Cultural diversity is in the cards for consumers: vendors, retailers micro-marketing greeting cards mix

Discount Store News, Sept 5, 1994 by Ela Schwartz

NATIONWIDE DSN REPORT -- Multiculturalism may be bantered about in schools and political circles, but on retail shelves, greeting cards actually reflect society's diversity.

And with such diversity in the U.S. population, one size definitely does not fit all.

Consider this: In February, Ambassador, Kansas City, Mo., formed its Ethnic Business Center to develop and market ethnic greeting cards.

According to Paul Quick, manager of the Ethnic Business Center, the new division was formed for several reasons: to expand Ambassador's and Hallmark's -- its parent company -- selection of ethnic greeting cards and party goods; to encourage retailers to display these products separately; and to make consumers more aware of the company's ethnic lines.

"Ethnic is a growing area of opportunity for the industry," Quick said. "The consumer bases we're targeting, African-American, Jewish, Hispanic and Asian, are outpacing growth of the population in general. These customers want service and product that speaks to them."

As a result, retailers are heeding vendors' demographic studies and adding cards geared to African-American, Hispanic -- and in some cases Chinese-American - customers in appropriate stores.

Cincinnati-based Gibson Greetings and Taylorville, Ill.-based Sangamon are two more vendors now addressing ethnic product opportunities.

Tom Tisdale, senior vp of sales and marketing at Sangamon, said the supplier is introducing a 4-ft. to 8-ft. display of African-American greeting cards this month.

Ethnic cards have long been available, particularly in heavily populated ethnic communities. The offerings, however, have largely been satisfied by small companies or by large suppliers that have translated English sentiments into other languages or altered the complexion of the characters to meet local demographics.

Major greeting card companies are developing product for ethnic groups and coordinating designs and themes across various product groups. For example, ethnic lines now include gift wrap, gift bags and party goods, as well as cards for special occasions such as Kwanzaa and Quinceanera, the celebration of a Hispanic girl's 15th birthday.

Gibson offers an alternative line for the Hispanic market, called Amor y Sonrisas, and Ambassador has teamed up with Harlem Textile Works, a design studio whose African-inspired textile designs are re-created on Ambassador's Mahogany collection of cards and wraps.

Both Hills Stores and Kmart are seeing positive results for their African-American and Hispanic card lines, according to buyers Nora Cline of Hills Stores and Kathy Krul of Kmart.

Krul said Kmart features 5-ft. to 20-ft. sections of ethnic product depending on the location. "It is an extremely fast-growing and changing market and is modified on an ongoing basis," she said.

At Kmart's recently opened Super Kmart Center in Dearborn, Mich. -- a store located in a rich ethnic community -- Ambassador's Mahogany program is featured in-line and on an endcap to attract customers into the new party center department. The endcap display showcases Mahogany products, including greeting cards, wraps and gift bags.

Mahogany, first introduced in 1987 with 16 card designs, now features 200 designs reflective of contemporary Mrican-American life.

American Greetings has adopted a similar position with its ethnic card program. Last fall, it expanded its line of cards designed for African-Americans by 28%, concentrating on "Afrocentric" colors, designs and rendered art. It also offers Spanish language cards and holiday greetings in 13 languages.

Bradlees introduced Ambassador's ethnic lines a year ago. Bradlees' assortment now includes 16 ft. to 20 ft. of Spanish language cards and 12 ft. of product aimed at African-American consumers. Cards for Jewish holidays and occasions are mixed into the regular cards selection.

The greeting cards buyer for Caldor said the chain just started carrying 2 ft. to 4 ft. of African-American and Hispanic cards in its urban stores. The cards are mixed into the basic assortment. "We consider this to be a growing category for us and plan to increase footage or add lines geared to other ethnic groups," the buyer said.

The next "other" ethnic group for retailers and suppliers to address appears to be Asian-Americans. Vendors note that this market is much more difficult to target than African-American or Hispanic consumers.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 9 million Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, who break into about 14 subsegments such as Japanese, Cambodian and Korean. These subsegments have different languages and cultures. Therefore, no one greeting card line aimed simply at Asians would suffice, challenging suppliers to satisfy this large, diverse consumer group.

Gibson began testing its Chinese New Year cards in 1993. "They sold so well that we came back with a full program for 1994," said Karen Durand, director of marketing, everyday product for Gibson.

American Greetings is running a test with Chinese New Year cards. "We see it as an emerging market down the road," said Scott Halm, product manager, while Sangamon and Ambassador are now looking at the Asian market.