Stationery Supplies beat off the competition to win the Best Greeting Card Retailer Initiative Award (sponsored by Danilo Promotions) for their Giving Back Charity Programme.
"Winning an award for our 'giving back to charity' has absolutely blown me away. I've always believed that it's important to give back to the community around my shops. Independent shops aren't islands, we need support from the community to survive and in turn I feel we should give back by supporting community events and charities. But I have never for a moment thought I'd actually win an award for this, as it's just what I feel is right to do."
All the winners were arrived at as a result of an extensive industrywide nomination and validation process against a criteria of product selection, customer service, retail environment and marketing.
"The winners of The Retas 2022 stand as testament to the passion, inventiveness, nous and tenacity of the UK's leading greeting card retail stockists," commented Jakki Brown, managing director of Max Publishing, which owns and organises The Retas.
The UK leads the world in greeting cards with the UK public spending £1.4 billion on individual greeting cards in the last year alone.
The winners of this year's greeting card retailing awards - affectionately known as The Retas - were revealed recently at a sumptuous Mary Poppins-themed awards event at The Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane in London, attended by some 300 people and hosted by comedian Sara Barron.
The Retas awards, launched in 2005 by Progressive Greetings Worldwide magazine, recognise excellence across the whole greeting card retailing spectrum, from independents on the high street, to the small groups, national multiples, garden centres, department stores, supermarkets and bookshops.