The Stationers Guild

The 3/50 Project grass-roots project has been launched to help preserve the brick and mortar stores in the United States.  The brain-child of Cinda Baxter, a leading retail industry expert, is a call-to-arms to encourage people to shop locally.  While this new website will evolve over time, Guild Members are encouraged to become a 3/50 supporter and spread the word to their customers and suppliers.

“You never have a second chance to make a first impression.”  I can’t remember who had this sage but practical piece of advice, but nothing could be more true in today’s electronic workplace.  With website page views clocking in at 1.8 seconds and a “twit” on Twitter limited to 140 characters, you’ve got to make a strong positive impression from the get-go.

With your social and business network persona on display 24/7, one might ask if the business card is still relevant?  Thank you, it is!  In fact, we are seeing a resurgence in consumer demand for tastefully designed calling cards and business cards.   Despite the down economy, customers at Therese Saint Clair are trading in their fast-print cards for more distinctive business cards.  Business professionals recognize that their non-descript business cards just may not make it to their recipient’s Rolodex.  Maybe it makes sense to invest in a little image-building.  One way of doing so is to have an elegant business card printed on fine paper stock.

While Crane & Co. has long been the company of choice for fine business stationery, many other companies are now introducing their own distinct lines of business stationery.  William Arthur has a good selection of business cards printed on 96# paper stock to go along with a growing selection of fine stationery.  Smock Paper has a stylish but somewhat pricey line of letterpress business cards printed on bamboo paper.  Lallie and Encore have some great designs for truly distinctive business cards.

If you feel your stationery is not making that right “first impression” then perhaps a visit to a Stationers Guild member store is in order.  There you can work with experienced stationers to custom design a business card of your choice.

On a scale of 1 to 10, Bar and Bat Mitzvah invitations score a 10 in terms of originality, color and unique design.  For 32 years, Therese Saint Clair has been helping families create custom Bar/Bat Mitzvah invitations that are truly memorable.  Sheila May, the owner of Saint Clair, says “designing a Mitzvah invitation is truly a family affair with everyone pitching in with his or her opinion.  No two invitations are alike.  The spontaneity and creativity is something that every stationer relishes since you know you are creating a work of art.”

While several fine paper companies such as Encore, Luscious Verde and Checkerboard have albums dedicated exclusively to Bar/Bat Mitzvah invitation designs, most stationers will use samples of social invitations, wedding albums and other fine paper sources to create a truly custom invitation.  Rich colors, layering, and the use of vellum and ribbon often come into play when designing the invitation.  “Nevertheless, tastes are so varied,” says Sheila, “that you never know where you are going to end up.  I tend to look at each invitation as a blank canvass with my client supplying the paint and design.  My job is to make sure that they have all of the artistic tools at their disposal.”

While Crane and William Arthur have often proved popular for classical Bar Mitzvah invitations, these two companies have great customization capabilites to create truly unique invitations.   If you are planning a Mitzvah for your son or daughter, we strongly recommend that you schedule an appointment with a Guild stationer in your neighborhood.  These stationers have helped hundreds of families create truly memorable invitations.

I spent this weekend with dear friends in Princeton, New Jersey. They had recently returned from a wedding in India and were anxious to share their impressions of the celebration. The wedding ceremony lasted more than 5 days and involved hundreds of people. While the rich colors of the saris and the hilly terrain of Jaipur provided a stunning stage set for the wedding, I was struck by the elaborate rituals and how joyfully the families and guests embraced this sacred Hindu ceremony. It served as a stark contrast to something that I find is often missing in our country: honoring traditions.

Two or three times a week, I come across a news release (often online) of a wedding couple that “wants to make a statement” about something that it is totally unrelated to the wedding ceremony itself.   While these well-meaning “statements” are often cast as a couple showing their “commitment to the environment” or some other worthwhile cause, I can’t help but wonder if the wedding ceremony is the appropriate place to lobby your cause.  Do your guests really care?   Personally, I would be offended if the wedding ceremony is used as a soap box for the current cause célèbre rather than the joyful union of two individuals.

Is it wrong to feel this way?  Perhaps so, but I contrast today’s modern weddings where couples seem to spend more time pressing their agenda rather than professing their love.  Have we lost interest in those traditions that are deeply rooted in religious ceremony and the no less sacred importance of honoring our families and community?   Call me a traditionalist, but I watched in awe at the beauty and pagentry of an Indian wedding which continues to joyfully honor those traditions. 

Richard May
Therese Saint Clair

Blogger and Crane & Co. historian Peter Hopkins posted an interesting article on his “discovery” of several thousand old engraving dies at Crane’s printing facility in North Adams, MA.  Accompanied by Gayle Driggers, Crane & Co.’s Product Manager for Personalized Stationery, Peter uncovered some stunning steel dies from times past.  Samples of some these beautiful designs may be found on his blog.

While most dies are now etched on copper, engraving continues to be a popular and elegant form of printing.  Skilled artisans at Crane & Co. have years of experience in creating dies from their own proprietary designs or entirely new dies from artwork supplied by their clients.  Sheila May of Therese Saint Clair remarks “that Crane has produced some stunning dies based on ink drawings of stately homes, the recreation of family crests from old papers and even four-color plates for golf stationery.  Since each color requires a separate die and press run, it is quite remarkable to see these skilled craftsmen operate the presses to achieve the close-registration required in most multiple color print jobs.” 

The opaque color of the ink, raised printing and the slight bruising on the back of the paper is a sign that your stationery or invitation has been engraved.

Sheila May
Therese Saint Clair

The syndicated online news release is a great way to create “buzz” about your stationery store and announce important community events.  For the most part, these online services are relatively inexpensive and in many cases are free.  Writing a “good” press release requires a bit of skill since you want to avoid shamelessly promoting your business.  After all, it is a “news release” and not an “advertisement” or political message.

While online services are quite useful in disseminating information to the search engines and local news services, you should be aware that there could be some unintended consequences.  Specifically, your news message can be usurped by banner advertisements.  Also, keywords in your release maybe hijacked by hyperlinks to redirect readers to a third-party website and, perhaps, that of a competitor.  It is as if your news release were simply buried in the classified ads of your newspaper.

An interesting case in point is today’s news release by Blissful Designs, a UK company that provides online invitations and stationery.  The article was syndicated by Live-PR yet it contains banner ads from online competitors and hyperlinked keywords that were added by Live-PR to redirect the reader to competitive websites.  As the snap-shot below illustrates, the competitors get more attention than Blissful Designs.

Blissful_News_Release

As you can see, the two Banner Ads from Paper Divas overwhelm Blissful Designs’ news release.  You have to question whether Live-PR was a useful way to promote their new website.  If you plan to use a “free” or an inexpensive online syndication service, you may well end up promoting a competitor.  Personally, I use PR-Web which allows the user to control how their ads will be displayed.  It is certainly more expensive, but absolutely worth the protection that your message won’t be distorted by advertising parasites.  Furthermore, the success of online printers is more often determined by search engine optimization strategies than by selling fine papers.  Let the online buyer beware!

The recent bankruptcy of Blue Tulip has prompted Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal to warn consumers to redeem gift cards before they become worthless at the end of this month.  While the bankruptcy is no doubt a traumatic experience to most Blue Tulip employees, it does raise some interesting questions about the value of gift cards.

At Therese Saint Clair, we have always resisted promoting gift cards.  In effect, it constitutes an interest-free loan to the store for merchandise that may be purchased in the future.  Processing companies that promote gift cards will tell you that on average between 8% and 10% of the face value of gift cards will not be redeemed.  While this might be considered a “good deal” for the card issuer, it does seem rather unfair to the consumer.  One way stores can redistribute these “unredeemed dollars” is to sell gift cards at a discount.  For instance, if on average 10% of gift card sales go unredeemed, a store can redistribute those dollars to their gift card holders by selling a $100 gift card for $90.  Personally, I think that this is only the fair thing to do.

More importantly, I fail to see the appeal of single-store gift cards.  Isn’t just another piece of plastic?  With already over-crowded purses and wallets, why do we need another payment option?  While promotional gift cards to encourage town residents to shop locally might hold some appeal, the single store gift card seems to me to a rather silly payment alternative.

Sheila May
Therese Saint Clair

On behalf of the members of the Stationers Guild, we would like to send our heartiest best wishes for a most happy holiday and prosperous New Year.  Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah or simply the joys of season, we are hopeful that you are sharing these special days with family and friends.

Late this Christmas Eve day, I will hang the hand-painted Greenwich ornament and my husband Rick will hide two German pickles in the Christmas tree for our grown daughters to find on Christmas morning.  The rituals and family traditions of Christmas and, indeed, all religious holidays, continue to enrich our lives and those of others.

Hand-painted Greenwich Ornament

From snowy Greenwich, Connecticut we wish you peace, good health and most importantly:  Joy!

Sheila P. May
Founding Member

Anxious to learn more about Mr. Boddington’s Studio, Sheila and I went to New York City to meet the people behind this distinctive collection of letterpress wedding invitations. We were graciously received by Rebecca Schmidt-Ruebensaal, the Proprietor, and Gina Maher, a talented designer, in their 14th story studio with lovely views of midtown Manhattan.

Rebecca founded Mr. Boddington three years ago. She left behind a promising career in “conflict resolution” to devote her energies to designing fine stationery and custom invitations. Claiming that designing fine papers “is in my blood,” Rebecca is passionate about the craftsmanship that goes into making custom wedding invitations. Her distinctive designs have a “modern twist but honor old traditions in a stylish manner.”

We first “discovered” Mr. Boddington at the National Stationery Show in May. We were immediately attracted to the simulated calligraphy. When juxtaposed against more traditional font styles and sophisticated designs it adds a time-dimension to the invitation rarely encountered in our experience. Seeing a Mr. Boddington invitation for the first time is akin to discovering a precious family heirloom or an old love letter in your grandparents’ attic.

Mr. Boddington Letterpress Invitation

Rebecca created the distinctive typography or calligraphy fonts herself.  You may select from four distinctive styles depending on the effect you are trying to create.  When you pair this old-fashioned script with a contemporary design in letterpress, you create a custom work of art to be enjoyed and treasured for generations.  Although the actual printing is done off site, the paper applied to the back of the invitation or announcement as well as the envelope linings and invitation trimming are all done by hand at Mr. Boddington’s Manhattan Studio.  As we had the opportunity to observe first-hand, it is very much a hands-on effort.

Mr. Boddington Letterpress Invitation

Mr. Boddington does very little advertising, but they have built a very successful business by word-of-mouth.  Rebecca claims to have enough projects to keep her busy until 2012.  When asked whether she intended to branch out into new directions, we were relieved to discover that she is very much focused on designing even more beautiful invitations.  Passionate about her craft, Rebeccas stated “if one is ever going to send fine stationery, it should be their wedding invitation or a birth announcement.”  Mr. Boddington’s stunning letterpress papers certainly honor those important milestones in a person’s life.

Melinda Morris, the owner of Lion in the Sun located in Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY was recently interviewed by “Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn.”  Melinda and her husband David were featured in a November 10 Blog (Web Log) focusing on the advantages of shopping locally.  Melinda is an active member of the Park Slope Chamber of Commerce and  involved in a number “buy local” and other community activities.  For more on Lion in the Sun and Melinda’s inspired community activities read the Brooklyn Blog.

David & Melinda Morris

Independent stationery stores have long had an important role in communities across the United States.  The signifcant milestones in most people’s lives such as a new baby, wedding, or birthday often pass through the hands of an experienced stationer.  Many of us are drawn to the stationery business because of the friendships and sense of community that is reinforced each day as we interact with our neighbors.   In the words of Kit McDonald of Oddballs “the blessing of being part of a profession that is founded on the celebrations of life – now that’s a winner.  How fortunate we are.”

In addition to taking an active role in supporting her community, Melinda and David join a growing number of independent stationery stores that are beginning to take a more proactive effort to promote their business online.  Like many us, we realize that new and existing clients are spending more time online and that traditional media and advertising resources no longer have the same impact as they did in the past.  If we want to connect with these clients we must do so in the medium of their choice. 

Interior of Lion in the Sun

Specifically, Lion in the Sun has opted to send out an online newsletter using the very popular and relatively inexpensive Constant Contact email service.  This easy to learn online service provides you with a number of useful templates for newsletters, emails and even surveys.  The StationersGuild also uses Constant Contact because of its anti-spamming features and – like Melinda and David have no doubt discovered – because it is quite powerful and easy to use.

In addition to their online newsletter, Lion in the Sun has also launched a Blog.  Using Google’s free online Blogger program, the store can create an ongoing dialogue with the Brooklyn community, the store’s clients and participants anywhere in the world who want to exchange ideas.

With a website, Blog and active email effort, Lion in the Sun now has the infrastructure to dramatically improve their store’s online visibility.  Congratulations.

Richard May
Founding Member