By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

“It was a difficult time for the consumers and ourselves. They’re very excited that we are now a Hallmark Gold Crown store.”

Kathy Schupman is also excited. The owner of the former Tandy’s Hallmark store in Big Creek Crossing, 2918 Vine, has relocated north of Interstate 70.

Kat’s Hallmark Shop, 4320 Vine St., Suite 70, is located in the growing Tebo Village next to the just-opened UPS Store.

According to the Hallmark website, Gold Crown stores carry the widest selection of Hallmark greeting cards, stationery, gifts and gift wrap, as well as products for decorating and entertaining, personal accessories, baby and kids’ gifts, and gourmet food and candy. The stores, most of which are independently owned and operated, offer a Crown Rewards store loyalty program for purchases.

“In making the decision to become Gold Crown, we met with corporate entities from corporate Hallmark in Kansas City. We were visited out here and we showed them this location. They and our family agreed that this was a good spot for Hallmark,” she said.

Schupman, who considers herself an entrepreneur, “thought it would be better to come out of the mall (Big Creek Crossing.) The mall business hours and being open Thanksgiving Day just weren’t conducive to me.”

Schupman moved from Big Creek Crossing at the end of March, 10 months after purchasing the store in June 2016, and opened in the new location April 20.

The store is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12 to 4 p.m. Sunday. There are seven employees; Schupman is the sole full-time worker.

“When you’re an entrepreneur and you open a business, you are truly invested in it. Not only monetarily, but in all facets. You want to do your own marketing in your own style–what you think is best for your business.

“In the mall environment, we felt their ideas of marketing and their style of marketing wasn’t best for the kind of store we wanted to have,” she explained as the primary reason for the move.

After the Hallmark store was damaged following a partial collapse of the mall roof April 16, 2016, Schupman heard the business was for sale through Aaron White, executive director of the Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development.

“We moved Kollections Gift & Party store , which was the Paper Mart Party Center we purchased in 2014, into the mall store and combined the two until we could get this all worked out and be approved as Gold Crown. We’re very fortunate that we are.” With the merger, the mall location lost its Gold Crown status.

A recent out-of-state customer told Schupman she hoped “your town appreciates what you’ve done to keep the Gold Crown here.”

“It’s not about that,” Schupman quickly said, “but so many towns and areas have lost Hallmark. Keeping one in the vicinity is very important. I think so, and I know the community feels it because they were very upset when we weren’t Gold Crown.

Customer pull from Interstate 70 travelers has “astounded” Schupman.

“It has been excellent. Our daily sales have not only matched what we had in the mall, during non-seasonal times, but exceeded it. We had four ladies come in from Idaho. They were so excited. The girls working here tell me stories every day of customers coming off I-70.”  The exterior store front sports both a colorful balloon sign for the Paper Mart Party Center and the Hallmark logo sign which can be seen from I-70 and are lighted at night.

The re-location to an outside strip mall has also worked well, according to Schupman.

“Our older customers are saying ‘thank you, because it was such a trek going from the parking lot, through the mall, to get into your location and purchase my Hallmark card.’ So they are loving the handicap parking spots, being able to get in and out.”

Balloon bouquet customers also appreciate the easy access.

“Some of our balloon bouquets are huge,” Schupman demonstrated with her arms wide apart. “At this establishment we have a back door as well, a back parking lot where they can come around and pick up their balloons if there are a lot of them.” Those customers are often also buying color-coordinated party supplies–29 colors of everything from plates and cups to napkins and tablecloths–from the Paper Mart Party Center in the store.

Hallmark, founded in 1910 in Kansas City, Missouri, by J.C. Hall, is considered the world’s best-known greeting card brand.

“One of the things I learned recently is the Hallmark brothers actually invented gift wrap,” Schupman said.

“They would take the foil that they used inside envelopes and sell it in sheets for people to wrap their packages in, and that is how gift wrap was established.”

The company is still led by members of the founding Hall family, which Schupman appreciates.

“I’m very family-oriented. We have the Snaxsun snack food business called Wheatland Foods that my father-in-law and I own and participate in. We’ve had other businesses along the way. I love family-based business, acting together toward a common goal that’s good for the community.”

The store inventory changes with the seasons which keeps the staff busy. The merchandise is arrayed in a new Hallmark display design called Essence, shabby chic fixtures that are two feet wide rather than the standard four foot dimensions.

Popular and beloved brands fill the shelves including Precious Moments, Yankee and WoodWick candles, Disney, Peanuts, Marvel, and Willow Tree. Walking up and down the aisles, customers will find thousands of selections to choose from ranging from the unusual–Amish-made puzzle pieces to display photos–to the more familiar baby gifts, plush stuffed animals, kitchenware and home decorations, customizable jewelry, items symbolic of faith, and of course, Hallmark gift wrap and cards. The store is carrying the new Hallmark card line Anthem, square-shaped cards which play music when opened.

There are plans are to establish a local Keepsake Ornament Club, according to Schupman. “We’ll gather information this year when people come in to get their 2017 ornaments to see what they would like out of the club, and we’ll be building another community.”

“I just love that about Hays. Being from Ohio and a much larger community, and then moving here, I just love the camaraderie.”

Plans are also underway to host an open house in the fall.

Schupman moved to Hays in March 2008 with her daughter Raeanna and is married to local resident John Schupman, a truck driver for Total Lease Services.

“We met at a pinochle tournament in Omaha, Nebraska, and we still play pinochle,” she laughed.