Feb 10, 2011

Consorting with ArtistsBy Steven G. De PoloRapidGrowthMedia.com

The greeting card business is cutthroat. It’s not all dreamy sunsets and cinnamon scented candles. Make one wrong move, the long knives come out and the hair flies.

So how does a tiny card and gift shop like Yours Truly (959 Cherry St. SE) survive in East Hills? Owners Susan and John Walborn have a passion for the power of greeting cards to share an emotional connection. They created their own niche and developed an innovative business model that allowed them to make it through the recession while expanding into three related stores.

Susan and John opened Yours Truly eight years ago in a modest space on Cherry Street. Yours Truly would have to be different to compete with the gift card chains. The major card companies thrive because they offer consistent quality and thoughtful messages for every occasion, even those that they invented. Worried about seeming cheap, buyers have been reassured by the motto, “When you care enough to send the very best.”

Susan knew that some people were looking for better than the very best. They were looking for the perfect card. Yours Truly would have to offer cards that were of the highest quality and unlike anything else that could be found at chain stores.

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