Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 5, 1992 TAG: 9203050404
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
People often associate greeting cards with large corporations in faraway places. But the next card you buy may have come from a small workshop on Aerial Way Drive in Roanoke.
Heartfelt greeting cards, which are designed and produced by the husband-and-wife team of Linwood and Lea Metts, are on store shelves in almost every state, and Roanoke is just one of many markets.
Heartfelt is what is known as an "alternative" card company. There are many other small entrepreneurs just like theirs out there, Linwood Metts said. They fill a need for cards that make a "specialized statement." These cards have been so popular, he said, that the major card companies are starting alternative lines of their own.
Besides greeting cards, the firm produces framed accent pictures that are sold in gift shops and furniture stores. Most of the lines feature watercolors of floral arrangements, but others are simple block prints on country themes. Some are decorated with satin bows, and another line features cutouts backed with fabric. Inside the one Christmas card they produced last year was a three-dimensional solid brass ornament, designed by the Mettses.
The pictures, which usually are made from the greeting card art, have been featured as prizes on "The Price is Right."
"We try not to be followers in design," Linwood Metts said. "We try to be innovative and creative, to come up with a good-looking product design."
The Mettses work closely with each other and with the artists on design; choosing frames, matte paper, and color themes. Sales are carefully monitored to determine exactly what consumers want.
In 1987, the Mettses started the business in their home. Linwood Metts was still working in marketing, selling artwork to furniture stores and hotels, and Lea Metts ran the business from the guest room. They contacted an artist to do the paintings, and Lea wrote most of the verses herself.
Soon the operation spread to the garage and the basement. "We had a full house," Lea said. Linwood quit his job, and "we hired friends and friends of friends," to help, he said.
Near the end of 1990, they moved to the Blue Ridge Industrial Park, where they had designed and built a workshop for matting, framing and packaging the pictures and the cards. There are 17 people on the payroll, four of whom put cards together at home. Everyone but the Mettses work on a part-time basis. The arrangement works out well, Lea said, because everyone seems to like the flexibility.
The company was selling products nationally right from the beginning, Linwood said. Because of his background in marketing, he had contacts all over the United States. After nine months of development, they began selling cards in 1988.
Sales tripled in 1990, and increased by another 90 percent in 1991, this during a recession. Today Linwood wonders how much the business would have grown in more normal economic times.
By the middle of January, the firm had almost 1,600 clients. Most of the cards are sold to small, independent operators, they said, but some larger stores, such as Kirkland's, Paradies, and some Belk outlets also buy the cards and pictures. Hospital gift shops and resorts have been big customers, too, with The Homestead and Disney World among them.
The couple manages to work together because they divide the responsibilities. Linwood handles the advertising, sales and marketing, and Lea is in charge of production and shipping. But when they go to trade shows, Lea said, they have no qualms about leaving their employees in charge.
"Quality is the priority," Lea said, and her workers give her nothing less. "We've really been fortunate. We've got a good staff. I think everyone works together, and they're so conscientious. I love every one of them."
The paintings are done by local artist Kathleen Seeks, who also writes many of the verses. The Mettses make a conscious effort to work with suppliers in the Roanoke Valley. A local company does the printing, and another supplies the fancy mouldings their workers use to make the picture frames.
The Mettses are thinking of expanding into items such as mugs and desk sets, but for now, they are preparing to introduce a series of small, collectible floral prints. Each print comes with a small easel, and information about the flowers is printed on the back. They are surrounded by gold leaf and matte paper, and put into antique-look gold frames. The company also is planning to produce a catalog .
Linwood is very pragmatic about the company's fast growth. "When you have a dream, you don't dream just a little bit." From the very beginning, he said, "We decided to be something."
But Lea is a little more dazzled by their success. "When you look at it," she said, gesturing toward the bright, clean workshop, "sometimes it's hard to believe. It's like watching your children grow."
by CNB