Success is in the cards

If a Twin Cities family playing "Family Feud" were asked to name a greeting card company, chances are Stroke of the Heart or Gina B. Designs wouldn't show up on the list of most popular answers. Despite each of the two locally based companies having sold a million cards nationally in 2007, Hallmark and American Greetings corner about 95 percent of the card market.

But don't go sending the two companies a "Sorry to hear about your loss" card yet. Gina B. in Plymouth and Stroke of the Heart in Minnetonka are celebrating 24 and 25 years in business, respectively. Many other small competitors have come and gone, but both businesses have enjoyed steady growth.

Stroke of the Heart was founded in 1983 by Maren Christopher. She sold the business in 1986 to Kevyn Riley and Kipling Thacker. When Riley started in the business, she was a registered nurse, caring for seriously ill children. She took her empathy for patients and started producing cards for people in difficult situations. Stroke is still owned by art director Riley with help from her daughter, Kristin Noraker, chief operating officer since 2001.

Gina Bugée, artist and founder of Gina B. Designs, took her love of art and pretty papers and started her business in her home. She took orders from local retail shops and painted the cards in her basement.

The two businesses are surprisingly similar. Both use watercolor designs with simple verses written by the owners and staff.

Card buyers looking for edgy, snarky or mean probably won't appreciate the often cute, classic designs that evoke "Minnesota Nice."

Why send a note?

People often ask Bugée if e-mail and e-cards have slowed or stopped her business' growth. Not too much, she said. Even though the number of e-mails grows exponentially, Bugée expects our slow economy will mean reconnecting with loved ones on a more personal level, including card or letter writing.

"Our customers tell us it's getting harder to find high-end stationery. We still provide that," she said. Riley said that some people might be unable to afford a gift, but they can afford a card in a down economy.

Big-box stores such as Target continue to be a big threat to any small manufacturer or retailer. The product has to compete on its own uniqueness against Target's low prices and convenience of one-stop shopping. Smaller independent gift stores, including gift stops, continue to be the stock in trade for both card producers. Even in small gift shops, price sensitivity is important. The average greeting card is $3.25, but Stroke and Gina B. try to stay under that. Stroke's least expensive greeting card is $1.25. Gina B's is $1.95.

In such a competitive industry, designs also have a shorter shelf life. Images that used to stay in the line for five to 10 years now stick around for one or two before retirement. Gina B. and Stroke have created more than 1,700 greeting card designs. One blank note design with sailboats, No. 56, has stuck around since 1990 at Gina B's operation. Meanwhile, at Stroke, a sympathy card design from 1987 is still in production.

Key strokes over brush strokes

Technology has completely changed the process of designing a greeting card or a note card. "In the beginning, I started with an electric typewriter, an adding machine and my paints," said Bugée. Everything was hand-painted. There were no fonts. Things were sent to the printer. Now the artists still do watercolor designs, but they're scanned in, digitized and sent to the printers on a disc. A single watercolor could be parsed and manipulated into a half-dozen additional designs.

Both owners agree that technology makes keeping up with the necessary changes easier. "The quality of the colors is much better and we can manipulate the product much more. There is so much more to do. It's more fun now," said Wendy Eichmann, a designer at Gina B. Both companies have only a few artists on staff, but they also buy designs from about 30 independent contractors.

Minnesotans who have heard of either company are probably regulars at their fall warehouse sales. This year, both sales are happening in the same week. Each company sells its overstock, discontinued designs and samples. Customers often come to the sale hoping to find the exact same product from a previous sale, but that's unlikely. Once a discontinued item sells out, it's history.

In this change-or-die business, one thing doesn't change. There have to be birthday card designs with a cake or balloons on them. "Those are classic icons that never go out of style," said Bugée.

John Ewoldt • 612-673-7633 • jewoldt@startribune.com