Margaret Edwards said she was scared when she walked into the place at first but it’s one of the best decisions she ever made
Margaret and David Edwards, pictured, who have put their business, The Card Shop, up for sale after 30 years of running the store in Ystrad Mynach(Image: Richard Swingler)
A hardworking couple behind a much-loved valleys shop are retiring after 30 years. Margaret and David Edwards, who are in their 70s, have run The Card Shop in Ystrad Mynach since 1996.
Having continued working at the store well after retirement age, the pair say “now [we] think it is time”, with Margaret saying: “I feel such mixed feelings it’s unbelievable.”
Starting as a tiny card shop three decades ago, the huge success of the business allowed it to expand in size and branch out into also selling gifts, which people continue to travel from across south Wales to buy.
The couple said the news will come as a great shock to their loyal customers who regularly comment that they couldn’t imagine the village without it. Margaret and David’s son, Martin, followed in his parents’ entrepreneurial footsteps.
Margaret told WalesOnline: “Our shop is lovely and our customers are going to be devastated because of the comments we get every day.
“One of their favourite comments is: ‘You’ll never close will you!’ And another is: ‘I don’t know what Ystrad would do if your shop closed down.’”
Margaret said when she first walked into the place 30 years ago she was scared but it couldn’t have gone much better(Image: Richard Swingler)
The couple explained how the idea of running their own shop was a big dream of David’s, who previously worked as a sales representative. Stay informed on Caerphilly news by signing up to our newsletter here
David said: “When I was a rep I had a customer who used to sell stacks and stacks of cards – I couldn’t believe it, and it’s only a little village.”
David said after identifying that opportunity it became a big aspiration to one day own a card shop. However, with three young children that didn’t become a reality until the couple were in their 40s. Margaret said she was very supportive of her husband’s vision – albeit she felt a bit intimidated by taking that next step.
She said: “We had three boys and when they were all young they were quite close together in age. This is going back years ago and women didn’t work then, or very few did.
“Many stayed at home to look after the children and the men went to work and that’s the way it was for us. Then the boys grew up and my husband had said for many years he would love his own shop. I was very hesitant as I hadn’t been involved in the trade at all and I was quite afraid and scared.
“We lived only about a mile from here and it was a very very small shop, an old fashioned shoe repairer and it was absolutely tiny. There was no running water and no toilet.
“It was a really, really small and dirty [place], all black from the shoe repairs. It was almost like an annex attached to the main building, a very, very old building.”
The Card Shop has stood proudly on the high street in Ystrad Mynach for three decades(Image: Richard Swingler)
Margaret said once they got the tiny shop up and running they just sold cards because there was “no room for anything else”. To their delight it was a success from the very beginning and quickly became a favourite locally and beyond. They have rented it ever since.
“They used to call it ‘like Aladdin’s cave’, because it was narrow, but people loved it,” she said. “There were no specialist card shops in Ystrad Mynach then, other than a few sort of cheap shops selling cheap cards, but no really nice ones – and it went really, really well. People loved it from the word ‘go’.”
Due to its success Margaret explained how the larger building attached to the annex – which used to sell fruit, vegetables and flowers – became vacant and so they jumped at the opportunity to expand.
“Three years later again we were doing really well,” she said. “We asked for permission from the landlord and we knocked down the dividing wall – a big thick old stone wall, but we had it professionally done.
“We had the whole lot then; it became one shop – and that’s what we have now. We’ve had that for the last 24 years. I suppose I just think now we’ve got to have some retirement time.”
Margaret and David Edwards pictured in their card shop at Ystrad Mynach, which they have decided to put up for sale with a heavy heart(Image: Richard Swingler)
The couple said they had been speaking about the business’ future for the last few months, with it finally going up for sale officially on Thursday.
The business won’t close in the short-term future and there’ll be no major changes until a new owner is found. “We have no intention of closing down, none whatsoever,” Margaret said.
“We do intend, if we possibly can, to sell the business on and to enjoy retirement. We are totally operating as normal and I have ordered all my Christmas cards. Nothing will change.”
However, with the possibility that it may soon move on into new hands, Margaret said it is a very emotional time for them. “I feel such mixed feelings it’s unbelievable. I feel almost frightened – what am I going to do with myself? This has been my life for 30 years.
“It’s the interaction with all the customers, you are always talking to someone, always seeing somebody. In a way I feel excited because we have never got time to do what we want.”
Margaret spoke highly of the town in Caerphilly borough and said it’s been a brilliant place to be for three decades(Image: Richard Swingler)
Responding to the secret behind the success of the business, Margaret said it has a clear selling point. She explained: “The other constant comment we get [from customers] is: ‘What wonderful staff you have.’
“We only have two now. Years ago we had five but now there’s myself and two staff members who have been with us for years.
“None of our staff have ever left because they wanted a change of job – they left either because of health reasons or retirement. We have never had anyone leave because they were looking for a different job.
“We have Tina and Julie working for us who have been with us for years and years and all the customers speak so highly for them. We thought from the word ‘go’ that what we could offer that chains can’t is a personal service, and that is what we aim for time after time.
“And if someone wants a particular ornament we can’t promise we can get it, but we will always try. I think customer service has always been our priority and the customers appreciate it.”
Margaret stressed the shop won’t be closing in the near future and she hopes she can pass it on to a younger couple(Image: Richard Swingler)
As a testament to their dedication to customer service, Margaret said they have built strong relationships with their clientele, sending many birthday and Christmas cards, while customers often return the gesture with gifts – such as chocolates – to mark special occasions.
Having built a strong sense of connection and community around the shop, the couple say they hope the next person to run it will continue that.
Margaret said: “I really hope that whoever takes this business over won’t make too many changes, that they will keep the theme of the shop going.
“Obviously they will have their own ideas and they might think of new things to sell, which would be nice because it’s always nice to see something different.
“What we know we fail on is advertising. Everyone uses Facebook and I’m not an online person. I think a younger couple maybe would do far more online promotions and might even do online sales. That is something we would never touch. We rely totally on word of mouth.
“I hope that they enjoy our customers as much as we have enjoyed them because they have been amazing, absolutely amazing, and it makes me very, very sad to think that I won’t have that involvement, but I just know that we can’t work forever.”