The Stationers Guild

Freedom of speech is guaranteed by our Constitution and this guarantee covers most everything from inspired and often extreme political views to the most banal and silly commentary.  Certainly, the age of mass media and the Internet has been a boon to “free” speech, but this freedom has produced more senseless chit-chat than reflection.  Context has been reduced to sound bites and self-appointed experts seem to be popping up everywhere.  Wikepedia has become the populist online ”reference”  where diversity of opinions and pop culture is more deemed more important than relevance and authority.   Improper wording of wedding invitations and the recommended use of websites and gift registries on these invitations are just a few examples of the crass culture that is corrupting wedding etiquette. 

As stationers, we take pride in guiding our clients toward the use of proper etiquette in the wording of wedding invitations.   Although many feel the need to “express themselves” or “make a statement” at their wedding, we have long held the view  that a wedding is a sacred ceremony with traditions that go back hundreds of years.  The use of proper etiquette is simply one of the many rituals or traditions that connects one’s wedding to similar weddings that have taken place over many generations.   By honoring those traditions, you show respect to your ancestors and the rituals that are associated with this most sacred ceremony.   

I recently came across the sad case of a bride-to-be who wished to change the correct wording of her wedding invitation because she seen different versions in “bridal magazines.”    Specifically, these bridal magazines recommended “half past five” rather than the correct designation of “half after five.”   Now for many, this would be a small thing, but to the bride-to-be, the authority for a properly worded wedding invitations was a bridal magazine.    Clearly upset, she told her stationer to change the wording on the invitation, despite the fact that no less of an authority as Crane & Co. and Julie Holcomb’s Wedding Invitation Handbook recommend “half after five” as the proper wording for a wedding that takes place at 5:30 p.m.

Perhaps, this is a minor detail in the overall scheme of things, but examples of improperly worded invitations in wedding magazines was deemed more important than getting it “right” for this prospective bride.

Sheila P. May
Therese Saint Clair

In what promises to be a fascinating story, a significantly downsized Swoozies appears to be emerging from bankruptcy and liquidation.  According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Gart Capital, a private equity firm headquartered in Denver, Colorado has formed a new company with the former co-founder of Swoozies, Kelly Plank-Dworkin, to re-open eight stores in the southeast and their online store.

The Atlanta-based Swoozies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 3 and closed 43 stores in 15 states.  The abrupt closure of Swoozies left many suppliers holding significant claims against the company which have now largely been written-off.    It is difficult to see what Gart Capital and Kelly Plank-Dworkin intend to do with the company since Swoozies stiffed so many creditors and its business model doesn’t seem to have legs.  Furthermore, the Internet is already crowded with online resellers and it is difficult to see how the Swoozies name will carry much weight in cyberspace.

Time will tell, but it is certainly a story worth following.

Just received an announcement that Jamie Ostrow has resurfaced and has set up shop in East Hampton, New York.  While her website in not yet up, Jamie has contacted many of her dealers to encourage them to order her new letterpress invitation album and stationery album.  Her holiday album is also available and we understand that she is also working on a Wedding Invitation Album. 

According to Jamie, she will be manufacturing on premises “so that we can control all phases of productions, from order taking through shipping.  Some of you know that for the last several years, we relied on outside printers, now we’re back on our own presses.”

The biggest change Jamie’s loyal customers will notice is that Jamie Ostrow has now moved to letterpress rather than engraving.  While her sharp design, contemporary font styles and very clever wording remain, letterpress will give her  invitations, stationery and holiday cards a “softer” edge.  Personally, I think her clients will be pleased. 

If you are interested in receiving more information about the Jamie Ostrow line, please email Jamie at jamie@jamieostrow.com

Richard W. May

Sheila and I had a most welcome opportunity to sit down with Kim Kreis of Sweet Pea Designs to discuss the launch of their new stationery and invitations album.  Her partner, Anne Johnson, was corralling clients who also wanted to take a peak at the new album that will be released toward the end of June.

As readers of the Stationers Guild News are aware, Sweet Pea Designs and Printswell decided to go their separate ways earlier this year.  The rather unsettling turn of events left some 2,000 dealers in the dark as to the plans of either company.  Fortunately, both companies resurfaced at the National Stationery Show and the world is a better place for it.  We wish them both well as they pursue their vision.

We had a chance to look at some of the preliminary pages of the new Sweet Pea Designs album that will begin to be distributed toward the end of June to dealers who have signed the new application form.   Instead of several albums, Sweet Pea has had the good sense to create a substantial album incorporating many new designs and their traditional “best sellers.”  Based on the sample pages we saw, the colors are far richer and the paper (#110) more substantial and bright than Sweet Pea’s old papers.  Rather than showing many samples in the old albums, the new album provides many more customization options and is laid out more rationally to assist in the visualization and customization process. 

Printing will now occur on the west coast, but we understand that deliveries will occur within 3 days anywhere in the United States.  Kim mentioned that Sweet Pea intends to be more selective with their dealers to insure that stationers who promote their brand will not be selling against other stores in the immediate vicinity.  This is a welcome relief to the proliferation of stationery products and greeting cards that seems to crop up on every street corner.   The Sweet Pea website is expected to be fully operational by the end of September for those who wish to promote Sweet Pea online.

It was good to see Kris and Anne in good spirits and on behalf of dealers everywhere, we are looking forward to seeing their great looking designs once again. 

Richard W. May
Therese Saint Clair

One of the more useful benefits of attending the National Stationery Show (“NSS”) is the opportunity to attend highly targeted seminars that fill our impressionable minds with the many things we can do with our store and provide a context for identifying new products and trends.  The 2010 NSS was no exception with daily “How-to” exhibits  ranging from making wedding favors to holiday wrap and tying bows.  In addition, there were educational seminars ranging from stationery trends to how to use social media tools to market your bricks-and-mortar store.

Being the geek that I am, I attended two social media seminars brilliantly hosted by Patricia Norins, of Specialty Retail Expert from Gift Shop Magazine and the enthusiastic and engaging Carolyn Howard-Johnson from How to do it Frugally Publishing.  Both seminars were targeted at those who wanted to find out more about Twitter, Facebook and Blogging or those that were sceptical and wanted to see what the fuss was all about.  Judging from some of the questions that were asked, I suspect that most people who attended were novices.

Personally, I think both speakers made a convincing case as to the merits of engaging in social media marketing.  Carolyn stressed the importance of connecting with your clients in this new digital medium in an open-handed and friendly manner that was less about promoting your business than being a part of your community.   Both speakers made the point that Facebook is a more relevant social platform for exchanging information with family and friends, while Twitter has become far more commercial and “immediate.”  I certainly agree with them on this point, but feel that both platforms should be used to creatively engage, build and sustain a loyal following of customers.  The idea is to befriend your digital audience and come across as a “real” human being with a sense of humor and personal  interests rather than the proverbial one-dimensional used car salesperson.

It is difficult to judge how many attendees will heed Carolyn’s and Patricia’s advice.  I suspect that the digital revolution remains an anathema  to most storefront retailers.   While many have gotten over the hurdle of having a website, this is not a medium where they feel comfortable  and most appear unwilling to make the effort to do more.  It is not difficult to get started as Carolyn and Patricia demonstrated, but it does take time and effort to build new skills and engage in the online debate. Frankly, it is fun and interesting once you get the hang of it. 

We all know that the Yellow Pages (“YP”) brings in little or no business, but many stationers continue to pay ridiculous fees to YP to highlight their store rather than spend the time using free social media tools to market their business.  Hard to understand, but sadly true.  For those out there who want to know if your store can be found online (no, you do not have to have a website!), please visit getlisted.org to see if you are on the right track.  A listing below 50% means you have some work to do.  This is a good litmus test to join the 21st century. 

Richard W. May
Thérèse Saint Clair

As readers of the Stationers Guild News are aware, the stationery world was rocked earlier this year when Sweet Pea Designs and Printswell decided to part ways after many years of collaboration.  I am pleased to report that both companies were exhibiting at the National Stationery Show and geared up for what we all hope will be an exciting year. 

I had a long chat with Ralph Dewberry, the CEO of Printswell, regarding the “new” configuration of the company.  Printswell debuted at the Stationery Show with three active lines and an additional four that will be coming on line by September:

• Stacy Claire Boyd
• KimPrints Paper & Gifts
• Rosanne Beck Collections (formerly Cross-My-Heart)
• Starfish Art
• Putnam House
• Prints Charming Papers
• PicMe Prints

Printswell provides the printing and fulfillment services for these seven product lines.  Using a state-of-the-art Indigo printer, Mr. Dewberry seemed confident that he would be able to meet the expected demand of a vibrant holiday season.   With a network of over 2,000 dealers, Printswell is now in a position to begin fulfilling orders (both Internet and through the Albums) that had been disrupted when Printswell was no longer authorized to use Sweet Pea’s designs.  Dealers were encouraged to order albums at the Printswell booth and, in fact, this offer has been extended until June 30th for those who were not able to take advantage of this offer in May.

Many stationers have used the Printswell affiliate program website to leverage their online sales.  Certainly, the revamped website looks poised to help reanimate sales.  Those with questions on Printswell’s affiliate program should contact Rick Peyton, the Fullfillment Coordinator.

One would have thought that the New York Times would have had the good sense to say something positive about the National Stationery Show, but clearly it looks like they are short-staffed and had to assign a rookie reporter from the crime beat to cover the show.  In a bizarre and senseless piece of “reporting” that seems to have been crafted in an Irish pub, NYT reporter Corey Kilgannon  focused on the case of the purloined letter and the scatological humor of one award recipient as the defining moments of his Javits Center experience. 

Perhaps Kilgannon is trying his hand (I assume Corey is a male) at blogging rather than journalism since his days at the New York Times are probably numbered if this is the best he can do.    It is no wonder that NYT’s readership is declining with Kilgannon missing everything that it is relevant to focus on sensationalist tidbits that may appeal to his small base of followers on Twitter.  If this is all the news the New York Times sees “fit to print” then the editor has obviously had a bad hair day.  Pitiful and sad.

Richard W. May
Thérèse Saint Clair

This week at the National Stationery Show (“NSS”) a colleague of mine told me that the Editor of Get Married, an online wedding website, was going to visit a bricks-and-mortar stationery store and find out what actually goes on when someone seeks advice on wedding invitations.  I was intrigued:  gosh, will a “real world” experience get in the way of shamelessly promoting the same monotonous and tedious designs from online resellers?  Sceptical, but willing to give Get Married the benefit of the doubt, I trekked over to their booth at the back of Javits Center to see if they had made any relevant  improvements to their website.

I came across an enthusiastic young woman explaining the benefits of advertising on Get Married to two stationers.  As they were wrapping up, I jumped in and asked:  Will I be able to find a “real” stationery store on your website?    Using Connecticut as an example (my home state), I asked to see if they had any stores listed under invitations?

As I suspected, the only “local” stores you can find are “national” online resellers.    I think most people are savvy enough to know the difference between a business that sells “nationally” online and a local store, why can’t Get Married see the difference?    Despite the fact that wedding sites like The Knot, Martha Stewart Wedding and Get Married like to hype the local shopping experience, local relevance is determined solely by how much advertising dollars you are prepared to spend to “buy” local space. 

I explained to the young salesperson, that I considered this to be a deceptive promotion and it was causing people searching for local resources to move away from wedding portals.  She promised to bring this to the attention of her superiors.   Fortunately, I believe that mobile search will eventually kill these relics of self-promotion and deceptive claims whose primary interests are selling advertising and generating affiliate income.  Information from these websites is little more than promtional hype.  Let the buyer beware.

If you are an independent stationer thinking you will benefit from these websites, think again.  The money you spend on online marketing is far better spent promoting your own website and engaging in local search optimization. 

Richard W. May
Thérèse Saint Clair

National Stationery Show (“NSS”) organizers deserve a hardy pat on the back for arranging the fascinating seminar:  Navigating the Journey from the 2D to 3D World.  The Saturday (May 15th) seminar provided considerable analysis and discussion of the rapidly changing patterns in social communication and its impact on the stationery industry.   It is the first time that I can recall that the “Elephant in the Room” (i.e. online communications) has ever been discussed in a public forum at the NSS.  It was a most timely and useful wake-up call for the stationery industry.

The seminar was organized into three distinct segments.  The first was  by Keynote speaker Paco Underhill of Envirosell who gave a charming and insightful presentation on emerging trends in consumer behavior and how savvy retailers should position their businesses to prosper.   Mr. Underhill provided many useful suggestions on how store-owners might want to creatively engage their clients through better communication and improved store design.  I intend to post a more detailed summary of Mr. Underhill’s comments at a later time. 

The more controversial and unsettling discussions took place later.  The first panel was hosted by Adam Glassman, Creative Director of O. The Oprah Magazine to discuss “Today – The Issues, Solutions and the Next 5 Years.”   Dan Rubinstein, Editor-in-Chief of Surface Magazine, hosted the second panel focusing on “Connecting with tomorrow’s customer and the one 10 years from now.”    While the first panel sought to address some of the unsettling issues facing bricks-and-mortar stationers as their suppliers turn to the Internet to deliver stationery products to the end-user, the second panel sought to project current behavior patterns of children 7 to 12 years old and teenagers into future purchasing patterns.  At one time, I felt that I just might have to turn my stationery store into an App Store for the iPhone (App is short for Application which is down-loadable software).

Judging from the number of faces in people’s hands at the end of the presentation, you would have thought that Armageddon had arrived.  Both discussion moderators deserve praise since they were serving up hard-ball questions to the panelists.  I suspect that most everyone who attended the discussion had a slightly different interpretation or spin on the information they were receiving.  Some vendors mentioned to me that it was “quite frightening” while others argued that it was “much ado about nothing.”   I suspect this was false bravado for, most certainly, there is cause for concern.

One of the panelists argued persuasively that it was great to to use the new technology  to schedule birthdays, anniversaries and other milestone events online and have “personalized” greeting cards sent out either digitally or by snail mail.  I suspect that many people feel that this is perfectly rational behavior.   When people regard communication as little more than an online scheduling exercise, the battle is largely lost.   For this panelist, the interpersonal relationships with people he should care most for has now simply been reduced to a programming event.  Frankly, this is a world where personal correspondence has little perceived value other than the satisfaction one gets from “mission completed.”

Violet Brandwein, Senior Buyer Kate’s Paperie, commented that “as online and traditional distribution channels become blurred, bricks-and-mortar dealers need to forge a new relationship with their vendors to coexist and prosper.”  There is no question that distribution channels have turned into what Paco Underhill refers to as a “bar fight” where bricks-and-mortar dealers, online resellers and suppliers of fine papers are elbowing each other to reach the consumer with the “best package.”  Continued friction among distribution channels within the industry will necessarily lead to consequences that are not good for the industry as a whole.

As I have stated on many occasions, unless leaders in the industry step up and take action which may now seem counter-intuitive, the battle is lost.  For instance (as one example), I was pleased to learn that Jane Boatman Geller pulled her designs from Shutterfly (not SnapFish as previously reported) since she felt it was not fair to her dealers and distorted the way she wished her line to be represented.  This is a courageous decision with the economy being what it is.  Companies that continue to overexpose their lines through multiple distribution channels will diminish the value of their brands. 

Dealers are remiss in expecting the digital revolution to turn on itself.  Here again, all bricks-and-mortar stores who hope to stay in business, must now take decisive action to engage the digital consumer in their own medium.  Most consumers want to shop locally:  let’s make sure that they can find your store.

Once again, congratulations to the organizers of the National Stationery Show for putting together this great series of informative discussion groups. 

Richard W. May
Founding Member Stationers Guild

Vanessa Redgrave is my favorite actress and I have had a crush on her since the mid-60s when I saw her perform opposite David Warner in Morgan.    I make it a point of seeing every film she is in and when asked to see a sneak preview of Letters to Juliet (the Juliet of Romeo and Juliet fame) on Mother’s Day, how could I resist?

Now some might argue that Letters to Juliet  is a chick-flick, but any film set in Verona, Siena and the beautiful landscape of Tuscany can’t be all that bad.   With the exception of the dewey-eyed Vanessa and a cameo appearance by Franco Nero, most of the performances were Hollywood-lite but who cares as long as there is a happy ending.  I certainly didn’t.

The plot – if you can call it that – revolves around a young American girl on a pre-honeymoon trip with her boarish fiance.  While touring Verona, she notices many young women posting letters on the wall underneath Juliet’s balcony.   In much the same way people write to Ann Landers, women of all ages  seek advice from Juliet on “matters of the heart” and appear daily to blanket the wall with their letters.  While some may find this behavior somewhat bizarre since Juliet  has been dead for over 500 years and was only 13 years old when she stabbed herself with Romeo’s dagger, I find the ritual charming.

Each day at dusk the self-appointed secretaries of Juliet take down the letters and retire to a nearby palazzo to answer these letters on behalf of Juliet.  These lovely ladies give hope to these heart-stricken women by sending a hand-written note, no doubt written on Juliet’s engraved stationery.  In fact, the young American woman finds a letter hidden behind a stone written 50 years earlier by Vanessa who asks for Juliet’s advice on whether to settle for a conventional English marriage or run off with a young Italian man with whom she was passionately in love.  I won’t spill any further details.

Now imagine if this lovely ritual could occur in today’s digital society.  I suppose one could Tweet Juliet or become a Facebook Fan if Juliet has a “Fan” or “Like” Page, but it hardly seems the same compared to penning a letter in a small courtyard under the most famous balcony in the world.  I guess today’s techies could leave behind a RW CD or, perhaps, a USB port under the balcony in the hope that some “New Age” secretary would would care enough to send an e-mail.  Alas, I think not.  But imagine how rich our lives would be if a perfect stranger - in the interests of “love” – would simply pen a note and let you know they hear you and wish you well. 

Oh, it’s only a film.  We have little time for romance and passion in today’s world.  How sad.

Richard May
Thérèse Saint Clair