What is "archies"

Archies Limited (earlier called Archies Greetings and Gifts Ltd.) is an Indian company based in New Delhi. It was started in 1979 by Anil Moolchandani. Initially it sold song books, posters and leather patches. The company's main product, greeting cards, was introduced in 1980. Cards were introduced for major Indian festivals such as Holi, Diwali and Rakhi, apart from the usual new year, birthday and anniversary occasions. The company went public in 1995. In 1998, it was listed on the National Stock Exchange of India and Bombay Stock Exchange.

Archies Limited is in the business of manufacturing and selling greeting cards and other social expression products such as gifts and posters. Archies has a market share of about 50% of India's greeting cards market.

Archies has about 2000 outlets and franchisees, called Archies Galleries, spread across 120 cities and 6 countries. It has tie-ups and licensing arrangements for merchandising characters such as Dennis the Menace and Disney characters. It has arrangements with Paramount Cards Inc., Anne Geddes, and American Greetings, for greeting card design and name use.

Following the increasing popularity of e-cards, Archies started its online portal http://www.archiesonline.com/ in 2000. The company expanded its product range to include artificial jewellery, crystal ware, chocolates and perfumes, and accordingly changed its name to Archies Limited in 2002.