It’s a question we’re often asked: why make that promise so early, when it seems so counterintuitive?
Before starting this business, I worked for a large card publisher. I saw first-hand what goes on behind the scenes with national chains. The margins were squeezed, products came back unsaleable, and the demands kept piling up. It looked impressive from the outside, but in reality, it was false vanity.
What stood out most was this: the more time and energy poured into the big accounts, the less was left for the independents, the very shops that actually cared.
And I knew something else. If we were going to get off the ground, it would be independent retailers taking a chance on us. So I asked myself, would I be willing to do the same for them?
We took a breath and said it out loud: we’re not supplying the chains.
As it turns out, that decision built the business.
Today, we work with hundreds of independent retailers who know one thing for certain: what they buy from us stays special. They won’t walk into a supermarket and find it cheaper, or worse, copied.
I love designing cards in the same way independents love running their shops. That care isn’t shared by the big players. Their role is different, to commoditise, scale, and move on. There’s nothing wrong with that model. It’s just not ours.
Here’s what guided our decision:
1. Art, not commodities
We care about what we make. Avoiding the chains means our cards don’t become just another product on a crowded shelf.
2. A different kind of growth
Success, for us, was never about scale. It’s about small runs, exclusivity, and a business we can actually enjoy running. More control, more time, less noise.
3. Protecting our retailers
We can offer genuine exclusivity. Our stockists don’t have to compete with a discount chain down the road selling the same product.
4. The reality of chain retail
Bigger orders, lower margins, sale-or-return, special packaging, constant demands. It all adds cost to a product that’s already being squeezed.
This isn’t about criticising the chains, they serve their purpose, and I shop there like anyone else.
This is about saying thank you.
To the independent shops who backed us from day one and continue to do so ten years later.
We didn’t make that decision lightly.
If I’m honest, it was nerve-wracking to say no to what looked like the obvious path.
But ten years on, I’m so glad we did.
Are we massively bigger than when we started? No.
So in one sense, they were right, you won’t build a “big” business this way, if you measure it in turnover alone.
But that was never the point.
What we’ve built is something else entirely: freedom, loyalty, and a way of doing business we actually believe in.
Here’s to the last ten years…
and to the next ten, doing it the same way.