Papyrus, another mall staple, is closing all its stores

[IronLionZion]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/24/business/papyrus-stationary-bankruptcy/index.html

New York (CNN Business)Papyrus, a mall staple that's best known for selling stationery and upscale greeting cards, is going out of business.

Schurman Fine Paper, which owns the brand, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Thursday in a Delaware court. The company is closing all 254 of its US and Canada stores. More than 1,000 employees will lose their jobs.

The company got its start in 1950 selling cards and imported stationery wholesale, before expanding into retail stores in 1973. The first Papyrus store opened in Berkeley, California, and eventually grew to 500 stores, including its American Greetings, Carlton Cards and Paper Destiny brands.

Papyrus blamed an overexpansion of stores, the downturn in brick-and-mortar shopping and its inability to fully recover from the 2008 financial crisis. Schurman tried rescuing the business by negotiating with landlords for more favorable rent and with its suppliers, but the company was unable to secure enough favorable deals to keep its stores open.

Shoppers are also increasingly sending emails or texts instead of buying cards. CVS (CVS) and Walmart (WMT) have reduced space for greeting cards in recent years.

As someone who buys cards from there, I can confirm that I'm tired of winning.

US retailers have accelerated store closings each year. 9,300 store closings in 2019. Retail workers in general have a visible sense of impending doom at many stores. But they're never going to get the type of political support that coal miners and steel workers are promised by certain stable geniuses.

[Me.]

1. Will Miss Their Cards Sorely

[madaboutharry]

2. That is a real shame.

I have always loved paper. I have a little "collection" of stationary and cards. I love to write notes and letters. Papyrus always made great quality and beautiful stationary and greeting cards.

[Richard D]

3. I went into an electronic superstore yesterday . . .

. . . at least it used to be one. A few years ago the isles were full of customers, and at the wait for the dozens of cashiers could take many minutes. Yesterday the isles in the warehouse sized store were empty. There was one cashier and I had to wait a full 20 seconds to pay. So many brick and mortar stores are dying out because of online shopping.

[blugbox]

4. You're allowed to say Fry's

[Gidney N Cloyd]

5. If so, I'll bet the line for returns was still a mile long, though.

[Richard D]

12. No line at all.

[Richard D]

11. Fry's

It was depressing. I asked one of the few clerks left if they were closing down, and he said no, just re-organizing. Not sure I believe him.

[dalton99a]

6. Like this one?

[IronLionZion]

9. Some stores have helpful knowledgeable staff

that can't be replicated online. When my local hardware store closed, they cited rising rents as the reason. It was very convenient to talk with them about any home issues and find the exact part I need and instructions to install it.

[blugbox]

14. Yeah it is depressing.

They all look like that too. It can't be just reorganizing.

I worked there around fifteen years ago, and it was always packed with product, employees, and customers.

Sad, but not surprising in the least. It is a business model that doesn't work today. They never adapted at all.

[BuddhaGirl]

7. I shop at the original Berkeley location

every once in a while....I will miss these stores!

[displacedtexan]

13. I was just thinking about going to Papyrus or Paper Source tomorrow.

Their single large sheets of exquisite paper make lots of greeting card backgrounds & embellishments.
This is really sad news. AliExpress is getting popular, but "slow boat from China" is a real thing.

[Beringia]

8. Bought many cards and paper there

[frazzled]

10. You can buy their cards at Target, Whole Foods, etc.

I can understand their not wanting to pay rents or staff when their product can be delivered through groceries or stores like Target for them, probably for far less. As for their stationery, that is becoming a real thing of the past (even more so than greeting cards, though even those are in less demand these days: younger people apparently don't know what a stamp or post office is; they just send b'day salutations via social media sites, which takes about 3 seconds and no money).

I have an entire drawer full of nice stationery. Until about 6 or 7 years ago, I'd always write a nice thank you note simply to thank a host for a dinner party. It's still a nice thing to do. But, honestly, even I usually just send an email these days. And letters? There are those of us who remember the art of letter writing: total nostalgia. That is completely out the window.