spring fair today.

Battled through the snow to get to the spring fair today and I have ordered lots of lovely things to arrive from time to time as the year progresses. I'll post here as new things come in so watch this space as they say.

Thanks to those people who responded to my request to let me know you are out there and sent me a 'hello'. Once again email me at hello@greengingercards.com and a particular thank you to Julian, my mentor, good to know you are still following this.

Also a hello to Terry at EKards who had gone to all the bother of watching the video on the website. Which reminds me I must update that one of these days, the shop looks better than that now. Job to do number 5003!!!

Hi to all reps and agents.

I know there are at least a couple of my regular reps/agents who have started to read this blog, although I suspect they are just humouring me rather than really interestred!
hello to them anyway and hello to any others to are reading this.
Actually, thinking as I write now, i would love to know who IS reading this. Why not email me a quick 'hello' to let me know you are there? Go on! Email via a special address I will set up in a moment just for this purpose, the address being: hello@greengingercards.com
The more you encourage me the more I will write - is that a good thing or a bad thing though? Erm....

Young girl cards back in stock!

The young girl Name Cards are now back in stock. Sorry for the delay in printing. Problem solved now.
www.greengingercards.com

Adding to the website.

I have finally started to add our regular shop stock of greetings cards to the site. This is quite a long process to do, which is why I have kept putting it off for the last two years. Anyway, now is the time so I will add a few titles each week with the aim of eventually having a darned fine selection on the site at www.greengingercards.com

Do please buy something if you can to keep my enthusiasm up. It's always nice to know there are lots of you out there, appreciating my hard work!!!


Paul

Valentines and Mothering Sunday

Valentines Day cards are now out on display and there is a superb range, though I say so myself. The only exception is the Fiance and Fiancee cards of which there seems to be something of a shortage this year. We do have some of these on sale but there are also plenty of Someone Special, One-I-Love, Woman-For-Me and all that in stock as suitable alternatives.

Most of the Mothering Sunday cards are also out now, although we will get the full range out after the Valentines come off.

The shop looks very nice again now and new stock is literally arriving daily.

Paul

Charles Darwin Calendar

The sale is now over and lots of lovely new stock is either here or in the pipeline.

The Charles Darwin calendar features a different pic of Shrewsbury each month and has Charles Darwin on the front cover. It is now half price and the postage remains free for now.

Sale nearly over!

The sale has gone well but it is nearly time to move on :(

We will end the sale at closing time on Saturday 10/1/09.

Lots of nice new stuff on the way over the next couple of weeks, so watch this space - or better still come and see us at Shrewsbury...

And do please rest assured that despite the current climate we will continue to trade and, in fact, grow the business throughout 2009.

Paul