Papyrus (stylized as PAPYRUS) is a brand name originated by a former American stationery and greeting card retailer that at one time operated over 450 stores throughout the United States and Canada. It was headquartered in

Goodlettsville, Tennessee Goodlettsville is a city in Davidson and Sumner counties, Tennessee. Goodlettsville was incorporated as a city in 1958 with a population of just over 3,000 residents; at the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 15,921 and in 2020 the po ...

, and was the flagship brand of the

Schurman Retail Group Schurman Retail Group is an American stationery, greeting card, gifts, and paper products company based in Fairfield, California. The company operates brands and retail stores under the names Papyrus, NIQUEA.D, and Paper Destiny. It also sells th ...

. The company sold a variety of products, including greeting cards, stationery, gift wrap, specialty gifts, jewelry, customized invitations, and other paper products. It was one of the largest greeting card retailers in the United States. The Papyrus products rights are owned by American Greetings.

History

The first Papyrus retail shop was opened in 1973 by Margrit Schurman in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

. It began as the retail wing of Schurman Fine Papers (now, the Schurman Retail Group). The original store was opened for less than $1,000 and featured a variety of fine art-inspired greeting cards,

postcards A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

, and other paper products. Over the next five years, more Papyrus stores opened around the United States, and the company soon began selling franchises. In the 1980s, the company began domestic production of Papyrus products. In 1991, Dominique Schurman became the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Schurman Fine Papers and Papyrus. At that time, there were around 37 Papyrus stores nationwide, and the company was bringing in $10 million per year. By 2005, the company operated around 146 Papyrus retail shops. In 2009, Papyrus's parent company, Schurman Retail Group, purchased all 346 American Greetings retail shops. A number of these stores were eventually rebranded as Papyrus stores. On January 16, 2020, it was announced that all 260 remaining Papyrus and other Schurman retail stores would be closing. On January 17, 2020, liquidation sales began in all stores under the management of Gordon Brothers. 30 of their closed stores were picked up by

Paper Source Paper Source is an American stationery and gift retailer based in Chicago, Illinois, that offers papers, custom invitations and announcements, gifts, greeting cards, gift wrap, paper craft kits, party supplies, and personalized stationery and st ...

by early March 2020.

Products

Papyrus sold a variety of luxury paper products including a selection of stationery and greeting cards. The chain is perhaps best known for its high-end greeting cards that often incorporated items like buttons, fabric, leather, zippers, glitter, and other embellishments. The stores also offered products like journals, note cards, gift wrap, and customized invitations. Through the NIQUEA.D brand, Papyrus sold a selection of gifts, jewelry, and other fashion accessories. Other brands sold in Papyrus stores included American Greetings and

Carlton Cards Carlton Cards Limited (french: Cartes Carlton Limitée) is a greeting card company in Canada. Its lines of cards include Carlton, Gibson and Tender Thoughts. It also distributes the American Greetings line of cards in Canada. Since 2009, "Carlton ...

. The Papyrus logo is a distinct pink hummingbird and can be found on a variety of Papyrus products.

References

External links

*{{Official website, www.papyrusonline.com Retail companies established in 1973 Retail companies disestablished in 2020 Companies based in Solano County, California 1973 establishments in California 2020 disestablishments in California History of Berkeley, California Defunct retail companies of the United States Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020