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Having lost seven seniors from a Class AAA sectional team a year ago, Soddy-Daisy coach Moises Drumond will take a win any way he can get it early in the 2010 girls’ soccer season.

Thursday night, he got one by penalty.

Hannah Wyatt scored two goals and Katie Hillis had the decisive score on a penalty kick as the Lady Trojans defeated Chattanooga Christian 3-2 in both teams’ first game of the Siegel Soccer Tournament.

Hillis’ goal came in the 65th minute, after it was ruled that CCS keeper Taylor Thurman fouled Summer Lanter within the box. Hillis, who handled the team’s penalty kicks last season, knocked the ball in for the 3-2 advantage.

"I really felt like CCS deserved to win that match," Drumond said. "They came out with more intensity and won a lot more of the 50-50 balls.

"I will give credit to my girls, though. They kept working. The second half was better, and I thought it was more even."

The match was played at CCS, although the rest of the tournament will be held at the Richard Siegel complex in Murfreesboro. CCS will face Siegel today and Centennial on Saturday, while Soddy-Daisy will play Shelbyville today and Siegel on Saturday.

Soddy-Daisy was able to create opportunities with the elusive up-front duo of Wyatt and Lanter, who continually put pressure on the CCS defense when given chances up front.

"A team like that is very dangerous," CCS coach Cal Sneller noted. "Up front they have a lot of speed."

For all of the Lady Chargers’ intensity, it was the Lady Trojans (3-0) who got on the board first. Wyatt dribbled through the defense and created an easy opportunity,discount tiffany jewelry, which she put away for a one-goal advantage 19 minutes in. After a few opportunities, CCS was able to equal the match in the 32nd minute when Tiffany Sullivan chipped a ball over the head of keeper Haley Myers.

After Wyatt’s second goal two minutes later, CCS tied the game when Ashley Simmons scored off a deflection. The match was a far cry from a preseason scrimmage, won 1-0 by Soddy-Daisy.

"There weren’t many opportunities during that match,shop for tiffany bangles, so I didn’t expect the high score at the half," Drumond said, "especially with three goals so close together."

Defense and close chances ruled the second half, but the Lady Chargers created numerous opportunities that they just weren’t able to finish. Midway through the half,tiffany earrings sale, Anna Hoffman found Sullivan on a cross, but Sullivan couldn’t get off a good touch and the ball was cleaned up by Myers.

"I thought we played well against a good team," Sneller said. "As we step forward, we were learn. We have to cut back on our mistakes,tiffany Pendants on sale, but I love how the girls worked hard. They are receptive to instruction as to how to play better and play tighter."

Credit: Chattanooga Times Free Press,discount tiffany cuff Links, Tenn.

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While I have been more than happy with the performance and stability of my UK shares, the laggards this year have been my US-listed holdings, just five of them,discount tiffany key rings, which account for about 10 per cent of my portfolio.

I am clearly missing something. In 2009, my UK shares produced a total return of 50.3 per cent, double the FTSE 100′s 25 per cent. Yet the US portfolio, which held similar shares, managed only 14.5 per cent, not much more than half its benchmark, the S&P 500. This year too, my American shares have continued to disappoint. Returns to date are a negative 12 per cent compared with only minus two per cent on the benchmarks. My UK shares are up one per cent in 2010, reflecting the defensive and high income holdings I have gradually been switching into since last September.

The reasons for the US underperformance are varied. Some stocks I hold have a very high beta. Advanced Micro Devices, which I bought exactly a year ago as a geared recovery play on news of its $1bn settlement win against Intel, catapulted from $4.40 per share to $10, but has now sagged to just over $6.50. That’s one of the better stories. So too is the value raid on BP ADRs (American depositary receipts). They were $31 in June and I took profits at $39.75 for half the holding earlier this month. I’ve been a little unlucky with Anardarko, the oil company partner of Tullow Oil. The stock has recovered to as high as $55 but is still well below the acquisition price of $65 last September. Apache, another oil explorer, continues to languish well below my most recent acquisition price too.

I have also been disappointed in my biggest US holding, General Electric, which I regard as an exchange traded fund (ETF) for the US economy. I piled into the shares in March 2009, pretty much at the stock market low, at prices varying from $4.99 to $6.91. At first, GE went great guns, getting up to $16 last September. But it hasn’t moved any higher, though I remain convinced that it will improve.

However, the real damage was caused by the shorter-term activity in the account, and much of this comes down to trying to be too clever. That includes trying to hedge using an inverse SPDR ETF. Somehow I managed to lose heavily on this. Forays into technology stocks such as EMC didn’t do well in 2009, and overall there was just far too much trading. This year, however,Beads necklace, I haven’t traded very much at all but there is still this nagging underperformance. Quite how to resolve this isn’t clear. Trying to replicate my UK strategy by going in search of yield would be fine if it were not for US withholding taxes,cheap tiffany bracelets, which crimp the income by 15 per cent (or 30 per cent if you don’t lodge the "tax alien" paperwork with your US broker). These payments can be offset against UK taxes,discount tiffany cuff Links, but the paperwork is time-consuming. I’d really prefer to retain growth stocks, since that is what the US excels in, yet the growth stocks I have chosen just don’t seem to be performing. Certainly I think that I will have to sell down my holding in Anardarko, and possibly Apache too. While the US shares are dragging the entire portfolio’s performance down by only one point, it is the niggling investment mistakes I must be making, rather than their size, that worry me. If I don’t fix them, they could be replicated elsewhere on a larger scale.

Nick Louth is an active private investor,buy tiffany cuff Links, writing about his own investments. He may have a financial interest in any of companies, securities and trading strategies mentioned.

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Boy Scout Steve Stulock is making good on his promise to spruce up a veterans’ memorial in Washington Township.,tiffany

About a year ago, Stulock met township supervisor Jamie Miller during a safety day at the community fire hall.

The two spoke about ways to improve the area. Upon Miller’s request, the 16-year-old Lynnwood resident promised to enhance the war memorial in the township’s Gillespie section for his Eagle Scout project.

Shortly before the conversation took place, the supervisors had rebuilt the more than 20-year-old memorial and moved it back from the edge of Route 201 and Brownsville Road because it had been struck by vehicles on more than one occasion.

Stulock recruited family members and fellow scouts and redesigned the memorial grounds.

His mother and father, Ken and Sylvia, and younger brother, Nolan, 13, have helped with the project.

Steve and Nolan Stulock belong to Washington Township Boy Scout Troop 1561.

Stulock and his team of volunteers have invested about 60 hours at the site, about half of what will be needed to finish the job.

They put in a gravel addition to the monument walkway.

Two concrete sections have been added in front of the memorial where benches that Stulock and his father are making will be placed.

The monument’s brick wall and the original plaque that bears the names of about 110 Gillespie residents that served in World War II have been preserved.

Lighting will be installed for a new flagpole Stulock had put up behind the memorial wall.

Work yet to be done includes clearing a wooded area to expose a stone wall that will serve as a new backdrop for the memorial.

Stulock said the memorial wall will be pressure washed, and three signs for the monument will be placed along nearby roads.

The North Belle Vernon Veterans of Foreign Wars donated $1,000 to Stulock for materials.

Miller said the scout is laying the foundation for future improvements to the memorial,tiffany, which include a parking lot and the addition of Gillespie veterans’ names that have served in other wars and military conflicts.

She said the supervisors plan to place American flags on utility poles throughout Gillespie.

Stulock said he hopes his work will encourage others to stop and pay tribute to those the monument honors.

"I’d seen it before. I never really knew what it was, because I’ve never really stopped to look at it," he said.

Stulock’s undertaking is one of four Eagle Scout projects that have benefited the township in the last 18 months.

Stulock helped other scouts landscape the electronic billboard outside of the township fire hall,Beads necklace, renovate Belle Vernon Borough’s community park and refurbish the township police shooting range.

"It’s really been a pleasure working with all of them,Bead bracelet," Miller said. "Their families really get involved, and it’s a good community effort."

Miller said Gillespie resident Ian Captain volunteered to cut grass at the monument this summer because the name of his grandfather, Charles Captain, is on the memorial wall.

Referring to Stulock’s project, Miller said, "Gillespie is so excited about this."

The six-year scout said he plans to continue working on long-term projects.

"I like it because it’s nice to see your progress, see how far you’ve come and know you’re getting somewhere," Stulock said.

Learning to adjust and incorporate others’ ideas are some of the lessons Stulock has learned while working on the war memorial.

"There was a lot of stuff that you envision it one way, and it turns out the other way," he said. "But everything is getting done,key rings, and it’s going well. We want to dedicate it on Veterans Day."

Jeff Pikulsky can be reached at jpikulsky@tribweb.com or 724-684-2635.

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Minnesota photographer Peter J. O’Toole’s love affair with Paris began as romances often do, with a friend’s casual suggestion of a trip there. With a new Leica in hand O’Toole went first in 1996 and has been back every year since, usually for two weeks in summer or fall. Sometimes he goes in May to dodge the tourist season, and once he chose December, a misty time when chestnut sellers hawk their hot-charred wares to dispel the penetrating winter chill that seems to seep from the city’s cobblestone lanes and limestone walls.

Artists have raved about Parisian light for centuries, of course, and O’Toole knows why. "There’s something unique about the overcast and the luminance," he said. "You can’t take very good panoramic shots of Paris because there is so much moisture that the air is seldom really clear."

Perhaps it’s that special atmosphere that gives such a classic look to the black-and-white images in "Paris Photos: Paris Walks," O’Toole’s handsome book of photos and annotated tours that’s now in its second printing. His first edition of 500 copies sold out quickly last year, so he arranged a second run of 1,earrings,200 copies. They’re available at Common Good Books in St. Paul, Walker Art Center,Beads necklace, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Bas Bleu mail-order catalog and online site (www.basbleu.com).

Each of O’Toole’s 14 neatly mapped walks begins and ends at a metro stop. They’re a nice mix of touristic neighborhoods (Eiffel Tower, Latin Quarter, Arc de Triomphe), historic areas (Ile de la Cite, Place des Vosges),cuff Links, parks (Bois de Boulogne, Buttes Chaumont) and off-the-beaten-track spots (Pere-Lachaise cemetery). A 15th chapter suggests and photographs villages and sites near Paris including the Palace of Versailles, Parc de Sceaux, Chartres, Auvers-sur-Oise and Napoleon’s favorite haunt, the Chateau de Fontainebleau.

The photographer’s sensitivity to vistas is always at work, as when he begins the Eiffel Tower tour across the Seine at the Place du Trocadero, which he believes offers the best view of the iconic landmark. After passing under the tower (climbing optional), he guides you through a charming neighborhood to the Musee Rodin.

His is mostly a timeless Paris, of sidewalk cafes, outdoor painters, accordion players, strolling gendarmes and wheelbarrows parked by rose beds. He even took a close-up of three goats in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, a quintessentially French fusion of urban and rural life.

O’Toole laces the walks with literary and artistic notes, pointing out the homes of Marcel Proust and Victor Hugo, for example, and the graves of Oscar Wilde,watches, Colette and Jim Morrison. Many tours include optional museums, and most wander down streets lined with enticing pastry and cheese shops and past cafes suitable for lunch and a bit of people-watching.

"Last year we walked each tour at least twice to be sure every detail is right," O’Toole said recently. "The camera is always ready; every minute I have it cocked with the light aperture set."

Mary Abbe –612-673-4431

PARIS PHOTOS: PARIS WALKS

By: Peter J. O’Toole.

Publisher: Artist Book Press, 176 pages, $65.

Review: In a handsome and timeless book, Minnesota photographer O’Toole introduces 14 Parisian neighborhoods with classic black-and-white images and well-mapped walking tours.

Meet the author: Noon-4 p.m. Fri.-next Sun. Local Artist Gift Mart, Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Av., Mpls. 612-375-7600 or www.walkerart.org.

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Pasco A Franklin County judge denied a request to release the former girlfriend of an accused Pasco murder suspect.

Diana Garcia is being held on $50,000 bail because prosecutors allege she ran to California to avoid testifying in the 22-year-old murder case.

Franklin County Superior Court Judge Cameron Mitchell said Tuesday that he wasn’t convinced Garcia would not attempt to avoid testifying if released.

Garcia, who goes by Garcia-Rosas,Atlas charm bracelet, 42, has been described as Vicente Ruiz’s ex-wife.

Ruiz,Charm pendant, 45,key rings, is charged with five counts of aggravated first-degree murder and one count of first-degree attempted murder. He has been accused of gunning down six men inside Medina’s Body Shop in October 1987.

Pasco Police reportedly served a subpoena on Garcia-Rosas in late January for her to testify in the case.

Her attorney Karla Kane said Tuesday that if her client had been legally served she would have appeared in court. She claimed she didn’t receive the subpoena.

Garcia-Rosas’ family claims she left town to see her son before his deployment to Afghanistan.

Ruiz’s trial started April 19, but was put on hold on May 11 after a state Court of Appeals judge agreed to review if the jury was already tainted. A ruling is possible this week.

For the full story,Bead bracelet, read tomorrow’s Herald or visit www.tricityherald.com.

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Standing in front of her classmates, teachers and family, Elsa Peretti Starfish earrings Rose Crane stared at her prize. The pink bike gleamed in the middle of the gym floor.

The 7-year-old Rushville, Mo., girl collected more than $600 for the Rushville Lions Club.

For 32 years, the organization has had a tradition of raising money with an annual bike ride. And for at least one local family, that tradition means winning.

Like Autumn, her cousin Robert Wheeler has won the fundraiser; he did it seven times. And his older brother, George, won it twice.

While the five-mile ride on May 1 was a major feat, Autumn has had an even more difficult journey. The first-grader was born with aortic valve stenosis, which occurs when the aortic valve doesn’t form properly.

“It’s awesome to me,” said Wanda McCaulley, Autumn’s Elsa Peretti Teardrop bracelet, “because this child has already had problems. I’m so proud of her.”

Since she was born, Autumn has had four surgeries, and an open-heart procedure when she was 5.

Her mother, Mary Crane, and grandmother said it took Autumn about three hours to ride her bike in the fundraiser.

“She would stop, take a break, and then start going again,” Ms. McCaulley said.

In recent months, Ms. Crane said Autumn has been seeing her heart doctor more frequently. Chest pains and shortness of breath can signal alerts to the family of a child with heart problems. Ms. Crane said a September appointment will determine if Autumn will undergo another procedure.

“It’s hard because I’m an EMT,” said Ms. Crane. “It’s a helpless Elsa Peretti Teardrop necklace. There’s nothing you can do.”

But health problems don’t deter Autumn. Winning the bike, grabbing a sack lunch and visiting with friends as summer break starts was all in a day’s work for her.

As for the Lions Club, secretary Gary Black said the organization uses the nearly $1,500 it makes every year for supplies for the schools, eyeglasses and exams for those who are in need, and a scholarship for the DeKalb High School.

“It’s the main fundraiser for the club,” he said. “It’s supplies Elsa Peretti Teardrop pendant service for the community.”

Jennifer Hall can be reached at jennhall@npgco.com.

Gwen Jocson couldn’t help but notice the symmetry when she reflected on her first competitive Tiffany Necklaces in more than a decade.

Jocson, 43, began her relatively brief but highly successful career with a victory in 1989, then capped it with a win in a race Friday afternoon.

“Well, I won my first race and I won my last race. If I hadn’t won this race, I’d have to go back to riding and get back even. It felt great because it was for a cause,” Jocson said.

Injuries prematurely ended Jocson’s career. Raising money for breast cancer research put her back on the saddle, if only for a day.

Jocson won the inaugural Lady Legends Race For The Cure at Pimlico Race Course on Friday Tiffany Rings, joining seven other retired female jockeys in a six-furlong race.

The ride was fairly competitive, with Jocson taking the lead for good at the top of the stretch atop Honor In Peace. The horse then held off a late rally from Chapel of Love, ridden by former Maryland-based jockey Andrea Seefeldt.

Ages for the female jockeys ranged from 43 to 60, and many trained months in advance for the race.

“I can relax now,” said Mary Tortora, jockey for Rasher, who finished third. “My sister died of breast cancer, so this was very dear to me.”

Jocson said outside of mild trouble coming off the eighth pole, where she nearly fell off the horse, the ride was exhilarating. Her 376 victories in 1991 was a women’s record.

She finished with 763 wins in her 10-year career before retiring in 1999.

“I felt like I was on a rocket,” said Jocson, who suffered neck, ribs and back injuries during her Tiffany Money Clips. “When the gates opened, all I felt was horse. He broke sharp, and it felt so good to have that much power underneath you to where you can just move it where you want. It makes me want to come back to riding.”

Calvin ‘Bo-Rail’ no more

If Calvin Borel is to be believed, you won’t see him riding Super Saver along the rail for victory as he did in the mud at the Kentucky Derby.

For Borel, a different track means a change in strategy.

“I wouldn’t ride it like I ride Churchill, to stay on the fence,” Borel said. “I think it’s a little heavier here on the fence from my racing and working Street Sense [in 2007] on it. I think the fence is a little deeper than Churchill. I’m not going to ride him like I did the last time, on the fence, I don’t believe.”

Schoolyard Dreams arrives

Schoolyard Dreams was the last in the 12-horse field to arrive at Pimlico, reaching the Tiffany CuffLinks about 7:30a.m. Friday from Monmouth Park, a day earlier than originally scheduled.

Stable mate C C’s Pal, who ran in the Black-Eyed Susan, and Ponzi Scheme, who is scheduled to run in today’s James Murphy Stakes, accompanied Schoolyard Dreams.

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The jewellery and watch market is being driven by changing consumer preferences and a huge demand for the most expensive products, largely influenced by the need of making a style statement. Industry players are describing the current state of the market as amazing. The overall jewellery and watch market is still tiffany but the medium- to high-price segment is relatively concentrated.

The report focuses on the US, UK and Swiss market – value, growth rate, and segments. It also discusses the key trends prevalent in the market. The report profiles the major jewellery and watch market players.

Table of content

1. Market Segmentation

This section gives a brief introduction about the various segments of the jewellery and watch market. It also classifies the segments by their respective SIC Codes.

Real Jewellery

Fashion Jewellery

Mechanical Watches

Quartz Analogue Watches

Quartz Digital Watches

2. Supply Chain Analysis

The trade channels for diamonds are illustrated by a graphical representation of the tiffany earrings chain, followed by a detailed discussion of exploration, mining, sorting, polishing, dealing, jewellery manufacturing, and retail.

Exploration/Mining

Sorting

Cutting & Polishing

Manufacturing

Retail

3. Market Size

3.1 Luxury Sector

The luxury sector being extremely cyclical is mostly driven by GDP growth, tourism flows and the growing percentage of high net worth individuals.

Luxury Sales Growth Vs Global GDP Growth

3.2 US Jewellery & Watch Market

The jewellery market consists of retailers of various sizes, making it one of the most fragmented markets in the retail sector. However, the watch sector is much more conventional, with several large manufacturers.

Distribution Channels

Retail Sales of Jewellery, Watches and Clocks

Break-up of Market Value at Manufacturer’s Level

3.3 UK Jewellery & Watch Market

The jewellery and watches market in the UK has seen tremendous growth during 2000-06, tiffany key rings due to higher levels of consumer disposable income.

Market Value at Retail Prices

Market Forecast at Retail Prices

3.4 Swiss Watch Market

Switzerland is one of the world’s largest watch producers by value and is responsible for about half of all world production.

4. Market Trends

4.1 Luxury Watches Reach Record Sales

4.2 Top Trends from Jewellery Shows

4.3 Men’s Jewellery – Growing Popularity

4.4 Jewellery and Watches – Online Shopping Trends

4.5 Top Ten Brands – Moving in Style

5. Competitor Analysis

5.1 Citizen Watch

Citizen is focusing on women’s segment, by updating classic styles like the Lucca with a mother-of-pearl dial.

Overview

Brands

5.2 Swatch

Swatch is the only global watch company that is fully vertically integrated. It tiffany necklaces all the components required by its 19 watch brand companies.

Overview

Brands

5.3 LVMH

TAG Heuer is LVMH’s best-selling watch brand and the world leader in sports watches and chronographs.

Overview

Brands

5.4 Tiffany

Tiffany, a multi-channel jewellery specialty retailer in the US, also generates a significant amount of business internationally, especially in Japan.

Overview

Brands

5.5 Richemont

Richemont, one of the leading luxury goods groups, is most famous for its jewellery, luxury watches and writing instruments.

Overview

Brands

5.6 Timex

Timex, the largest watch producer in the US, has diversified its product range from tiffany accessories watches to high-tech sports watches.

Overview

Brands

5.7 Rolex

Rolex SA has three watch lines – Oyster Perpetual, Professional and Cellini.

Overview

Brands

5.8 Seiko

Seiko released the world’s first electronic paper watch in 2006, a display technology in tiffany keys images are displayed on a thin and flexible sheet.

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Something extraordinary happened in central London recently: a host of celebrities, from Sting to Sharon Osbourne, opened their tiffany jewellery boxes to the public. The occasion was an exhibition at Browns South Molton Street called My most treasured . . .

And the objects ranged from a purely sentimental piece lent by Paul Smith to earrings from Trudie Styler that required a security guard. As a group, says Joan Burstein of Browns, the jewels showed that “it’s what a piece means to someone that makes it priceless to the owner”. Jewellery is not just about carats, but emotion.

“I think there has been a loss of connection between the person who buys jewellery and the people who create it,” says Harry Fane, owner of Obsidian, a private gallery in London. It is this disconnect that a spate of recent exhibitions, including the one at Browns, have been attempting to redress. Last week, for example, Fane began a series of exhibitions, called At the Table, to introduce the work of lesser-known jewellers to his clients. “I don’t mind if it’s plastic or diamonds, as long as they are nice things to have,” he says. “I’m saying I like the stuff and I believe in what I’m showing.”

First to be invited to sit at Fane’s table was US designer Peggy Guinness, who specialises in flamboyant “day” jewellery. Prices range from pound(s)900 to pound(s)10,000 and a percentage of sales will go to the Kartika Soekarno Foundation, which works to improve the prospects of Indonesian children. She will be followed in September by British-born William Welstead, whose pink spinel Lotus rings, emerald drops on chains, old cut stones and beads are sourced in Jaipur.

“It’s elegant to meet with clients and talk about the jewellery,” Guinness says. “In New York the big shoppers don’t have time – they get everything delivered.”

The up close and personal element of next month’s Tiffany & Co travelling exhibition of 25 fine jewellery pieces made by the architect Frank Gehry will be a glimpse of the first-ever Gehry building in England, a wooden and glass pavilion designed for the Serpentine Gallery. Gehry’s architecture resonates in his jewels (priced from pound(s)6,500); his clunky wooden drops, fluid chicken-wire earrings wrapped around uncut diamonds or “crinkly” silver cuffs.”

Van Cleef & Arpels is also getting more intimate, bringing its new L’Atlantide collection as well as vintage pieces worn by Maria Callas and Jacqueline Onassis to show alongside a group of Old Master paintings at the London shop Partridge Fine Art. It may be an antiques store, specialising in English and Continental furniture from 1720-1840, but this month they’ve showcased the most exciting jewellery on Bond Street, including (besides Van Cleef) the exceptional designs of the late jeweller Andrew Grima, Britain’s grandfather of contemporary jewellery,

And why has the 100-year-old Partridge’s suddenly discovered diamonds? “They are bangles all precious things that appeal to the same people,” says Mark Law, chairman of Partridge.

It’s a sentiment shared by New York-based Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, who this month also brought 30 one-of-a-kind pieces boasting important stones richly layered with cultural references to the antique dealer. Prices range from $80,000 to $250,000, for pieces such as a n African-inspired necklace and a Paisley brooch encrusted with rubies, garnets, emeralds and diamonds . “All beautiful things relate,” Prince Dimitri says – especially when they touch.

Millions of consumers head to the card aisle to find the perfect greeting card for that special someone every Valentine’s Day. That perfect greeting card however means something different to every couple. On the way from flirting to commitment couples grow and love deepens, and consumers want to give and receive a card that reflects where they are at in their lives and their relationships. To meet this need, American Greetings Corp (NYSE: AM) has launched a line of romantic greetings this Valentine’s Day called Lovematters, which focuses on the real lives and real relationships that are recognized on the holiday.

The 26-card line is a result of research conducted to learn how consumers celebrate their relationships, and for that matter, what kinds of relationships they are in. Creative director Rochelle Lulow was tasked with leading the team that looked at love from every possible angle.

“We found that people want to find a way to express themselves that reflects their relationship, and that Valentine’s Day gift obviously means different things to different couples,” Lulow said. “As we grow as a couple our love deepens, and how we communicate that changes along the way. Our aim was to offer cards that perfectly expressed that affection at each stage.”

New captions call out relationship stages

For years shoppers have picked from a multitude of offerings that may have leaned more towards serious relationships, even if they weren’t quite there yet. Over the past few Valentine’s Days American Greetings has introduced cards appropriate for more couples at different stages in their relationships, and this year that program has expanded to make each shopper’s experience easier, and more successful.

“When you go into the card aisle you want to find the one thing that really speaks to your relationship,” Lulow said. “For these cards we examined the evolution of a relationship to learn how we celebrate and communicate at each stage. The resulting cards are appropriate for every point couples find themselves in.”

There are several romantic stages that are called out at retail so that shoppers can easily find one that fits. The categories range from something for a couple who is just flirting or in a new relationship (“Crazy about you”) to those in growing relationship (“Love being us”) to the committed couple who is looking at the long term (“Adore you”) and finally to the relationship that has been through it all (“Our love is strong.”)

More real-life language

Creating a solution that would help people identify with and find their particular love stage was only the first challenge for the creative team at American Greetings. Lulow and her team used the relationship stages they uncovered and delved even deeper to utilize their research to reflect how couples in each stage communicate.

“We asked consumers how they expressed their affection at each stage of their relationship, and we talked to couples that had been together five weeks, fifty years and everything in between,” said Lulow. “For us the key was to focus on what every couple had to say so that we could create sentiments that would resonate in a way valentines key rings that was both romantic and realistic for all relationships.”

One such card from the collection highlights the little things that are most appreciated. The card reads, “Thanks for letting me … stick my freezing cold feet under your warm legs, wake you up at 4 in the morning after a nightmare to listen, shower first and use up all the hot water … I love you for all the little things you do.” Another example puts into words what a life together truly means. “Our happily ever after is more incredible than I ever imagined. I love everything about us.”

Simple romantic moments reflected in imagery

In addition to the words and themes of the cards, the look of the greetings also communicates a fresh, real-life perspective on romance. Modern photography capturing the simple moments that all couples share help to make the cards at once very personal and universal. From an image of two sets of legs in jeans intertwined to a shot of a couple’s hands joined as they stare off into a late afternoon sunset, the imagery reinforces the words and the little things that make each relationship so unique.

Shoppers in any relationship stage this year can find the perfect Valentine’s Day cards, wrapping paper, gift bags and accessories to enhance their gift presentation at participating drug chains, grocery stores and super centers nationwide, as well as in American Greetings and Carlton Cards retail stores. Great online offerings can be found at AmericanGreetings.com and PhotoWorks.com.

Visit www.corporate.americangreetings.com for more information and store locations.

About American Greetings Corporation

For more than 100 years American Greetings Corporation (NYSE: AM – News) has been a manufacturer and retailer of innovative social expression products that assist consumers in enhancing their relationships. The Company’s major greeting card brands are American Greetings, Carlton Cards and Gibson, and other paper product valentines necklaces offerings include DesignWare party goods, American Greetings and Plus Mark gift-wrap and boxed cards and Date Works calendars. American Greetings also has the largest collection of electronic greetings on the Web, including cards available at AmericanGreetings.com through AG Interactive, Inc., the company’s online division. AG Interactive also offers digital photo sharing and personal publishing at PhotoWorks.com and Webshots.com and a one-stop source for online graphics, animations, and more at Kiwee.com. In addition to its product lines, American Greetings also creates and licenses popular character brands through the American Greetings Properties group. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, American Greetings generates annual revenue of approximately $1.8 billion, and its products can be found in retail outlets domestically and worldwide, including company owned American Greetings and Carlton Cards stores. For more information on the Company, visit http://corporate.americangreetings.com.

SOURCE American Greetings Corporation

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