OPC welcomes a new franchisee in the East Kent Area

The OPC team is very excited to have Judit Folinek, OPC East Kent, join our greeting cards franchise. Judit takes over from Grant and Linda Gibson who will be taking up management of our new distribution opportunity in the Middle East.

Judit left her native country of Hungary with her husband Norbert and her daughter Mia to seek a better life here in the United Kingdom after Norbert, director and CEO of three companies was hospitalised due to stress related illness not once but three times! The family made the decision there and then to change their lives for the better and achieve a work/life balance with our greeting card franchise.

Judit says, “If you don’t like your life – change it!”

The family have settled in well here in the UK and Judit is quite a character having featured on the company Twitter account with her little dog Mango as well as with a member of the public who she convinced to park her van for her!

Judit has an amazing work ethic and is keen to build the best possible life for herself and her family. Her Business Development Manager, (BDM) Dawn Hammond describes her as warm and friendly and is already putting her forward for any franchisee awards we may consider entering next year!

Judit said “OPC gave me all the training I needed. On the practical side, it was very helpful too that the team set up a stock room for me so I can practice picking and packing. I could work with all the card ranges and displays and see different options for installing and merchandising – I was dreaming about greeting cards during my training period! It has paid off though as I don’t have any problem merchandising and I recognise all the different ranges we have. Dawn and Andrew Cutler (Sales & Franchise Manager), helped me a lot in my first week in the stores and Dawn gave me some good ideas on how to make the merchandising calls easier and quicker. It’s very comforting to know that if I have any problems, I can always call on any one of the OPC staff to help me out. I really appreciate the support.”

On asked why Judit had chosen an OPC franchise, she said that she had seen Grant Gibson’s resales advert and then visited our website. She explains, “From the very first moment we had a feeling that it’s going to work and can only be successful. The structure of the company is great, no sale or return makes the franchisee’s job easier – it’s a win-win situation.”

“We don’t know much about greeting cards but Norbert has experience in running a business and I have more than 15 years’ experience in retail. It was also a great thing that the working time is flexible. I can manage my own time so there are no more missed assemblies in school, no more coming home very late and I can spend more time with my family.”

Judit added, “As I get to know OPC more and the people working there, it just made me even more sure that it is going to be a successful relationship.”

We join Dawn in congratulating Judit on the purchase of her franchise and look forward to watching her progress as she grows her business with the help and support of the OPC team.

For almost a quarter of a century, the World’s leading distributor of greeting cards, The Original Poster Company (OPC), has been operating an international franchise network. Our franchisees sell the OPC high-profit margin, quality product through a wide variety of convenience stores – both independent and members of national groups. In the UK, these would be groups like Costcutter, Booker and Spar, etc.

With the IGD and the GCA reporting that both the greeting cards and convenience sector industries are growing, you not only benefit from this continued growth but also from proven and simple business model. We operate using the sale or return (consignment) method – a very attractive offer to your retailers as the retailer only pays for what they have sold!

All our home-based, management franchise opportunities are established profitable businesses which include stock, cash flow and customers so you can start earning an income from Day One and also achieve that very desirable work/life balance as Judit and her family have.