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I

`bIRECTORY

in our Classified Section

RACHEL NEIMAN
Special to The Jewish News

T

6644 Orchard Lake Rd at Maple
West Bloomfield
Mon-Thor 10-9
Tue-Wed-Fri-Sat 10-6
Sun 1 2-5
248 855-1600

This keeKs

A 60-year-old giant in
the local greeting-card
market strives to stay on
top amid stiff
competition front home
and abroad.

heir name is on the back of
almost every postcard you
buy, or receive from Israel.
For most of its 60-year
existence, Palphot had almost no com-
petition. Over the years, small compa-
nies have nibbled away at certain
Palphot niches — Turnowsky, for
instance, made a big splash in the
1980s with high-quality, gold-
embossed Judaica motifs -- but in the
end, it always swung back with its
own offerings.
And what the products lacked in
quality, was made up for in low prices.
But the scenario is changing.
Relaxed import restrictions mean
Palphot is already facing stiffer compe-
tition from foreign companies. Other
Israeli manufacturers like Dora and
Chanan Mazal, as well as Turnowsky,
are also making in-roads. And No. 1
U.S. card company, Hallmark, which
recently licensed Israeli representative
Confetti to produce its cards in
Hebrew, is the latest player. Confetti
has been the exclusive Hallmark
importer to Israel since 1982, but the
license to market in Hebrew is some-
thing new
Three years ago, Hallmark devel-
oped a licensing program for these
emerging markets. The company is
now digitizing its archives and catalogs
so that its 25 foreign licensees, includ-
ing China, Croatia, Slovakia, Ukraine,
Russia and Israel, can get the same
digital artwork, add in their own con-
tent, decide on a price and send it
back to headquarters for approval —
all on-line.
One common reaction among
Israeli youth seeing Ziggy or Peanuts
in Hebrew for the first time: "I'm
used to these things in English." Is
Hebrew content important? Hostyk
says yes. "While English is under-
stood, its not the language of com-
munication, and greeting cards are
about expression."
Rachel Neiman is a writer for the
Jerusalem Post.