Schurman Retail Group facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Stationery |
| Founded | 1950 |
| Founder | Marcel Schurman Margrit Schurman |
| Headquarters |
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U.S.
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Dominique Schurman (CEO) |
| Products |
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| Brands |
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| Owner | Schurman family American Greetings (15%) |
Schurman Retail Group was a company from Fairfield, California. It was known for selling greeting cards, stationery, gifts, and other paper products. The company owned popular stores like Papyrus, NIQUEA.D, and Paper Destiny. It also sold products from American Greetings and managed some of their brands, like Carlton Cards in Canada and the U.S. At one point, Schurman Retail Group had over 450 stores in the United States and Canada. It was once the second-largest specialty retailer for greeting cards in America.
Contents
History of the Company
Starting Schurman Fine Papers
The company began in 1950. Marcel and Margrit Schurman started it in their kitchen in Berkeley, California. It was first called Schurman Fine Papers.
They started as a wholesaler. This means they bought products from other places and sold them to stores. They imported fancy greeting cards and paper items from Europe. The Schurmans sold these items to local gift and book shops.
In its first year, the company made $20,000. By 1961, it made $1 million. By 1965, they had a warehouse and several employees.
Opening Papyrus Stores
In 1973, Margrit Schurman opened the first Papyrus store. It was in Berkeley, California. This store sold only the company's own products.
Over the next five years, more Papyrus stores opened across the United States. The company then started letting other people open Papyrus stores as franchises.
In the 1980s, Schurman Fine Papers had sales teams and showrooms across the country. They started making about $10 million in sales each year. In 1982, Dominique Schurman, the Schurmans' youngest daughter, began working at the company. She later became the CEO.
Dominique Schurman became a vice president within a few years. When her father, Marcel, retired in 1991, Dominique took over as CEO. Her main goal was to make the Papyrus brand more popular. She also wanted to keep creating greeting cards in-house. By 2005, Dominique had grown the number of Papyrus stores from 37 to 146.
Becoming Schurman Retail Group
In 2009, Schurman Retail Group made a big change. They sold the Papyrus brand and its wholesale business to American Greetings. At the same time, they bought 341 American Greetings stores. They also bought Carlton Cards stores in Canada.
After this deal, the company started making $200 million in sales each year. In 2012, American Greetings, which owned a small part of Schurman Retail Group, asked them to manage Clintons stores in the U.K.
The company ran over 400 stores in North America. These stores included brands like Papyrus, NIQUEA.D, Paper Destiny, and Carlton Cards. In 2014, Schurman Retail opened stores in the UK under the name Jolie Papier. This was because of trademark rules.
By late 2019, Schurman Retail Group faced financial challenges. They had to close all 254 of their remaining Papyrus, Paper Destiny, Niquea D, American Greetings, and Carlton Cards stores by early 2020.
Company Brands
Papyrus Stores
Papyrus was the main brand for Schurman Retail Group. It also had over 450 stores in the United States. These stores sold many different products. These included greeting cards, gift wrap, stationery, and journals. They also offered custom invitations and other gifts.
The first Papyrus store opened in 1973 in Berkeley, California. Papyrus products often had a pink hummingbird logo.
American Greetings Products
In 2009, Schurman Retail Group bought over 300 American Greetings stores. They later changed many of these into Papyrus stores. Papyrus stores then sold American Greetings products.
American Greetings also owned a small part of Schurman Retail Group. Schurman Retail Group also started running Carlton Cards stores in Canada. In 2012, American Greetings asked Schurman Retail Group to manage the Clintons brand in the U.K.
Other Brands
Schurman Retail Group also had other brands. These included NIQUEA.D and Paper Destiny.
NIQUEA.D was a line of gifts, jewelry, and other accessories. These items were sold in Papyrus stores.
Paper Destiny was another type of store. It sold greeting cards, stationery, and other products. It was similar to Papyrus stores but was seen as a more affordable option.
