A gift shop near Swindon has been rated the best in the region for buying greetings cards.

Highworth Emporium has been named the best independent place to pick one up in the 2024 Retas Awards, the awards for greeting card retailers.

The store already has a clutch of other prizes from its eight years in business but owner Aga Marsden is delighted with this latest recognition.

She said: “I am still buzzing. Because it's a greeting card industry award, all the publishers are sending cards, so we have so many cards in the shop with comments and lovely messages.”

The Emporium sells cards for nearly every occasion including “very, very niche things”.

(Image: The Retas Awards)

Aga said: “We have a card for ‘Happy Divorce’, loss of your pet. Very niche, but important for people."

Aga is from Poland, where she says greeting cards “died a long time ago” with people instead sending a text or email.

“It is so cold, not personal at all," she said.

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“However nice a message you put in an email, it will never be a physical thing that you can touch and put on your mantle piece or cabinet and smile every time you look at.

“Nothing is as beautiful as a greeting card.”

The shop was recently worried by a rise in stamp prices making posting cards less attractive, but Aga is still positive about the future of cards.

She said: “We love cards and know about the mental benefits of sending cards. Being recognised for doing well in the field is great.”

The UK public spent £1.5 billion on greeting cards last year.

(Image: The Retas Awards)

Aga explains that many people hand over cards in person, avoiding stamp costs, and they plan to stock Swindon Scout Post stamps at Christmas.

The shop has already won three gift awards including The Greats Gift Retailer Award’s Best Newcomer for the South and Wales in 2019.

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She thanked her customers for growing her reputation by recommending the shop and Aga has now been asked to be a judge for another greeting card prize.

Aga attended a Beatrix Potter-themed ceremony in London on July 4 to collect her award at The Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair.

“It is a very pretty award," said Aga, who is keeping it in the shop along with her other accolades.

She is going to celebrate with a meal out with her staff.