Feb 12, 2014 By Marsha Keefer for The 5 min read

When it comes to expressing yourself, Valentine’s Day may be the thorniest of greeting card-giving holidays.

Like Moses, you must part the Red Sea of cards overflowing store aisles.

Then, like Goldilocks, you must find a verse that’s not too hot, not too cold, but just right.

“It comes down to more than picking out a card just by the picture,” said Josh Byrd, manager of the Hallmark store at Uniontown Mall. “It’s actually reading the sentiment inside.”

For every rhyme, there’s a reason — a card for a spouse or significant other; for budding relationships; for friends; for parents and grandparents; for sons and daughters; for grand and godchildren; for teachers and colleagues; for baby’s first Valentine’s Day; for Valentine’s Day wedding anniversaries; even for cats and dogs.

“Always read the card and keep in mind who it’s for,” said Susan Ruszkowski, manager of Hallmark at Summit Ridge Plaza in Mount Pleasant.

Hallmark alone says it has about 1,200 cards in its Valentine’s Day quiver from amorous to humorous; Mahogany valentines for African-American consumers; and bilingual messages for Hispanic customers, priced anywhere from 99 cents to $10.

At Adams Hallmark in Morgantown, W.Va., manager Della Wiles said she is finding that a lot of men are planning ahead by purchasing candy early and pre-ordering flowers for Valentine’s Day at the store, which also sells roses, and then choosing the right card.

Cupids will discover that finding the perfect card to pierce a heart is an art that takes time. Do you want to profess undying love or be cuddly cute? Something simply stated or romantically mushy? Humorous or flirty?

One doesn’t want to give the wrong impression — to over or understate his or her feelings, especially in new relationships.

“It’s one of the times of the year that we have a larger selection of cards, and people do take more time to read when looking for the perfect sentiment,” said Byrd.

While a card’s visual design first captures attention, the words make the sale, according to the Greeting Card Association (GCA).

“More than three-fourths of card purchasers base their selection on a card’s text,” said the GCA.

Surprisingly, unlike purchases of other greeting cards, Valentine’s Day cards are usually bought a few days prior to the holiday.

Ruszkowski suggested with today’s busy schedules and the frigid weather that customers shop early for the best selection.

“Everything sneaks up on us, and people may not get out,” said Ruszkowski.

Approximately 142 million Valentine’s Day cards will be exchanged this year (excluding packaged kids’ cards for classroom exchanges), making Valentine’s Day the second-largest seasonal holiday (Christmas is first) for giving greeting cards, according to Hallmark. About two-thirds of them will be given to children, family members and friends.

Many cards feature elegant laser and die-cut designs that have a 3-D look. There are cards with foil-printing, detailed cut work, pop-ups and sound effects.

Indeed, many people do keep cards, treasured not only for their beauty, but because they were given by treasured people.

Of course, valentines for children still feature Disney characters, Winnie the Pooh and superheroes like Batman and Wonder Woman.

What hasn’t changed are the colors, not surprisingly varying shades of reds and pinks.

This year, with Valentine’s Day falling on a Friday, people can afford a little wiggle room, since many people will delay celebrating until Saturday or Sunday.

A thorny issue, however, for the greeting card industry is the impact of social media with an ever-increasing segment of the population, typically more youthful, trending to the Internet for e-cards and customized greetings.

Last fall, Unity Marketing, a research firm in Stevens, Pa., released the results from a study it conducted on overall greeting card sales.

In a press release, Pamela Danziger, president, said, “sales of individual, pre-printed greeting cards dropped sharply, while those of custom greetings rose by an even greater share and the sales of boxed cards enjoyed a modest rate of growth over the past four years.”

While consumers still believe in the value of a greeting card, “they want those greetings to be directly from their heart, not featuring generic artwork and second-rate poetry.”

The key challenge to mass marketers like Hallmark and American Greetings, she said, is “how to maintain relevancy of the greeting card experience in the face of rapidly changing communications alternatives and purchase behavior patterns.”

Kit Yarrow, a consumer research psychologist, chair of the psychology department at Golden Gate University in California and author of soon-to-be-published “Decoding the New Consumer Mind,” studies the spending habits of 20- and 30-somethings.

“This generation is not into (traditional) cards at all,” she said.

Typically, their response, she said, would be “Cards, are you kidding? Don’t they require a stamp?”

While some may resort to social media, it’s the least likely way to impress a valentine, especially a female, some say.

“Valentine’s Day is really unique,” Yarrow said.

“It’s supposed to be a little more intimate.”

Staff writer Joyce Koballa contributed to this story.