The Stationers Guild

One of my favorite puns and one which could well serve as tag line for the Stationers’ Guild is: “No matter how far you push the envelope, it is still stationery.”   While this is always good for a laugh – at least for those that know how to spell “stationery” – I suspect that the relevance of stationery is fast becoming lost to a growing number of people who live online.   This was brought home to me today when I received an email from Envelopes.com.

The subject line of the email was “Push the Design Envelope” followed by “Your Designs + Our Envelope = Perfect.”   Now, I have never heard of Envelope.com but I discovered near the bottom of their website that  Envelopes.com claims to be  “the leading supplier of plain and printed envelopes in all sizes, styles and colors, to businesses, organizations, and individuals. © 2010. All rights reserved.”

The fact that I have “never heard” of Envelope.com is not disturbing.  In fact, with a little research the company was formerly known as Action Envelope and is headquartered in Long Island.  I find it surprising that the “leading supplier” of envelopes would change their name if they were that well known, but very little surprises me anymore in the stationery industry.

Which brings to a serious question:  What is the difference – if any – between stationery and paper?  To many, I suspect there is not a lot.  Nevertheless, I hate it when people refer to Saint Clair as a “paper shop.”  Perhaps, I am getting a little sensitive as I grow older, but I am confident that I know the difference between “paper” and fine stationery.   It may simply be a question of style and elegance, but to me stationery is reflected in a quality paper that begs to be touched.   Monograms or names that are embossed or engraved on fine stationery simply add another layer of elegance to an already rich stationery experience.

The stationery industry is overrun with flat and insipid designs printed on “paper” – not paper that raises to the level of  “stationery.”   While we can lament the decline in the informed consumer, let us spend our time rejoicing in the many who still treasure the craftsmanship that goes into making fine stationery.

And for those designers and printing companies who are inspired to create beautiful stationery rather than become leaders of mass-marketed papers, we salute you and wish you well.

Richard W. May
Thérèse Saint Clair

I heard recently from a fellow stationer that one of her clients had complained that a blind embossed store name on the underside of the envelope flap of a wedding invitation was “cheap” and “overly promotional.”  First of all, blind embossing is not cheap as it requires an additional printing pass and; secondly, while promotional, it is generally regarded within the industry as a symbol of  stationery excellence.

We were both surprised at the client’s reaction considering the fact that she was dressed from head to toe in brand-name merchandise and drives a conspicuously branded automobile.   Perhaps it was a bad hair day, but to complain about a store name blind embossed on the inner flap of an envelope is akin to complaining about a hallmark on a sterling silver frame.

I know of few companies who provide this fast-disappearing touch of stationery excellence.  Although it is not widely known, Crane & Co. still provides this lovely service.  If you are fortunate to receive a letter with a store-imprint on the envelope flap, you can be assured that the sender appreciates fine stationery.

Sheila P. May
Thérèse Saint Clair

I don’t like to quote myself since it appears – and is – self-serving, but I recently published an article called “It’s not worth the paper it’s printed on – The lost art of fine stationery.”   The tongue-in-cheek article seeks to apply a monetary value to correspondence using engraved stationery to determine if it is any more relevant than the new forms of social correspondence such as Twitter and text-messaging.

Clearly, the conscious act of  visiting a stationery store to design your own personal stationery demonstrates a level of commitment to a  meaningful form of communication.  I think it is fair to say that words exchanged in writing tend to leave more of a lasting impression than a phone conversation.   While both may accomplish the same objective, the simple act of taking the time to write a brief note resonates on a more personal level.

I recently learned that an industry research study (I did not actually read the report) had concluded that 86% of people interviewed still considered “paper” correspondence to be a more effective form of communication.  More than that, the trend is holding steady suggesting that text messaging and social media sites may not be making as much headway as once suspected.

Certainly, today’s New York Times article “Buying, Selling and Twittering All the Way“  suggests that the Twitter model has been seriously compromised by Big Business.  Twitter’s tag line of “What are you doing?” now seems to have been overtaken by paid mercenaries building “brand awareness” for their employer.  According to the article, Greg Ahearn of Toys “R” Us stated that Twitter is “a way people can stay connected with the brand in a way they’ve never been able to before.”   Now, I can’t really understand why people would want to stay connected to a brand (even Toys “R” Us), but I am absolutely convinced that the Big Business footprint in Twitter will drive their audience to greener pastures.  Big Business simply doesn’t get it:  Twitter is about people, Twitter is not a medium for aggressively selling or creating brand awareness!

I am reassured that people still value the exchange of social correspondence:  It is a habit and art form well worth preserving.

Richard W. May
Therese Saint Clair

We just received an email from a friend of one of our European clients asking us how she can order stationery.  Found below is a slightly editorialized (names removed) and abridged version of her email request:

“I have just been admiring the (pale blue) card and envelope sent me by Jane Doe of Oslo, Norway, and would like to know how I can order some similar cards and envelopes as well as sheets of letter paper.  Until recently, I have used the stationery I bought through Merrimade, but after they went  ’modern’  they only answer standardized, in robot-like-fashion to my questions, and there is no r e a l  person I can write to or  e-mail with. So I have given them up. But I urgently need new stationery!”

I suspect that this is not unusual in our increasingly digital world:  personal service has been replaced robots.  As stationers, we are finding that there is a clear negative correlation in the “quality of service” and “quality of stationery” as our suppliers increase the level of automation in their front and back office.   As the email above suggests, the buyer is also finding it increasing difficult to interact with moronic robots that have replaced common sense with efficiency. 

As the  evidence of a disconnect between discerning clients and the skilled artisans that produce fine stationery continues to accumulate, I suspect that fine paper manufacturers must eventually decide whether they want to be all-things-to-all-people or concentrate on providing distinctive papers, quality designs and great customer service to a more restricted client base that appreciates personalized stationery and custom invitations.  It is not an easy decision. 

Richard W. May
Therese Saint Clair

The New York Times reports that a price war is developing in the merchandising of books that threatens to destroy the industry.  New York Times writer, Motoko Rich, says that a price war between Wal-Mart and Amazon accelerated on Friday with many bestsellers offered online at $8.99. 

Writes Motoko Rich, “Publishers, booksellers, agents and authors, meanwhile, fretted that the battle was taking prices for certain hardcover titles so low that it could fundamentally damage the industry and ability of future authors to write or publish new works.”   If you like Chainsaw Al, you’ve got to love Wal-Mart.  Once Wal-Mart  gets a stranglehold on an industry the resulting landscape will be as barren as Georgia after Sherman’s march to to the sea during the Civil War. 

A similar, but not so dramatic, battle is taking place in the stationery industry.  Yep!  Wal-Mart has got its paw into this industry too, selling greeting cards for $0.46.  American Greetings and many other greeting card companies are suffering by these predatory practices of Wal-Mart.  As Wal-Mart pushes for the last cent from its suppliers to provide the “cheapest” product on the market, hundreds if not thousands of artisans, craftspeople, workers and families are displaced and marginalized by their practices.  

While the current bestseller from Amazon, Wal-Mart and the town bookstore are identical, one might ask “why should I pay more?”   I guess it is for the same reason why discerning consumers pay more for “green” energy:  they are concerned by the implications of their purchasing decisions.    I think it would be a stretch of credulity to assume that Wal-Mart really cares about the future generations of authors, craftspeople and artisans that no longer can support themselves in an industry dessimated by Wal-Mart.   I guess these would-be artisans will be obliged to lay down their paint brushes, sell their Heidelberg presses and donate their book-binding tools to museums and become sales clerks at Wal-Mart.

As a stationer, I see many inferior designs and poor paper quality touted   as “fine stationery” by online marketing companies and their  paid internet marketing mercenaries who shamelessly promote their brand  in social media channels.   Stationers and Fine Paper companies simply must do a far better job in “educating” the consumer that there is more to fine stationery than a disingenous advertising ploy.

I am delighted to report that I have learned from reliable sources that Mrs. John L. Strong will reopen shortly at their original address on Madison Avenue.   As many loyal patrons are no doubt aware, this esteemed stationer was forced to close its doors earlier this spring.   I was advised that a new and reinvigorated Mrs. John L. Strong will emerge shortly following the sale of the company to a new owner.

Sources close to transaction have informed me that “the new owner will, no doubt, be in contact with the customer base within a matter of weeks of reopening.  You can make an appropriate entry on your blog to this effect.”

Consider it done!

I have received several inquires regarding the whereabouts of personal engraving dies from loyal patrons of Mrs. John L. Strong. My advice to them is to wait until the new owner gets their feet on the ground. I am sure you will be contacted in the near future. If I receive any additional information, I will gladly pass it on.

This is very good news indeed when one of the icons of fine stationery and good taste is given another life to thrill and enchant those who admire great craftsmanship and the elegance of beautiful paper.

Richard W. May
Founding Member of the Stationers Guild

Yesterday’s New York Times had a fascinating article tracing the tragic decline of the Australian wine industry.  Meriah Foley in an article entitled “For Australian Winemakers, More Turns Out to Be Less,” documents the decline in margins of the world’s fourth largest wine exporter whose aggressive pricing to build market share now threatens the entire industry.  Writes Ms. Foley, “Even as its star appeared to be rising, the Australian wine industry was sliding, selling a greater volume of wine at increasingly lower prices . . . a level many say is unsustainable.”  For one who discovered the bold new taste of Coonawarra wine in the late 70s, this comes as a bitter disappointment.

For some time, I have felt that the same thing has been occurring in the stationery industry.  We are constantly bombarded with new papers and designs that - like Australian wines –  British wine writer Andrew Jefford refers to as “cheap and cheerful.”   As more and more fine stationery companies fall prey to the need to mass-market their product over the Internet, brand awareness and quality standards will inevitably give way to price competitiveness. 

I have long argued that there is no way to differentiate your brand on the Internet and the only way to compete effectively is to become the low cost producer.  This implies sacrificing standards and quality.   Once you have done so, can you restore brand awareness to a public that has become accustomed to the “discounted” brand?  The Australian wine industry is a vivid example of what can happen to an industry that loses its bearings and places its emphasis on growing market share rather than promoting brand awareness.

It is not difficult to see the same tragedy unfolding in the stationery industry.   With self-appointed pundits shamelessly promoting inferior designs, cheap papers and anything-goes etiquette, it is no wonder that the public is confused and disoriented.    I fear that the stationery industry is rapidly paddling up the river of no return.   If we want to preserve the integrity of the industry, designers and craftspeople and industry leaders must collectively raise their voice to the innane claims, hyperbole and simply “bad taste” that permeates our industry.

I recently received an email from trendy stationery designer Boatman Geller indicating that they were now a proud supporter of the nationwide 3/50 Project.   The Stationers Guild was one of the early supporters of Cinda Baxter’s 3/50 Project and, as Guild members, we are very much encouraged that leading stationery companies are now getting behind this important initiative.

As readers of this Blog may recall, the objective of the 3/50 project is to save “the brick & mortars our nation is built on” by encouraging residents to support local businesses.  Spending patterns suggest that roughly two-thirds of the money spent at local stores remains in the community. The benefits to the community through taxes and employment of online sales are virtually negligible.   With small business employment continuing to plummet, town and community infrastructures across the United States will be radically changed.  The 3/50 project is simply a call-to-arms to help protect local businesses and the fabric of our communities.

Boatman Geller will be sending a printable manufacturer’s coupon that can be redeemed at any retail store that carries Boatman Geller’s Personalized Collections.  This is very encouraging news and will hopefully be emulated by other fine stationery companies to protect their bricks and mortar dealer network.

Nevertheless, a far more positive step would be sell Boatman Geller’s personalized collections exclusively through retail stores.  My own opinion is that “fine” stationery sold through internet distribution channels will eventually  become little more than “paper” to consumers that are deprived of the tactile and visual experience of selecting their stationery in person.  Perhaps, Boat Geller might want to reconsider whether the “value” or “uniqueness” of their brand is really enhanced by selling through 24 online resellers.

In a surprise development that has taken the stationery industry by storm, National Stationery Show spokesperson, Shirley Greenhouse, announced that the National Stationery Show would be “entirely digital” by 2012.  Ms. Greenhouse stated that “today’s consumer is embracing a new medium to express themselves and, quite frankly, paper is no longer considered Eco-chic, timely or relevant.”

While this will come as a shock to traditionalists and the many artisans who produce fine paper, it is a huge cost-saving boon to online resellers and printers who can now substitute paper invitations and stationery with online images.   Said one delighted CEO, who preferred to remain anonymous, “we can finally compete with the Chinese now that we don’t have to deliver the goods.”   For another anonymous executive,  it is a dream come true:  “Brides can now have digital stationery and invitations to match their wedding website.  To be quite honest, producing ‘real paper’ was just a distraction and got in the way of cross-selling other products and services to bridal couples.”

While Ms. Greenhouse, dismissed accusations that the NSS digital plan was a sell-out to online resellers who produce little of tangible value other than advertising revenue, many brick-and-mortar retailers were disappointed with the announcement.   Store-owner Elizabeth Long from Stillwater, OK remarked that she looked forward to visiting NY and catching up with the latest industry trends.  Says Elizabeth, “despite the over-priced food and beverages at the Jacob K. Javits Center, I will really miss rubbing elbows with talented designers and the beautiful papers they produce.  Quite frankly, I’ve never understood the ’save a tree’ mantra of online marketers since we only sell stationery made from cotton rag.  I guess it’s a generational thing.  If the new generation can’t spell stationary correctly, I suppose there is no reason for them to buy it.”

Charles Avery, a long-time distributor for many fine paper lines watched a lifetime of ”pushing paper” disappear in a cloud of low-resolution pixels.  While obviously distraught, Mr. Avery summed up the situation quite philosophically, “this adds new meaning to the expression that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’”   Even the “Twits” on Twitter were taken aback by this stunning announcement and were furiously text messaging the organizers for further clarification.  Fortunately for Ms. Greenhouse, the NSS email Server was down again, a regular occurrence that the GLM management company laughingly refers to as “turning a deaf ear to the situation.”

It is hard to believe that the National Stationery Show organizers would take such a radical step and turn the lights off on a 500 year-old industry spawned by the Johannes Gutenberg.  “Certainly, it is better than moving the Stationery Show to Las Vegas, but this is still rather extreme,” summed up one grizzled paper veteran.  Ms. Greenhouse offered no apologies for the decision, and deftly fielded many cynical questions with the curious sound bite “if we can rebuild Detroit without gas-guzzling cars, we can certainly build a better world without paper.  Long live the Spotted Owl!”   We are hopeful that the organizers will certainly reconsider their pronouncement on April Fools Day.

Browershots recently showcased the StationersGuild website as an example of superior design incorporating CSS style sheets and user-friendly navigation.    Browershots listed the website in their CSS Gallery along with other website designs which incorporate state-of-the-art design features that comply with web standards.

This is not the first time that the StationersGuild website has been cited by web designers.  Inguna Trepsa of Ante Meridiem Design is responsible for creating this exceptional design for the StationersGuild.  The focus was on ease of navigation, speed in loading relevant information for the online user and a simple “search” feature incorporating Google Maps to help buyers of fine stationery and custom invitations locate qualified stationers in their neighborhood.

Richard May, a founding member of the StationersGuild, notes that “it was a pleasure working with Inguna and aside from her inspired design for the Guild website, she managed to keep the site efficient and easy to navigate for the online visitor.”