Dear Blog Readers,
We have become the kind of blogger we never wanted to be — the kind who has a "read our blog" button on our website but the newest post is months old. We blame Facebook for this — it's so much easier to write something there and we seem to have more followers there than we did here on the blog. Still, we can't quite bring ourselves to give it up altogether yet — so instead, we're posting this little note to explain our lack of current entries. Please do check out our facebook page, we think it's fun, if not quite as long form.
sincerely, the Joie de Blogger.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Another Sign of Changing Times

I looked at our increasingly lonely answering machine this morning - we get messages so infrequently, we sometimes forget to check.  It was blinking! A message! I started to listen - and it was a human not a robot! A personal call from one of the directors of the National Stationary Show in New York - a show I have faithfully attended for years. "Thank you so much for coming to the show, we are looking forward to seeing you" went the message. I sighed. What it said to me in a nutshell - we have so few buyers registered for this show that we are actually calling them all on the phone - just to kind of remind them they signed up. That about sums up what's going on with this show - it's been getting smaller and smaller every year. Almost none of the larger card companies I buy from have exhibited for years now. It used to be exciting and fun -  but then - the post office also used to be a relatively thriving business. Things have changed. And there are so many less independent stores, the former backbone of this industry. Stores that buy cards "by the foot" like Barnes and Noble or CVS don't need to come and choose cards - they just take what they're given. But the good news: there is a silver lining to this cloud - there are many more very cool tiny little companies exhibiting now - and I have yet to attend the show without finding something for Joie de Vivre that we love!

 postscript: Another friend in the biz just told me she has received several of these calls and thinks that they were, in fact, made by robocall - real voice, just not a real person spending their time calling - and - frankly, I don't know if that's better or worse!

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1 comment:

  1. Karin TMay 17, 2014 at 6:47 PM

    I can't tell you how much I appreciate your cards. I am a big sender of cards for work and personal life and the majority of my cards (except plain stationery) are bought at your store or at an independent store in Bath UK called Rossiters (if you think chains have taken over in the USA, you haven't seen the UK High Street recently - it's depressing). They always make people smile, and I love having funny or interesting cards for every occasion. So, thank you! - Nancy's friend Karin

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