America

America, originally uploaded by Robbi Baba.

On wednesday Krista and I set out to peddle our cards wholesale in Eugene. It was a real eye opener for me! In all but one store (Ruby Chasm) the cards were all either Leanin' Tree or Tree Free--two big distributors who have all but cornered the market.
I talked to one store owner who said he sells 100 of their cards for ever blank note card from a local artist! His assertion was that people want the pre-printed 'sentiments' included with the corporate cards. Maybe so.
The problem for us is that the images they've chosen, for the most part, and the glitzy presentation, the corny sentiments all add up to a rather unattractive lowest-common-denominator sort of thing. We're not so sure we want to be part of it, even if we do get licensing offers from these same companies.
But one thing is for sure: we can't compete with these big guys. At least not until the card buying public gets sick of their schtick.