Card Factory

I visited Card Factory today in Birmingham City Centre, High Street, to buy a Christmas Card at 3.55pm. The queues at the till went right to the back of the store, but with 4 people serving I didnt think it would take too long. Wrong! There was only ONE hand held device for card payments, being shared between 2 Staff, so only 1 could serve at a time. The other 2 members of staff served cash customers! There were only a few cash customers so 3 out of 4 staff did nothing while the queue got longer. Customers did not realise this situation until we had been waiting 10minutes, while the staff were shouting ‘anyone paying cash’! What on earth is going on? Even card payment took an age, being passed backwards and forwards from customer to staff. It took 20mins to get served while 3 staff members could only stand and watch the queue grow. How can Management put staff in that impossible position? They obviously do not know how to ‘manage’! Definately a shop to avoid during the busy Christmas period!!!

I am such a fan of this shop, and whenever I need to get a card for whatever occasion I always go here now instead of the more well known Clintons. The best thing about this shop is the prices; in relation to Clintons and other places like Paper Chase this shop is much cheaper, and I find that they offer pretty much all of the same stuff!
The shop is located in Broadmead so it’s very central within Bristol and easy to get to, perfect for grabbing a ‘named mug gift’ or a card for a friend’s birthday. There’s nothing particularly special at the shop, but it does sell other birthday stuff like balloons and banners for parties — which is worth knowing. It’s a medium sized place with plenty crammed in it, and it gets my vote when buying cards!

Ok, the secret is out: I don’t like buying expensive cards. They are a waste of money and unless they are pant-​wettingly funny I just can’t bare to part with £3−4 per card. I actually think a nice touch is to make homemade cards but if, like me, you can’t always afford to play Marry Poppins for an afternoon, then the Card Factory will be a godsend.
With cards starting from as little as 39p you really can’t complain. The selection is decent enough to rival Clintons or similar, but perhaps just misses out on slightly better brands, such as Edward Monkton.
Just a couple of weeks ago I bought seven cards for £1. £1! That is ridiculous! If you’re anything like me and are constantly forgetting peoples birthdays etc then a promotion like this is perfect — stuff the cards into a drawer and they will be your saviours come celebration time.

The Card Factory is by far the best place to go in Bristol if you want a low-​cost card for almost any occasion. Except maybe at Christmas time. It’s not because they don’t have a great selection of cards but more because you cannot even move for bargain-​card-​hunters! I don’t know about you but I really resent playing almost a fiver for what is effectively a piece of cardboard with an illustration and some words on it. But that is exactly what you’ll do if you pick some of the more expensive options in Clinton Cards or Athena. In the Card Factory you don’t have this problem. In fact, you’re only problem will be how to choose from the massive selection of ridiculously cheap cards. Everyone’s a winner! They also do small gifts, a good selection of wrapping paper (rolls and sheets) and everything you’d need for a tip top birthday party from balloons to streamers and candles to badges. A one stop shop for celebrations if you like.

Cheap as you like, this place solves the ever-​present problem of friends and family members constantly turning a year older. I don’t think people really keep cards, I certainly don’t, so spending a load of dosh on something that’s appreciated momentarily (and mostly for the thought anyway) seems pretty pointless to me. Step in Card Factory, with their range of economical Birthday, Valentines, Mother’s Day, etc greetings. The best thing is, the cards from this place don’t actually look that cheap, so no one will accuse you of being tight and not really caring that they’re now 32, or whatever. Great.

The Card Factory is cheap and cheerful and I love it! I always resented Clinton’s and Birthdays for charging £3 for a bit of cardboard with a pretty picture on it. In the Card Factory you can get pretty much the exact same card for a mere 59p!
This particular store is located in the centre of Broadmead. It is a small shop and they sure do cram a lot inside. It is constantly rammed packed too so you will find yourself breathing in tightly to squeeze past customers. There also isn’t any real place to queue up so customers end up queuing next to the card displays which again causes a lot of deep sighs and mutters under their breathes from the other shoppers.
Product wise, the Card Factory has an impressive range of sensible, flowery cards to rude and humorous ones. They also have a selection of gifts such as photo frames etc. It’s so much better than Clinton’s down the road and I reckon the quality of cards is just as high but at a 10^th of the price.
Note: — they accept credit cards, but your bill must come to over £5 so make sure you have some cash on you. Also be prepared for long queues at all times, especially in the run up to special events EG. Valentines day, Mother’s day, Christmas etc.

This is the best card shop ever. The cards in here can be really nice and are always really cheap when put in comparison with the likes of birthdays abd carltons. They sell a wide range of cards and gift items teddies mugs and things like that. This store is right in the centre of bristol and is really easy to get to.
The only problem with this store is that there is always a queue and the staff really arnt that helpful at all. It can seem disorganised and its so small and gets so busy that it can be hard to move around in there is no room for buggys wheelchairs etc.