Chemo to coming out, Hallmark has the card

updated 3:38 p.m. ET Feb. 15, 2007

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Buying a greeting card for someone’s birthday, anniversary or if the recipient is feeling under the weather is pretty straightforward.

But what if the person is undergoing chemotherapy or struggling with depression?

“Get Well Soon” probably won’t cut it.

Likewise, most cards lining the store shelves don’t work on occasions as someone leaving an abusive spouse, undergoing drug rehab or declaring their sexual orientation.

Hallmark Cards Inc., which has built its $4.2 billion empire on sentiments for life’s happier times, is releasing a new line of cards that will speak to those and other situations that the company says either have been ignored by greeting card companies or received only a smattering of attention from niche players.

‘Cancer is a villain who doesn’t play fair’
For illness: “Cancer is a villain who doesn’t play fair ... but it can’t dim your spirit, and it can’t silence prayer.”

For eating disorders: “All I want is for you to be healthy — healthy and happy with yourself. Please take it one day at a time until you are.”

For depression: “When the world gets heavy, remember, I’m here to help carry it with you.”

The 176-card collection, called Journeys, went on sale Thursday at Hallmark’s 3,800 Gold Crown stores.

Cynthia Musick, the editorial director who oversaw Journeys, said the cards’ writing provides more personal messages of support, encouragement and hope, for which the company’s research showed there was a demand.

Theresa Steffens, an assistant product manager at Hallmark, said a majority of online and focus group respondents said they couldn’t find what they were looking for when needing an encouragement card.

“Either the consumer said they were walking away from the display, or they were just unhappy with the card that they purchased, so we saw this as a huge opportunity,” Steffens said.

Customers said they wanted cards dealing with more real-life situations.

Tough to find the right words
“They said, ‘I don’t know what to say during a difficult time, so I don’t say anything at all,’ ” Steffens said. “So again there’s an opportunity there to help them talk through these tough situations that they’re dealing with, and to foster that communication.”

The $7 billion greeting card industry already brims with tiny niche players who make and sell cards dealing with such things as serious illness or thanking caregivers, said Barbara Miller, a spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based Greeting Card Association.

But she said none of them have the ability to reach customers searching for those types of cards across the country.

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