ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 27, 1997 TAG: 9703270022
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Although most of the company's cards carry secular messages, officials say it only makes sense to offer cards for ``committed Christians.''
Tim Bailey stocked more greeting cards with religious messages this spring than last - more Easter crosses and Bible verses among the drawings of bright flowers and rabbits.
"It's not a huge focus, but more and more the religious product is selling at a quicker rate, and we're reordering,'' said Bailey, owner of six shops that sell cards and other merchandise from Hallmark Cards Inc.
Kansas City, Mo.-based Hallmark, the nation's largest greeting card maker, is wooing Christian consumers this Easter with the most strongly Bible-based cards it has ever produced, and a company that makes only religious cards is cheering the effort.
Hallmark's ``He Is Risen'' line comprises just 17 of the 1,000 Easter cards it is offering its retailers this year. But the company hopes that will be enough to crack the market of what it calls ``committed Christians'' who patronize religious bookstores for greeting cards.
Lengthy Bible passages and brief testimonials of the writers' personal faith on the back of each card distinguish the line from Hallmark's traditional religious offerings.
``The editors and writers wanted cards that were not shy about this religious message,'' said Hallmark spokeswoman Allison Novela.
Three writers and two artists from Hallmark's creative staff of 700 volunteered to produce the line of cards.
``Hosanna in the Highest,'' says the cover message on a card depicting Christ's entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Inside, the card contains biblical references and Hallmark writer Bobbie Burrow's verse.
For another writer, Barbara Loots, the project was ``an ideal opportunity, because I really, really believe the things I was talking about with great enthusiasm.''
Hallmark's traditional cards - whether bearing a ``Peanuts'' character or a photo of an Easter lily - may carry a brief Bible verse. But the message typically emphasizes religious fellowship.
``This new line narrows it down somewhat to people who want to go beyond that,'' Novela said.
Such a consumer is likely to be found browsing at a shop that sells exclusively Christian books, gifts and cards.
``We'd rather have them shopping in a Hallmark store,'' Novela said.
And that's fine - to an extent - with the people at DaySpring Cards in Siloam Springs, Ark., the nation's largest maker of Christian greeting cards. Whatever promotes greeting card sales generally helps DaySpring, said Mike Malony, director of product development and marketing.
DaySpring's 300 Easter cards are all explicitly Christian, Malony said, and the company does not perceive a threat from Hallmark's new line as ``a major competitive concern.''
There's year-round increased interest in religious cards, said Bailey, who operates Jaclyn's and Scott's Hallmark stores in the Roanoke Valley and shops in Winston-Salem and High Point, N.C.
He said a larger percentage of his sales is coming from religious cards.
Eric Bosshard, an industry analyst with Midwest Research in Cleveland, said no other main-line greeting card company has matched Hallmark's effort this Easter to reach a large and growing market of Christian buyers.
``Christians obviously buy in stores other than Christian bookstores, and I'm sure that's what Hallmark is thinking - an opportunity to sell where there's a lot of traffic at mass retail,'' he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON THE ROANOKE TIMES. 1. Ellen Bishopby CNBshops for Easter cards Wednesday at Jaclyn's Hallmark in Tanglewood
Mall. 2. Of the 1,000 Easter cards Hallmark is offering retailers
this year, 17 are from the ``He Is Risen'' line. color.