In my town CF has two shops, very busy, Clinton only three people in no one was at the till buying. |
Darryl…..Clinton’s wasn’t full like CARD was. |
my point being the timing of the purchase along with the CFO purchase a few days before |
That was on 11Dec |
Darcy just bought 50k shares at £1 |
FFS, it's Christmas, the busiest time of the year for buying cards. It would be a real problem if they were not busy at this time of year. |
Keep the anecdotal reports coming. Good indicators. |
Very busy at the local Card Factory today.
Just sayin. |
Thanks for posting Davius
Bring on 90p. I want to add! |
 That's quite a collapse this week, 6 or 7%.
Small mention by II today:
A flurry of in-line Christmas trading updates should be enough to provide fuel for the re-rating of the cheap-looking retail sector, a City firm said today.
Several retailers including B&M European Value Retail SA and JD Sports Fashion trade with price/earnings (P/E) multiples in the single digits, which Peel Hunt believes creates potential upside ahead of January's run of updates.
It pointed out that while October and November trading conditions weren’t great for the sector, Black Friday week brought a step up in momentum.
And with muted forecasts in place for the festive season, it suspects that in-line Christmas updates should be greeted by investors with enthusiasm.
Consensus forecasts point to profit growth of 7% in both the 2024 and 2025 financial years, the latter kept in check by worries over the impact of higher wage costs in the Budget.
The bank said: “Steady is fine. We anticipate that after another challenging year, with more reasons to be cheerful in 2025, a steady Christmas securing about 7% profit growth will be more than welcome.”
Hitting numbers in January will be seen as a success, but Peel Hunt said the main candidates for upgrades appear to be Marks & Spencer Group and Next based on their trading momentum and AO World and Victorian Plumbing Group for their profit performance.
Next and Marks & Spencer shares have performed strongly this year but Peel Hunt sees further upside based on price targets of 11,000p and 450p respectively.
As well as M&S, it adds that Dr. Martens Ordinary Shares, Watches of Switzerland Group, Card Factory, DFS Furniture, JD Sports Fashion and Currys and all forecast to deliver double-digit growth in earnings over 2025 as their recoveries take hold.
It said the sector’s valuation appears cheap on an average 11.4 times forecast 2025 earnings.
Within this, several are on single-digits including B&M European Value Retail at 8.7 times, JD Sports on 8.3 times and Wickes Group on 9.9 times. M&S is only on 11.5 times despite a raft of recent upgrades.
Peel Hunt said: “Hitting numbers in January should be more than enough to provide fuel for re-rating, with wider consumer recovery still a long way from being priced into forecasts or valuations, in our view.”
The optimism has been offset by today’s profit warning by Shoe Zone, which described trading conditions as “very challenging”. It has 297 stores and about 2,250 staff across the UK.
The AIM-listed retailer said consumer confidence had weakened further since the Budget, while additional costs caused by increases in National Insurance and the National Living Wage have forced the closure of a number of stores that are no longer viable.
Initial expectations for profits of £10 million in the year to next September are now closer to £5 million, while it no longer plans to declare a dividend with annual results on 21 January. The shares slumped 58.5p to 80p, their lowest level in three years. |
Shoehorned update affected share price Not relevant due to seasonality. Great top up opportunity. |
I was in my local high-street, Southend, and I visited both of the stores there to get a few bits. Both shops were absolutely packed, and the perennial long queue was present in each. There's another store that is actually closer to me, but I haven't been able to get around to it.
Needless to say, the value is fantastic, especially if you have kids or a big family. I think it’s high-time people acknowledge that this isn’t just a good investment because it’s cheap: it’s a very good business with strong brand value and the right ethos to thrive.
The Clinton’s is actually shutting down opposite and this used to be the biggest greetings card shop in Europe. They’ve downsized it a couple of times, and it is still 4-5 times the size of the Card Factory opposite with at most one half of the customers. Cards Direct also looked pretty bleak. I don’t know how they have ever been considered a realistic competitor given their low profitability and I expect them to struggle and further consolidation to benefit Card.
This is an absolute bargain.
@Elsa, I hope so as that was my guess when they first announced it. It follows from the clues given, but we will see. America could be huge if we crack it even on a wholesale basis only. |
Went to my local provincial town store in East Anglia this morning.
Hitting targets, all stock out and not over stocked like last year. In the managers own words was quiet with the poor weather a few weeks ago (before the update) but now flying off the shelves. Cards selling well. Some smaller items already sold out. Usually pretty downbeat so definitely encouraging.
Nb Partnership agreement in the US is with Kohl's fwiw. (A little birdie told me).
Happy Christmas one and all. |
Cardiff stores busy yesterday. I spoke to a small store manage about 2 weeks ago. He said his target was £1000 for the day but they had done £1600 that day. Interesting to hear they were dropping card prices to be competitive with B&M next door. Apparently a get pence makes the difference for many of their customers |
Anecdotal evidence can be useseful. Mongrel4 posted the other day that Shoe Zone was always quiet. Today a profits warning. |
Was anyone buying them in Notts or were they all being stolen? ;) |
Busy in a very large card factory in Nottingham and also busy in the Sherwood store. |
I was in staines on thames today. Not only was the card factory in the main shopping centre busy also there is a new card factory shop in the walkway to the two rivers area also busy. |
Went to buy cards yesterday afternoon Milton Keynes. I would describe the activity as 'steady'. A queue of 3-4 people. However it was Monday |
Am not sure if already posted, but was in Matalan yesterday- lo and behold a CARD display! |
Regarding pricing and management the forthcoming new staff cost will affect most if not all their competitors. As with any retailer, they'll watch the rest like a hawk.
My money will be on comparitive price increases.
GLA |
Card Factory in Kilburn, a relatively small store, queueing 10 to 12 people. Not an affluent area but very busy with people buying balloons, cards, gifts. Enough to warm the heart of a shareholder. |
I bet you wouldn't say that in John Lewis 😉 |
My local CARD in Yorkshire was stacked today. It's the first time I've ever said to the wife "go mad and spend what you like"!, yet the queue was too long. |
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