Happy Greetings' biggest seller. The card was designed by artist Constance Wong and is available at several local stores. It began as a class project. Seven University of Washington business majors needed to develop a company for their entrepreneur class. What they came up with was greeting cards for the lesbian/gay/bi-sexual/trans-gender community.
The cards, some with historic photographs and some with art by a graphic designer, are tasteful, dignified and unlike anything you would find in a Hallmark store - or a sex shop.
"The majority of cards are kind of tacky, and it made me kind of angry," said Martha Reyes of the other cards targeting the LGBT community. "It made me kind of angry, and I'm not gay."
In fact, six of the seven members of the group behind Happy Greetings are actually straight. The idea for the cards came from a desire to start a business that was inexpensive to get into (greeting cards) and then find an under-served niche. The rest, as they say, is history - or will be history. The students plan to take the business private at the end of the class with a small business loan.
The business is only 15 weeks old, but their products are selling well. They have three categories of card: the Collector's Series; the Classic Series; and the Lovely Greetings.
The Collector's Series is so-called because Happy Greetings is releasing a new card in the series every week or so. The cards feature black and white photographs of female impersonators - drag queens - who performed at the famous Seattle nightclub "Garden of Allah" during the 1940s and '50s. The poses are instantly recognizable as that era's Hollywood glamour-style shots. The subjects are regally aloof, yet alluring, giving an almost smoky come-on without being overtly sexual.
There's a reason they call them queens, Honey.
All of the photos are from the University of Washington's photographic collections. According to Reyes, who is formally the company's vice president of sales, these cards are a good seller but seem to sell best in sets.
The Classic Series also features photographs from the UW photo collections, but in varying shades of brown and blue. These are of tasteful, artistically draped nudes in soft focus. The group figured, since they had photographs for the boys, they would have a set to appeal to the girls, too.
The Lovely Greetings are more in the tradition of mainstream greeting cards, with a difference. The cards all feature graphic designs by Constance Wong, a gifted artist. The company's biggest seller is one of Wong's designs, a pair of suits on hangers, hanging side-by-side, the adjacent sleeves holding a bouquet of flowers.
Another card shows a woman figure lingering over a cup with the legend, you are my cup of tea. The steam swirls coming from the cup create a diaphanous female form. Other cards have foreground graphics and the legend, "love is for everyone," as a background..
"Love is for everyone," Reyes declared. That is a big part of Happy Greetings' message.
Because the company currently falls under the UW's supervision, 65 percent of the card sales proceeds benefit the university's business school entrepreneurship program. The other 35 percent benefits the Lifelong AIDS Alliance, the non-profit agency headquartered on Capitol Hill dedicated to preventing the spread of HIV and provide practical support service and advocacy for people whose lives are affected by HIV and AIDS.
The cards are for sale at each edition of Gay Bingo, sponsored monthly by the Lifelong AIDS Alliance. Plans call for a special card, in the style of the Collector's Series, of Glamazonia, the moderator-in-charge of Gay Bingo.
The cards are currently in 10 retail stores. Some of the stores on Capitol Hill where the cards are available are J&S News, Beyond the Closet, Bailey-Coy Books and Atlas Clothing. The group hopes to start selling more with their Web site, www.happygreetings.org, which will let them make the cards available regionally and nationally.
"We will have to do it on a much larger scale," Reyes said, in order to make Happy Greetings commercially viable. The class ends in five weeks, and that is when they will make their move. After that they will continue to support the Lifelong AIDS Alliance, but will not, of course, be able to provide 35 percent of the net proceeds. The group is looking at different ways to partner with the Lifelong AIDS Alliance, including creating specific cards that would be fundraisers for the alliance.
"Right now we get zero money," Reyes said of the core group, which includes, besides Reyes and Wong, Mary Bates, Jeremy Lewis, John Marini, Linh Tran and Richard Yu. All of them are between 21 and 27, except Bates, who is 45.
"A lot of it is we're just hoping, and we are planning around that," Reyes said. "This can be a huge thing if we can gain support [from retailers]."
She said the group is committed to making the company work.
Happy Greetings cards sell for $2 each, or in sets of eight for $14. The buyer can make up the eight-card set in any combination desired.
Freelance writer Korte Brueckmann can be reached at editor@capitolhlltimes.com.
[[In-content Ad]]
