Gaining a national Stockist

At the end of 2025 I went from 70-300+ stockists, here’s what happened….

This influx in my sudden stockist growth came from my greeting cards getting spotted by the Buyers at John Lewis and Waitrose.

I received an email out of the blue via the contact form on my website from the Buyer at John Lewis

What happened next?

After receiving the initial email I had a video call scheduled with the buyers. I knew that John Lewis operate through a brokerage with Woodmansterne but wasn’t really sure quite how that worked so I spent a bit of time on the GCA (Greeting Card Associations website. I am a member of the GCA and was able to access a great blog post ‘A publishers guide to brokerage’ which really explained the brokerage model for me. The content on the GCA is only available to their members and It’s worth joining in you do make cards to sell as there is a lot of helpful advice.

(But here is roughly what Brokerage in a nutshell…)

A broker is basically a card planning company that works together with the retailer and the publisher to deliver cards onto shelves on a large scale. The retail buyers will work with the broker to plan the range that will be sold in their stores. The broker is then responsible for getting that range to the stores and communication with the publishers. In my instance the Broker is Woodmansterne who are also a greeting card publisher (albeit on a much larger scale to me!)

The Warehouse at Woodmansterne which is next door to the John Lewis Warehouse

What happened after the initial call

After the initial call with the Buyers I was invited to submit cards for review for Spring 2026. This covered Valentines Day, Mother’s Day, Easter, Father’s Day. I was careful with which cards I submitted forward as part of the agreement and the biggest risk is that any stock that is left in the store at the end of the seasonal event is destroyed and charged back to the publisher.

So I only submitted cards which I knew were my best, that I have proven sales history of, that sell out or almost sell out. This model was one that I would not have considered when I first stated out, but I feel fairly confident with my cards now so it didn’t feel too risky. (I shall let you know in the future if I live to regret this sentence!)

The selection of Greeting Cards that were submitted and selected

Working on the Logistics

After confirmation that my cards were going to be selected, I worked through the logistics of how I was actually going to supply this amount of cards. It was a huge volume for me to jump to from working with independent stockists and not one I could do on my own.

I wanted to keep the management of this separate to my Independents stock and so decided to work with a different printer who I’ve worked on and off for on various projects and larger volume orders. The most important factor for me was I knew I could trust them with this volume of orders and when I approached them about this opportunity they were already working with another publisher who supplied to John Lewis so I knew they had lots of experience.

I visited them in the Autumn to have a look at their operation and how it would work and their support has been invaluable. They print, pack, make the warehouse and courier bookings and and deliver the stock. They flex the print to either digital or Lithography depending on the volume. I would not have been able to have done this myself and they have helped me feel less overwhelmed with taking on such a big leap..

Finding my Cards in stores across the UK

In January this year the first few cards started arriving into the stores. These are initially Valentines day cards and will follow on throughout the next few months with the other spring seasons as well as an ongoing everyday assortment which will be stocked for the whole year

Finding my cards stocked in Waitrose Mountsorrel Leicestershire

A wonderful but equally worrying time

It’s obviously been wonderful seeing my cards sold in John Lewis and Waitrose stores. They are a brand close to my heart as I used to work for John Lewis as a buyer 15 years ago. But I've had a lot of ongoing concerns and doubts about the whole thing too. How am I going to pay for the stock? What happens if my cards have poor sell through? What happens if they sell really well and I have to then buy more stock with a depleted cash flow? How do I going to file my VAT return? Will I upset my lovely Independent Stockists?

I think I'll follow up on this blog in 6 months time and let you know how its been as its such early days and I’ve got so much to get my head around still.