Archies-Hallmark Tie-up

India’s leading greeting card maker Archies in end January 2011 tied up with Hallmark Cards to open exclusive stores of the world’s largest greeting card brand in the country. Hallmark Cards picked up minority stake in Archies. The tie-up with Archiesis expected to help the US brand scale up faster in the booming Indian market as Archies has a countrywide presence in the social expression industry. Archies will help bring leading Hallmark brands such as Crayola art products,the William Arthur range of luxury stationery and merchandise of Snoopy & Garfield into the country. The tie-up will help Archies as well by giving it an international exposure as its cards will be sold across Hallmark stores in Middle East, Canada, Australia and the UK during festive occasions such as Diwali, Rakhi and Id. Hallmark ended its licensing agreement with Vintage Cards by not renewing it when the contract lapsed in 2010.

Increasing use of emails and e-greetings over the years slowed the growth of the greeting cards industry in the country. However increasing demand for gifts and stationery is helping firms such as Archies keep a healthy double-digit growth rate.