A Newcastle shop specialising in Geordie-inspired cards and gifts says the run-up to Mother's Day has been busier than Christmas as canny bairns look to celebrate their mams.
Geordie Gifts, based in the Grainger Market, has been hugely popular since it opened in 2017 thanks to its souvenir items, like mugs and keyrings featuring northern slogans. The brand's range of 'mam' merchandise is a hit every Mother's Day and this year is no different, with owner Craig Finnigan saying it's the busiest time of the year for the business.
The 33-year-old from Wallsend said: "It's been crazy. It is busier than Christmas!
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"It is my busiest time of the year with all the mam cards and gifts. It's definitely the big one for us. It normally starts six weeks before Mother's Day and then just ramps up."
Craig, who launched the business in 2013 says he enjoys stirring up the 'mam or mum' debate with Geordies every year in the build-up to Mother's Day.
"Every year I do the whole, 'it's mam, not mum,' thing and people argue that it's not mum," he said. "It's all a bit of fun. I think the whole mam thing is a very unique thing.
"People feel very passionate about it."
Craig says he creates all of the comical slogans himself, inspired by things his mum, Loraine Finnigan, said to him as he was growing up. And many of the sayings have certainly struck a chord with Geordies who have snapped up cards with messages including, 'Mum, mummy, mother. It's bloody mam.'
Other favourites include a card which says, 'Happy Mother's Day to me mam. The real Angel of the North.'
But Craig says the bestselling item this year includes a poem that he wrote for his own mam using Geordie slang which features on cards and a decorative banner.
"What is very popular at the minute is a poem I wrote for my own mam which is in Geordie but is quite sentimental," he said.
"That's been the biggest seller this year. I make them all up myself and I have quite a laugh doing it. I just go back to my childhood and what my mam said to me and just put it on a card."
Words on the poem include: "My mother's a Geordie, she'd dee oot for a bairns; She's not ownly me Ma, but wu also best friends."
Geordie Gifts says its online store has been really popular, with some customers buying cards for their Geordie mams around the world. And although many people have been organised with their gift buying, Geordie Gifts will be selling its Mother's Day selection for the truly last-minute shopper from its weekly stall at the Quayside market.
Craig added: "A couple of years ago we didn't bring any cards [to the market] on Mother's Day and there were so people that wanted them, that we actually still bring them on the day!" Cards start from around £3.50 and gifts include coasters, mugs and keyrings.
