Central 23: The meme-y, profane answer to Hallmark that’s making $1m a year

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When they were 17, Marcus Ereira and Luke Shelley co-founded a private tutoring company called Tavistock Tutors. Sales rose when they painted a bike fluorescent orange and parked it around private schools in central London as part of a guerilla marketing campaign.

Now, novelty is their main business. With the financial backing of Tavistock Tutors, Ereira and Shelley launched Central 23 in 2016. It specializes in greeting cards (it’s like a younger, more profane “Hallmark Shoebox”), notepads, and home accessories. Recent examples shared on Central 23’s Instagram include cards with fresh takes on internet memes and one that says, “You’re how old? Fack off.”