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83-979: American Greetings Corporation is a privately held American company and is the world's second largest greeting card producer behind Hallmark Cards . Based in Westlake, Ohio , a suburb of Cleveland , the company sells paper greeting cards, electronic greeting cards, gift packaging, stickers and party products. In addition, the company owns the Carlton Cards , Tender Thoughts, Papyrus, Recycled Paper Greetings and Gibson brands. American Greetings' former toy design and licensing division, initially called Those Characters From Cleveland , subsequently renamed AG Properties and American Greetings Entertainment and now separately owned as Cloudco Entertainment . American Greetings also holds an exclusive license for Nickelodeon characters. Sapirstein Greeting Card Co.

166-674: A strawberry print on it. Rex Conners, American Greetings' staff art director, knew this card was very popular and determined that this was due to the strawberry motif. He requested Sargent to create four cards with a "strawberryish" outfit for the Mega Test Market . Sargent completed the assignment in early July 1977, sending American Greetings four full-color leader cards depicting the Strawberry Shortcake character in full color ("Leader cards" are used by American Greetings for consumer test purposes). These tests marked

249-564: A Canadian subsidiary. Also that year, the Hi Brows humor studio card line was launched. In July 1957, the company moved its headquarters to One American Road, Brooklyn, Ohio. In 1958, American Greetings went public. Jacob Sapirstein became chairman of the board while Irving assumed the company's president post in 1960. In Forest City, North Carolina, the company built a cabinet manufacturing plant in 1960. A Mexican subsidiary in Mexico City

332-595: A few thousand units in mass-merchandise outlets in the US. By early 1994, 7,000 were installed. The kiosks generated modest profits off healthy revenue. With the Touch Screen Greetings and the Personalize It! method, Hallmark in 1992 sued AG over patent infringement with a 1995 settlement that allow both to use the technology worldwide. By 1995, the kiosks were being left behind by personal computers and

415-505: A fruit or dessert-named pet. Like the Strawberry Shortcake doll, all the other characters' dolls had hair scented to match their theme. The characters lived and played in a magical world known as Strawberryland. The Strawberry Shortcake Bicycle was introduced in 1983; production ended in 1990. Over the bike's seven-year model run, it is estimated over 1 million of the Strawberry Shortcake Bicycles were sold, making

498-463: A growing taste for handmade cards made it economically possible for smaller niche companies to set up in competition with the large established brands. Innovative companies such as Nobleworks and Meri Meri grew from their foundation in the 1980s to becoming significant influencers in the industry. A thriving market was established for what were now called "alternative" greeting cards. The name stuck even though these "alternative" cards grew to embrace

581-631: A hand written greeting.   The custom of sending greeting cards can be traced back to the ancient Chinese who exchanged messages of good will to celebrate the New Year , and to the early Egyptians , who conveyed their greetings on papyrus scrolls. By the early 15th century, handmade paper greeting cards were being exchanged in Europe. The Germans are known to have printed New Year's greetings from woodcuts as early as 1400, and handmade paper Valentines were being exchanged in various parts of Europe in

664-588: A holiday card that he could send to his friends and acquaintances. In the 1860s, inventor Hugh Pierce Jr., inspired by the Christmas card, invented the Birthday card . Companies like Marcus Ward & Co , Charles Goodall & Son , and Charles Bennett began the mass production of greeting cards. They employed well-known artists such as Kate Greenaway and Walter Crane as illustrators and card designers. The extensive Laura Seddon Greeting Card Collection from

747-597: A khaki fabric card appeared in 1899 during the first Christmas of the Boer War and was issued by a business in Glasgow. In New Zealand, it was not uncommon to receive a khaki greeting card, even the premier, RJ Seddon is said to have received one. An example of a fabric card is held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum , and is a small square of fabric with a heavy fringe created by threads with

830-579: A lower loss than in the prior year. In 2003, Morry Weiss's sons, Zev and Jeffrey, became CEO and President respectively; Morry Weiss remained Chairman. American Greetings had also branched out onto the internet and owned a network of websites. In October 2007, American Greetings bought Webshots from CNET for $ 45 million in cash. In July 2004, American Greetings sold MagniVision to an affiliate of Foster Grant sunglasses manufacturer. In October 2005, American Greetings recalled its Sesame Street toy sunglasses sold from December 2003 through August 2005, because

913-862: A major toy licensing deal with Bandai . Merchandising would initially focus on the classic designs, which would be released in the second half of 2002, while merchandise featuring the new look would be released in 2003 to coincide with the specials. The relaunch focused on a main core cast of characters - Strawberry Shortcake, Custard the Cat, Pupcake the Dog, Angel Cake, Orange Blossom, Huckleberry Pie, Apple Dumplin' and new character Ginger Snap. The existing characters were redesigned to look more like actual humans than toys. Custard and Pupcake also had major redesigns to look more like actual pets, of which Pupcake now belongs to Strawberry Shortcake. Apple Dumplin' would also become Strawberry Shortcake's sister. Additionally, Strawberryland

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996-511: A mascot for a line of fruit-flavored candy before officially evolving into the beloved character today. The line was later expanded to include dolls , posters , and other products featuring the character, as well as an extended cast of friends and pets. In addition, the franchise has spawned television specials, animated television series and films. The franchise is currently owned by the Canadian children's television company WildBrain through

1079-444: A net income increase of 613 percent over ten years, Hallmark still maintained its market share. Gibson Greetings started a price war in 1986 and ended in 1987 which had the three major greeting card companies taking a loss. With a drop in licensing revenue, American took until 1989 to recover. Those Characters From Cleveland was started up by Tom Wilson on behalf of American Greetings in 1980. The first property out of Those Characters

1162-511: A new facility at Crocker Park within the nearby city of Westlake , but in 2013, the company delayed to move its operations to Westlake. Construction had been scheduled to start in early 2013. In 2014, American Greetings sold its Brooklyn, Ohio headquarters to developers and began renting its current offices from the new owners until the move to Westlake. American Greetings opened their new Westlake headquarters in September 2016. The company leases

1245-468: A newspaper cartoon strip generating additional income. By 1977, Holly Hobbie became one of the top female licensed character in the world. Morry Weiss, Irving's son-in-law, and Irving Stone in 1978 were appointed president and chairman & CEO, respectively. Also that year, the corporation set up two new subsidiaries Plus Mark, Inc. and A.G. Industries, Inc. Plus Mark was formed to manufacture Christmas gift wrap, boxed cards, and accessories. A.G. Industries

1328-502: A profit, was announced in June 1999 to be taken public, but was withdrew due to the early 2000 tech stock collapse. In March 1999, Hallmark started a price war with the introduction of a 99-cent card line forcing American to do the same. In 1999, the implementation of a new inventory system slowed shipments to retailers, but this reduced sales by $ 100 million, a 1.5% decrease, ending a 93rd consecutive year of increasing revenue. Fruchtenbaum

1411-491: A relatively expensive, handmade and hand-delivered gift to a popular and affordable means of personal communication, due largely to advances in printing, mechanization, and a reduction in postal rates with the introduction of the postage stamp . This was followed by new trends like Christmas cards , the first of which appeared in published form in London in 1843 when Sir Henry Cole hired artist John Calcott Horsley to design

1494-526: A single DVD by Allumination FilmWorks in March 2007; this was later re-released on February 10, 2015, by Paramount Home Media Distribution . In 1991, THQ relaunched the franchise by producing an updated line of Strawberry Shortcake dolls. Strawberry and five of her classic friends each got a makeover with new clothes, hair, and eyes, but the line saw only modest success and lasted just a year. American Greetings' VP of licensing, Michael Brown, said in 2002 that

1577-666: A total cost of more than US$ 7 billion. A counter card in the U.S. typically sells for $ 2 to $ 4. Boxed cards, which are a popular option for Christmas cards or other times when multiple cards are sent, tend to cost less. The Greeting Card Association is a U.S. trade organization representing the interests of greeting card and stationery manufacturers. John Beeder, former president of the Greeting Card Association, says greeting cards are effective tools to communicate important feelings to people you care about: "Anyone feels great when they receive an unexpected card in

1660-599: A vast range of styles and ultimately changed the look of the industry. The largest recorded number of greeting cards sent to a single person went to Craig Shergold , a beneficiary/victim of chain letters and later chain emails. In the United Kingdom , an estimated one billion pounds are spent on greeting cards every year, with the average person sending 55 cards annually. In the United States, approximately 6.5 billion greeting cards are bought each year, at

1743-578: A video game by Parker Brothers entitled Strawberry Shortcake Musical Match-Ups for the Atari 2600 , and Bike's Big Wheels. The first animated television special featuring Strawberry Shortcake and related characters - The World of Strawberry Shortcake , aired on syndicated television stations in the United States on March 28, 1980. After the success of the special, a second special - Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City (April 10, 1981 )

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1826-492: The Manchester Metropolitan University gathers 32,000 Victorian and Edwardian greeting cards and 450 Valentine's Day cards dating from the early nineteenth century, printed by the major publishers of the day. Technical developments like color lithography in 1930 propelled the manufactured greeting card industry forward. Humorous greeting cards, known as studio cards , became popular in

1909-706: The 1980s series, with Ball drawing inspiration from girls with "doubts and challenges but their friends back them up and support them". In May 2018, DHX Media and its subsidiary, WildBrain , debuted a new 2D animated series of Strawberry Shortcake on YouTube and YouTube TV produced by WildBrain Studios . The series features the return of Raisin Cane and the Purple Pieman to the series. The cast for that series features Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld as Strawberry Shortcake, Amanda Barker as Orange Blossom, Dylan Jones as

1992-493: The Berrykins (March 29, 1985 ). With the production moving over to Canada, most of the voice cast was replaced with Canadian talent, with the exception of Russi Taylor and Bob Ridgely who reprised their roles from the first three specials. Frequent Nelvana collaborator John Sebastian , most known for his music for Nelvana's Care Bears series, wrote the songs for two of these three specials. The specials were released on

2075-571: The Father of the American Christmas Card. A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard , typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope . Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. In some places, one can send a postcard for a lower fee than a letter . Stamp collectors distinguish between postcards (which require a postage stamp ) and postal cards (which have

2158-589: The Forget-Me-Not brand was launched in 1993. In July 1997, American Greetings launched its "The All New American Way" marketing strategy that consisted of massive revamping of its everyday card lines over the next year and a half to meet nine American cultural trends. In the 1990s, American Greetings pushed more into international markets. Acquisition occurred in 1995 with a purchase of 80% share of S.A. Greetings Corporation in South Africa and in 1996 with

2241-514: The Forget-Me-Not card line. Irving and his brothers changed their last name to Stone in the 1940s. American Greeting Publishers was incorporated in 1944. John Sands Pty. Ltd. of Sydney, Australia and the company signed a licensing agreement, the firm's first, in 1949. The company changed its name to American Greetings Corporation as the company went public in 1952, issuing 200,000 shares. The funds raised were earmarked for acquisitions and expansion. In 1956, American Greetings formed Carlton Cards, Ltd.,

2324-618: The Purple Pieman, Kaylin Lee Clinton as Raisin Cane, and Laurie Hymes as Sour Grapes. In 2016, Iconix Brand Group and DHX Media (now WildBrain) began to develop a new animated series. The series was scheduled for three seasons, totaling 39 episodes, although no cast, crew, or release date were revealed at the time, and would have used 3D computer animation similar to the 2009 series. In 2017, DHX Media acquired Iconix's entertainment brands, including Strawberry Shortcake, for $ 345 million. This meant that DHX fully took over production of

2407-634: The THQ relaunch failed due to being around at the wrong time, with the audience who enjoyed the franchise in the 1980s only reaching their teenage years. In 2001, American Greetings appointed DIC Entertainment as the exclusive licensing agent for the franchise. In March 2002, DIC and American Greetings officially revealed their plans to relaunch the franchise for a new generation with a series of four specials released direct-to-video through 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment beginning in 2003 and later air on television, alongside various merchandise deals including

2490-697: The TV series and DVDs, as well as one for the film. A CD was also released along with a piano book. The first Strawberry Shortcake video game was produced in 1983 for the Atari 2600. No further games based upon the franchise were produced until 20 years later, in 2003, with Strawberry Shortcake: Amazing Cookie Party for PC. Since then, games have been published for the Game Boy Advance , Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS , PC, and Mac. A standalone plug-and-play game based on Konami's Dance Dance Revolution franchise

2573-675: The US, in March 1996, which was rejected. In 1999, the company agreed to buy rival Gibson Greetings and united the second and third largest U.S. greeting card makers. Through the Gibson purchase, American gained its strong UK unit and a 27% stake in Egreetings Network Inc. In 1998, the company shares moved from trading on the NASDAQ to the New York Stock Exchange . AmericanGreetings.com, Inc., while not turning

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2656-453: The bike one of the most popular children's character themed bikes ever produced. Several TV specials were made featuring the characters, one each year between 1980 and 1985, by which time the characters' popularity had diminished. Kenner produced no new dolls or toys thereafter. In May 1983, following a court case, copyrights to Strawberry Shortcake were granted to Barbi Sargent from American Greetings Corporation. Later on, Sargent returned

2739-838: The building from the Wiess family until August 2031. American Greetings forced Clinton Cards PLC in May 2012 into administration. In June, American Greetings acquired assets from Clinton Cards together with some of its subsidiaries including UK Greetings. UK Greetings' card brands at the time were Camden Graphics, Hanson White, Forget Me Not and Xpressions. Clinton operated stores under the Clinton and Birthdays brands. American Greetings brought in Dominique Schurman, CEO of Schurman Retail Group, to lead Clinton. American Greetings went private once again in mid-2013, thus removing itself from all

2822-515: The comic, but instead American McGee and McFarlane Toys , who collaborated to create a toy line based on a twisted version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz . Various animated television shows, including Futurama (" Saturday Morning Fun Pit "), Drawn Together , Robot Chicken , The Fairly OddParents (" Channel Chasers "), and South Park (" Imaginationland Episode II ") have since also parodied or satirized Strawberry Shortcake in various ways. In 2008, Cookie Jar Entertainment began

2905-625: The company closed its DesignWare plant in Kalamazoo as the company moved to Amscan for manufacturing their party goods. American Greetings received $ 25 million and a warrant for 2 percent of common stock in AAH Holdings , Amscan's parent corporation, while Amscan received inventory, equipment and processes. In Mexico, the company moved strategically to a third party distributor model and closed its warehouse there. In 2010, American Greetings planned to move its headquarters from Brooklyn, Ohio to

2988-456: The company purchased Blue Mountain Arts (BlueMountain.com) from Excite@Home with Excite to buy ads on American Greeting websites and Blue Mountain would continue providing ecards for Excite. The company thus had four online greeting cards website including BeatGreets.com, a musical greetings website. While the online operations expected to become profitable by the fourth quarter 2002, the division had

3071-509: The copyrights to American Greetings so that they could continue with the success of the Strawberry Shortcake franchise. American Greetings manufactured Strawberry Shortcake Christmas ornaments, which are included in the Clara Johnson Scroggins collection, one of the world's largest ornaments collections. In 1979, toy manufacturer Kenner Products licensed the character and released the first Strawberry Shortcake doll. At

3154-555: The development of software to aid the sales force, to managers and their retailers in order to track inventories and trends. The following year, Weiss and Fruchtenbaum were promoted again to chairman/CEO and president/chief operating officer, respectively, with Irving Stone becoming founder-chairman. Custom Expressions, Inc., the CreataCard producer, was acquired in 1992, The CreataCard units had 1,000 card options and printed cards in under four minutes for $ 3.50 each. The company placed

3237-546: The early to mid-15th century, with the oldest Valentine in existence being in the British Museum . The card was written to Bonne of Armagnac by her husband, Charles Duke of Orleans , who was imprisoned in the Tower of London at the time. Not surprisingly, its message is rather downbeat. Its opening reads: ‘I am already sick of love / my very gentle Valentine.’ By the 1850s, the greeting card had been transformed from

3320-469: The first season, before expanding to television and streaming. Two additional seasons have also been produced. The central cast of this adaptation features Strawberry Shortcake, Custard, Orange Blossom, Lemon Meringue, Blueberry Muffin, and returning character Lime Chiffon. Raspberry Torte, who is renamed back to Raspberry Tart, is featured as Strawberry's arch-rival and is accompanied by Sour Grapes and new character Bread Pudding. The Purple Pieman stars as

3403-540: The first time that the public saw Strawberry Shortcake in her new design, which received a positive reception. In the late 1970s, further Strawberry Shortcake concept art was drawn by Muriel Fahrion , an illustrator working in American Greetings ' Juvenile & Humorous card department. Fahrion then designed a subsequent 32 characters for Those Characters From Cleveland (American Greetings' toy and licensing design division). Later characters that were added to

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3486-755: The franchise's 25th anniversary, DIC revealed plans to produce three additional direct-to-video specials for release in 2006. DIC produced a feature-length computer-animated film based on the franchise entitled Strawberry Shortcake: The Sweet Dreams , which saw a limited theatrical release in 2006 before being released on DVD in 2007. An Argentine live-action TV series of the franchise was shown on El Nueve in 2005, with Laura Anders as Strawberry Shortcake, Camila Offermann as Angel Cake, Luz Luccarini as Ginger Snap and Alan Ferraro as Huckleberry Pie, produced and directed by Paula Venditti and Jonathan Hofman, with 36 episodes. Starting in January 2006, Playmates Toys became

3569-428: The franchise's master toy partner along with DIC Entertainment. Alongside that, a Baby range was also introduced. Playmates' toy range was entitled "A World of Friends" and introduced several "international" characters to the recurring cast who would also appear in the series. Playmates also introduced new fillies, but the removal has not spread beyond the scope of the toy line. In October 2006, The Sweet Dreams Movie

3652-438: The holding company Shortcake IP Holdings LLC. The character of Strawberry Shortcake was originally created by Barbi Sargent, who was then working as a freelance artist for American Greetings . The character first appeared on a Laurel Valentine's Day Greeting card in 1972–1973. At the time, the character was simply called Girl with a Daisy or Strawberry Girl and was depicted holding a daisy while wearing an orange bonnet with

3735-466: The internet. The units were partially written off. American had also made deals with online services, Prodigy, CompuServe, and Microsoft Network in early 1996. Their website was redesigned to allow the cards to be designed on the website then mailed from its Cleveland fulfillment center in 1997. Two CD-ROM products, Personal CardShop for Home and Office and CreataCard Plus, were published. Both allowed for personalization. CardShop had 150 card choices and used

3818-511: The late 1940s and 1950s. In the 1970s, Recycled Paper Greetings , a small company needing to establish a competing identity against the large companies like Hallmark Cards , began publishing humorous, whimsical card designs with the artist's name credited on the back. This was away from what was known as the standard look (sometimes called the Hallmark look.) During the 1980s, reduced costs of small batch printing and die cutting together with

3901-553: The lenses can separate from the frames, posing a choking hazard to young children. American Greetings purchased Recycled Paper Greetings in February 2009. Two months later, in two cash deals with Schurman Fine Papers on April 17, the company sold its remaining 341 stores to them, and in the second deal bought Schurman's wholesale division, Papyrus brand cards and paper products, and a 15% equity stake in Schurman. In April 2010,

3984-425: The line were designed by Cindy Mayer Patton and Janet Jones. Artwork for the series was done by a number of different freelancers, though the majority was painted by artist Frances Kariotakis. Lynn Edwards served as the editor of the line, helping to develop the characters and storyline. The Strawberry Shortcake line of characters each had their own fruit or dessert-themed name with clothing to match, and they each had

4067-439: The mail. For me, there’s nothing like a greeting card to send a special message. I’m proud to be a part of an industry that not only keeps people connected, but uses both imagery and the power of words to help us express our emotions.” Since 1988, the Greeting Card Association has held an annual award ceremony for the best greetings cards published that year. The awards are called Louies in recognition of Louis Prang , described as

4150-517: The main antagonist. A series of four holiday-themed CGI specials were also produced. The first special Strawberry Shortcake and the Beast of Berry Bog , premiered in Canada on Family Jr. on September 22, 2023, and premiered globally on Netflix on October 2. WildBrain pre-sold the four specials internationally to a selection of broadcasters, while NCircle Entertainment handles home media distribution of

4233-457: The market. Sapirstein Greeting began in 1932 making its own greeting cards. In 1934, the company began hiring sales representatives. Harry, the youngest son, joined the business in 1935. In 1936, the company opened its first branch office and the first major manufacturing facility. Sapirstein Greeting Card Co. was renamed in 1938 to American Greetings Publishers. In 1939, the firm first issued

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4316-410: The modem to order them to be printed and mailed by their fulfillment center. CreataCard had 3,000 predesigned greeting cards, invitations, stationery, and announcements, and three methods of fulfillment: print on home printer, by e-mail or via the company's center. In the mid-1990s, American Greetings expanded its operations with acquisitions or starting up of new lines of business, and starting in 1996,

4399-597: The music and songs for these specials. Russi Taylor voiced Strawberry Shortcake, Bob Ridgely voiced the Peculiar Purple Pieman, and writer/producer Romeo Muller voiced the narrator, Mr. Sun. Following these specials came three additional specials produced in Canada by Nelvana - Strawberry Shortcake: Housewarming Surprise (March 31, 1983 ), Strawberry Shortcake and the Baby Without a Name (March 24, 1984 ) and Strawberry Shortcake Meets

4482-633: The name GuildHouse. A supplemental educational products subsidiary, Learning Horizons, Inc., was set up in March 1997, but in August American Greetings sold two subsidiaries, Acme Frame Products, Inc. and Wilhold Inc., producer of hair accessory products, to Newell Company . Contempo Colours, a party goods company in Michigan with licenses included Monopoly and Sesame Street , was bought in August 1999 to add to DesignWare. In Canada,

4565-509: The offered greeting cards to 10,000 from 15,000. The firm also shifted to recognizing sales at the retailer's register, not when it was stocked on the retailer's shelves in order to better control inventory. This cost them $ 300 million, and was highly unprofitable in the 2001 and 2002 fiscal years. In its online sector in 2001, American Greeting purchased the Egreetings Network shares that Gibson did not already own. In January 2002,

4648-426: The parody and issued a cease-and-desist letter, to which the authors begrudgingly complied (but not without making their indignation very clear). A follow-up strip cites bad timing as a contributing factor to the situation; according to the strip, Holkins and Krahulik were not aware that American Greetings was about to relaunch the Strawberry Shortcake line at that time. Some argue that Penny Arcade ' s case

4731-525: The planned revival. It was finalized on June 30. This respective reboot was soon revealed to have been an early concept of the current series - Berry in the Big City . In 2021, WildBrain began the preparations to relaunch the franchise with a new look and redesign for the characters. A 2D-animated web series from WildBrain Studios titled Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City , began airing on YouTube on September 18, 2021, with 40 episodes for

4814-426: The postage pre-printed on them). While a postcard is usually printed and sold by a private company, individual or organization, a postal card is issued by the relevant postal authority (often with pre-printed postage). Strawberry Shortcake Strawberry Shortcake is a cartoon character used in greeting cards published by American Greetings . Strawberry Shortcake's character was originally conceived as

4897-432: The process to merge with DiC Entertainment , who held the rights to the Strawberry Shortcake animated series. The merger was completed on July 23. On the same day as the finalization of the merger, Cookie Jar Entertainment announced further intentions to acquire the Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears franchises from American Greetings itself. The deal was expected to finalize on September 30, but up until April 2009, there

4980-483: The promotion of sideline product categories to semi-autonomous units. A reading glasses manufacturer, Magnivision, was purchased in 1993. In 1996, the party goods line was relaunched under the DesignWare name. The same year, American Greetings entered discussions with BEC Group Inc. to acquire Foster Grant Group , a sunglasses manufacturer, but declined to pursue the purchase. A candle line was relaunched in 1997 under

5063-527: The public markets, agreeing to pay $ 18.20 per share, valuing the company at $ 878 million. The Weiss family-owned Century Intermediate Holding Co. purchased the public shares. In 2018, the Weiss family sold a 60% majority stake of the company to the investment firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R). The Weiss Family would continue to operate as directors and shareholders of American Greetings as well as retain ownership of American Greetings Entertainment, which

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5146-484: The purchase of John Sands , the top greeting card company in both Australia and New Zealand. In 1998, Camden Graphics Group and Hanson White Ltd. were purchased to add to its UK operations, while in 1999, a majority stake in Memory Lane Sdn Bhd , a Malaysian greeting card company, brought American to Asia for the first time. American Greetings made a bid for Gibson Greetings , the third top card maker in

5229-646: The retiring CEO Beeder was replaced by Joe Arcuri. In January 2020, partially owned Schurman Retail Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy , resulting in the closing of all of its stores, including American Greetings locations. Acquired in 1999, Gibson was founded by brothers George, Robert, Samuel and Stephen in 1855 as Gibson & Company, Lithographers in Cincinnati . It eventually began making greeting cards in 1860s and 1870s, sold to brother George as Gibson Arts in 1883 and Gibson Greeting Cards Inc. in 1960. After being under RCA Corporation and other owners it

5312-616: The return of Apple Dumplin'. In 2014, The Bridge Direct became the new master toy partner for the franchise. The product shown appeared to retain the designs of the 2009 Strawberry Shortcake relaunch and included several series of dolls featuring pets, doll furniture, and musical instruments. In February 2015, Iconix Brand Group acquired the rights to Strawberry Shortcake from American Greetings for $ 105 million. In 2016, IDW Publishing began releasing an ongoing Strawberry Shortcake comic series written by Georgia Ball, with art by Amy Mebberson. Both Ball and Mebberson identified as fans of

5395-629: The rights to produce the new line of Strawberry Shortcake toys. The extensive relaunch involved numerous large redesigns and a reboot of the franchise's universe. The relaunch began in the Summer of 2009, with the release of a CGI film, The Strawberry Shortcake Movie: Sky's the Limit , with Anna Cummer voicing Strawberry Shortcake. A TV series, Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures , debuted in October 2010, on The Hub . The characters of

5478-407: The series and the specials in the United States. In October 2024, WildBrain announced the production of The Care Berry Switch , a forty-four minute special that crosses over with Cloudco Entertainment 's Care Bears franchise. Kid Stuff Records released albums based on Strawberry Shortcake in the early 1980s. After the 2003 revival, Koch Records issued soundtrack CDs containing music from

5561-490: The show are reduced to an initial lineup of six main characters: Strawberry Shortcake, Lemon Meringue, Orange Blossom, Raspberry Torte, Plum Pudding, and Blueberry Muffin. Cherry Jam, a new character made for the series, is introduced in the second season. Huckleberry Pie was reintroduced in the third season as a recurring character, while Sweet and Sour Grapes (no relation to the villainess character) debuted in Series 4, alongside

5644-478: The time, Strawberry Shortcake resembled a typical rag doll , complete with freckles , a mop of red yarn curls, and a bonnet with strawberry print. To reflect this, the first toy was constructed to be a rag doll , designed by Muriel Fahrion and made by Susan Trentel, Fahrion's sister. During the 1980s, Strawberry Shortcake became popular with children throughout the United States. At the time, there were many related products, such as sticker albums, clothing, bedding,

5727-580: The two largest producers of greeting cards in the world today. In Western countries and increasingly in other societies, many people traditionally mail seasonally themed cards to their friends and relatives in December. Many service businesses also send cards to their customers in this season, usually with a universally acceptable non-religious message such as "happy holidays" or "season's greetings." Counter cards : Greeting cards that are sold individually. This contrasts with boxed cards . The concept of

5810-597: Was Strawberry Shortcake , which generated in 1981 $ 500 million in retail sales, followed by the Care Bears with $ 2 billion in sales over its first two years. AG came back with a doubled net income by 1991 with 10 percent growth in sales to Hallmark's 1 percent. Weiss was promoted to CEO while Ed Fruchtenbaum was elevated as the fourth and first non-family president. Weiss had streamlined operations, cut costs, and decreased its card idea development time frame to market. Fruchtenbaum stressed information systems technology with

5893-442: Was a display fixture manufacturer. American Greeting had seen itself as a mass-marketer and was serving pharmacies, variety stores, discount stores, and supermarkets with low cost cards. Meanwhile, Hallmark Cards ignored the mass market outlets until 1959 with issuance of its Ambassador card line. The company then used its licensing revenue on national advertising and other efforts to gain market share from 1981 to 1985. While they had

5976-400: Was also produced. In addition, mobile apps for the iOS and Android platforms have been released. In 2003, the webcomic Penny Arcade posted an "advertisement" for a fictional computer game, American McGee's Strawberry Shortcake —a parody of the actual computer game American McGee's Alice , a twisted and violent take on Lewis Carroll 's works. American Greetings took offense to

6059-417: Was divided into "districts", such as Cakewalk, Orange Blossom Acres, Huckleberry Briar and Cookie Corners. The relaunch also introduced fillies to the series, with Honey Pie Pony being the main filly, and the only one who could talk and have a pet of her own. For the second year of the relaunch, the characters each gained their own fillies and pets; several additional characters were added. To coincide with

6142-544: Was founded in 1906 by Polish immigrant Jacob Sapirstein (1885–1987), who sold cards to stores from a horse -drawn cart, American Greetings has been run by members of the family since its inception. Irving Sapirstein , Jacob's oldest son, became Jacob's first partner in 1918 at age nine. Irving's brother Morris started working at the card company in 1926. Morris and Irving in 1928 got a post card contract worth $ 24,000. The company started using self-serve display cabinets for its greeting cards in 1929 further cementing its position in

6225-417: Was no further word on the status of the acquisition. Cookie Jar delayed the acquisition that December due to difficulty in financing it. It was also revealed that Cookie Jar offered (US) $ 195 million for the franchise. Due to the situation, American Greetings put the franchise back on sale. French company MoonScoop expressed interest and offered (US) $ 95 million for the franchise, $ 100 million less than what

6308-443: Was not covered under the fair use doctrine because the use of the characters, in this case, was for satire; they claim that fair use only protects the unauthorized use of copyrighted characters in parodies of the original material, and that satire and parody are totally different concepts. Others, however, take the view that parody and satire are equally protected by law. Penny Arcade did not intend to offend American Greetings in

6391-453: Was offered by Cookie Jar. Cookie Jar competed against MoonScoop's bid, having until the end of April 2009 to counter the offer. This led to various lawsuits between Cookie Jar, American Greetings, and MoonScoop. American Greetings emerged as the victor of the case and retained ownership of the brands. Iconix Group later bought the Strawberry Shortcake brand from American Greetings in February 2015 for (US) $ 105 million, $ 10 million more than what

6474-643: Was produced, of which both were syndicated through the Lexington Broadcast Services Company . A third special Strawberry Shortcake: Pets on Parade (April 9, 1982 ) was later produced. The specials were written and produced by Robert L. Rosen and Romeo Muller , with animation provided by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson and Toei Doga , while the second was animated by Perpetual Motion Pictures in New York. Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman , of The Turtles and Flo & Eddie fame, wrote

6557-516: Was released in select cities by Kidtoon Films. The series villains, the Purple Pieman and Sour Grapes, who were notably absent from the 2003 TV series, are re-introduced in the film, but Sour Grapes is re-introduced as Purple Pieman's sister in materials related to the Sweet Dreams Movie . It was released via DVD on February 6, 2007, and has also been aired on networks and released on DVD and VideoCDs worldwide. In 2008, Hasbro acquired

6640-425: Was set up in 1969. In 1971, a retail subsidiary was formed called Summit Corporation, later called Carlton Cards Retail, Inc. Holly Hobbie premiered in 1967 as a line of greeting cards by American Greetings. The character's public appeal lead to the formation of Those Characters From Cleveland Inc. Sale the next year topped $ 100 million. In 1972, the company introduced Ziggy, created by Tom Wilson , which soon had

6723-543: Was sold to American Greetings. American Greetings operates with four divisions: Greeting card Greeting cards are usually packaged using an envelope and come in a variety of styles. There are both mass-produced and handmade versions available and they may be distributed by hundreds of companies large and small. While typically inexpensive, more elaborate cards with die-cuts , pop-ups, sound elements or glued-on decorations may be more expensive. Hallmark Cards and American Greetings , both U.S.-based companies, are

6806-614: Was spun off as Cloudco Entertainment . UK Greetings continued with American Greetings under CD&R while the Clintons retail chain in the UK remained with the Weiss family. On closing of the deal, David Scheible was named Chairman in place of Morry Weiss and President John Beeder was promoted to CEO (the former chairman and co-CEOs remaining on the board). In January 2019, the Weiss family placed AG's headquarters up for sale. Scheible had been replaced by John Compton as chairman. On March 1, 2019,

6889-528: Was terminated in June 2000 for insider trading policy violation after the board learned that he purchased stock via options, then sold them in December 1998 before the announcement of the new inventory system implementation's expected loss. Board member James C. Spira was then appointed vice-chairman. In November 2000, Spira was appointed to oversee a massive overhaul. The company cut 1,500 jobs, closed six manufacturing and distribution centers, discontinued Forget-Me-Not, one of its four main U.S. card brands, and cut

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