Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Valentine’s Day is more than just a Hallmark holiday

I made a quick stop over at the new Hallmark Gold Crown Store earlier this week at Lake Mead Crossing. While I love to make my own greeting cards, I wanted to see if there was anything clever or funny to give to my husband. And while I did buy a card, I actually spent more time and energy observing the other people in the store, as well as the clerks.

Anyone who has ever read, heard, or touted that “Valentine’s Day is just a ploy of the card companies to make money…” will have those beliefs confirmed upon stepping into Hallmark. Large pink and red displays of cards, candy, and stuffed animals bombard you at the door. Um, excuse me, but what gives the right to a store to charge $10 for a stuffed dog that would normally cost $5? Oh, I know, it’s the red ribbon tied around his neck. Consumers, however, are not always keen to these marketing strategies if their mind is set on pleasing someone on Valentine’s Day.

I give props to the staff working the new Hallmark, though. They were definitely on top of their game. I watched one clerk help an older man into buying not only a Valentine’s Day card, but also a ceramic knick-knack, a gift bag, and tissue paper. I wanted to pull him aside and tell him that I have scores of bags and tissue paper in my closet at home, and could probably save him an extra $12 in the middle of this horrible recession, but I didn’t want to interfere with the clerk. She needs to make a living, too.

I heard one woman tell a clerk that she was “glad you’re finally in our neighborhood.”

I’ll agree with that. The last thing even close to Hallmark that I remember on this side of town was Glee’s Party Shop in the Henderson Plaza on Boulder Highway. While our grocery stores, Wal-Marts, and K-Marts carry the big name card-company lines, if you go on Valentine’s Day or even sometimes the day before, you’ll find nothing but empty slots and everything picked through. Having a true Hallmark store will ensure that you’re not left buying your wife a normal birthday card from the grocery store, on the day of, where you have to scratch out half the verse and write “Happy Valentine’s Day” instead. Yes, I speak from experience as I have received such a thing.

As I went to leave our new Henderson Hallmark store, more men were entering the store.

“Are you looking for something special today?” asked the clerk.

“Uh, just Valentine’s cards,” one of the men said.

Really? I thought to myself.

At least they’re helping to stimulate the economy, and I’m certain that the experienced clerk didn’t let them leave without a bag full of goodies. She’s a wife/girlfriend’s dream-come-true, the type of clerk who, back in the old days, knew people by first name and knew exactly what you needed when you walked in the door.

I’m just about finished making up my list of all the Precious Moments figurines I would like for my birthday. I’ll be taking that list to her, and then sending my husband there when my birthday rolls around.

I no longer believe that Valentine’s Day was created by card companies to increase sales. I believe it was created by women so that we could get at least one day out of the year to have someone else buy us a little token of love because they have to: the calendar says so.

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