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<\/p>\nMargaret Edwards said she was scared when she walked into the place at first but it’s one of the best decisions she ever made<\/p>\n
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)<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Having continued working at the store well after retirement age, the pair say \u201cnow [we] think it is time\u201d, with Margaret saying: \u201cI feel such mixed feelings it\u2019s unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The couple said the news will come as a great shock to their loyal customers who regularly comment that they couldn\u2019t imagine the village without it. Margaret and David’s son, Martin, followed in his parents’ entrepreneurial footsteps.<\/a><\/p>\n Margaret told WalesOnline: \u201cOur shop is lovely and our customers are going to be devastated because of the comments we get every day.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of their favourite comments is: \u2018You\u2019ll never close will you!\u2019 And another is: \u2018I don\u2019t know what Ystrad would do if your shop closed down.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n 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)<\/p>\n The couple explained how the idea of running their own shop was a big dream of David\u2019s, who previously worked as a sales representative. Stay informed on Caerphilly news by signing up to our newsletter here<\/a><\/p>\n David said: \u201cWhen I was a rep I had a customer who used to sell stacks and stacks of cards – I couldn\u2019t believe it, and it\u2019s only a little village.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019t become a reality until the couple were in their 40s. Margaret said she was very supportive of her husband\u2019s vision – albeit she felt a bit intimidated by taking that next step.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cWe 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\u2019t work then, or very few did.<\/p>\n \u201cMany stayed at home to look after the children and the men went to work and that\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The Card Shop has stood proudly on the high street in Ystrad Mynach for three decades(Image: Richard Swingler)<\/p>\n Margaret said once they got the tiny shop up and running they just sold cards because there was \u201cno room for anything else\u201d. 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThey used to call it \u2018like Aladdin’s cave\u2019, because it was narrow, but people loved it,\u201d she said. \u201cThere 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 \u2018go\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThree years later again we were doing really well,\u201d she said. \u201cWe 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had the whole lot then; it became one shop – and that\u2019s what we have now. We\u2019ve had that for the last 24 years. I suppose I just think now we\u2019ve got to have some retirement time.\u201d<\/p>\n 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)<\/p>\n The couple said they had been speaking about the business\u2019 future for the last few months, with it finally going up for sale officially on Thursday.<\/p>\n The business won’t close in the short-term future and there’ll be no major changes until a new owner is found. \u201cWe have no intention of closing down, none whatsoever,” Margaret said.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_RJS_210326_cardshop10JPG.jpg\")
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