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Wholesaler Interview: Laura Darrington Design

Laura Darrington Design

Company Name: Laura Darrington Design

Interview Contact Name and Job Title: Ross Harrison, Business Dev. Manager of Laura Darrington Design

Website URL: www.lauradarrington.com

Social Media Links:

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Number of outlets: online only

Location(s): Leicestershire

Market(s): (eg. Homeware, fashion etc) Greetings Cards

Modern Retail speaks to Ross Harrison, Business Development Manager of the award-winning greeting card designer Laura Darrington Design. The place to go for the most beautiful, design-led, luxurious greeting cards that are perfect for all occasions!

Laura Darrington Design

MR: What makes your product unique?

RH: We specialise in publishing beautiful design-led greetings cards for all occasions.

MR: How do you aim to stand out as a brand?

RH:We like to think our tasteful designs and modern approach helps make our products cater for all pockets. We offer both high-end products that sell into the more expensive gift stores, aswell as offering more cost-effective products to the mass market.

MR: How would you sum up your target customer?

RH: Our target customer is someone who takes pleasure in sending their loved ones a unique, decadent product that is priced appropriately.

MR: Why should Retailers stock your items?

RH: We understand the greetings card market is quite saturated with a steady stream of lovely product being introduced every year. We like to think our 15 years industry experience helps us understand the needs of the current retail market, and our latest product catalogue reflects this. We offer both simple understated card design, but also offer a vibrant, colourful selection with most captions catered for.

MR:What do you want to do differently to your competitors?

RH:  Following a very much design-led ethos, our designs offer a point of difference to the more established card companies who tend to stick to a tried and tested formula. We try to push the envelope with our latest collections, hoping to stay one step ahead of the competition.

MR: What challenges do you face as a business, and how do you aim to overcome them?

RH: The challenge of consistently launching new & exciting products 4 times a year means the greetings card world is a fast-paced environment. If you stand still to admire the view, you are more often than not left behind!

MR: How do you use technology/media/ecommerce to improve your offering?

RH: We regularly use social media to raise awareness of our brand, as well as pushing our new website (launched March 2018) through various SEO platforms. As we have a large trade customer database, its good for them to see our latest collections as early as possible – so having numerous routes to market is really beneficial.

MR: What do you love about your work/business/brand

RH: The greetings card market is a fun environment, full of hard-working people from all design disciplines & backgrounds. We have worked extremely hard over the last 15 years to establish the Laura Darrington brand, rubber-stamping our commitment to producing decadent gift products, which are designed beautifully.

MR: What advantages/disadvantages does your location bring?

RH: We work in a lovely little village on the edge of the Leicestershire countryside, so we are away from the stresses of city life. This sometimes has its disadvantages if you ever need something desperately…but then there’s now Amazon Prime! Being Midlands based means we are handily placed for meetings in either the North or South.

MR: What are your growth aims for the next 12 months?

RH: We have grown considerably over the last 18 months, with new designers and staff both coming on board. Our export business has drastically increased by 40% over the last year and a half, meaning a new set of lovely & loyal customers in far-off countries that we intend to visit when the dust settles.

MR: What do you find most rewarding about your job?

RH: Seeing a small one-person company grow into an established family-run greetings card publishers with 15 years experience is just reward for all the hard work that has been ploughed into it. There is nothing better than receiving a text from an old friend informing you they have just seen of your designs in a gift shop in a village/town/city/country you have never heard of.

Scurri