[ad_1]
Call it a sign of the times.
As businesses across the country experience layoffs, furloughs and closures as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, sales have skyrocketed for one small and perhaps surprising facet: the yard greeting company.
“It’s been a crazy year for us,” said James Stanley, who co-founded Card My Yard in Austin with his wife, Jessica Stanley, and their friends, Amy and Josh Arnold. “It’s been monumental growth.”
As people have in recent months looked for safe, socially distanced ways to celebrate milestones because of the coronavirus pandemic, Card My Yard has seen has seen its gross volume increase across the franchise by more than 400%.
Card My Yard, which specializes in elaborate, personalized yard greetings for occasions such as birthdays, graduations and anniversaries, started as a single location in Austin in 2014 and now has more than 200 franchises across the country. During the first six months of 2020, Card My Yard made nearly $8 million in gross sales and fulfilled more than 65,000 orders across the United States. In the first six months of 2019, the company made $1.5 million and fulfilled 14,000 orders.
“I love getting to be a light in the darkness,” Amy Arnold said. “There are people who are uncertain, who are scared, who don’t know how to celebrate, and we are there to help them. We will come do all the work for them, we will bring joy to their front yard. That keeps us going.”
Jamie Fagan, owner of Lone Star Yard Greetings, said she installed more yard greetings in April 2020 than in all of 2019 combined. She said she went from installing 10-15 yard greetings in an average week to as high as 70 a week during the coronavirus pandemic.
“It just exploded, and now everybody knows about it,” said Fagan, who started Lone Star Yard Greetings in 2014. “You’d have to be living under a rock to not know about it, because this is all anybody could do during the shutdown. You couldn’t have a party, you couldn’t go to Chuck E. Cheese. This was it.”
RELATED: South Austin bakery gives free meals during coronavirus pandemic
On top of its traditional greetings, Card My Yard has added new, quarantine-themed graphics, such as toilet paper, emojis wearing masks and bottles of hand sanitizer. In addition to its yard displays, Card My Yard has also provided greetings to hospitals and retirement homes that are prohibiting visitors. Jessica Stanley recalled receiving a heartfelt call from a retirement home resident who received a Card My Yard greeting for his 100th birthday.
“Amy and I texted each other, both crying,” Jessica Stanley said. “It was just the sweetest thing to hear these people still feel celebrated and loved when nobody could come and visit them. We love what we get to do.”
’Blessing’ in a pandemic
Jessica Stanley and Amy Arnold, who met at a Bible study in their neighborhood of Steiner Ranch and each have…
[ad_2]
Read More: Yard greeting companies see ’monumental growth’ due to coronavirus pandemic
