Papyrus (stylized as PAPYRUS) is a brand name originated by a former American

stationery Stationery refers to writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, continuous form paper, and other office supplies. Stationery usually specifies materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter paper) or by equipment such as computer p ...

and

greeting card A greeting card is a piece of card stock, usually with an illustration or photo, made of high quality paper featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions such as birthday ...

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 County, Tennessee, Davidson and Sumner County, Tennessee, Sumner Counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It was incorporated as a city in 1958 with a population of just over 3,000 residents; in 2020, its popul ...

, and was the flagship brand of the Schurman Retail Group. 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 American Greetings Corporation is a privately held American company and is the world's second largest greeting card producer behind Hallmark Cards. Based in Westlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland, the company sells paper greeting ...

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 Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. 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 Card stock, cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. In some places, one can send a ...

, 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 chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

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. By January 2020, all 260 remaining Papyrus and other Schurman retail stores were closed, and 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 ...

two months later.

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 () 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 Card Retail" has been owned by ...

. 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