Sales at budget greetings card chain, Card Factory, rose by 6.7 per cent over the last nine months.

Growth in the nine months to 31st October was driven by its continuing store expansion scheme, as reported by Retail Gazette.

The retailer, which has stores in Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, Gloucester and Stroud, said a strong first half sales performance continued in the third quarter, driven mainly by growth in lower margin non-card categories.

The chain has opened 38 new UK stores in the year so far, bringing the total number of Card Factory stores in the UK to 903.

The retailer aims to deliver approximately 50 net new UK stores in the current financial year and has started to plan its new store openings for the next financial year.

Card Factory's two ecommerce sites - gettingpersonal.co.uk and cardfactory.co.uk - also continued to grow and attract increased visitor numbers.

Punchline says: "It goes to show that the great British public haven't lost their love affair with the humourous greeting card. Sod the new media, WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter, when it comes to heartfelt messages we still like to send and receive a card."

Best wishes

Punchline xxx