| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail (Speciality) |
| Founder(s) | W H Smith |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
| Key people | The Earl of Minto |
| Products | Stationery, Greeting cards |
| Parent | Primary Capital |
| Website | www.paperchase.co.uk |
Paperchase is an international chain of stationery stores which were established in the United Kingdom but have since expanded into the USA. As well as stand alone stores, there are Paperchase concessions in selected House of Fraser, Waterstones and Selfridges stores. Since 2004, Paperchase concessions have been included in over 300 Borders stores in the USA; in 2007 it was announced that the first American stand alone store would be opened in Boston.[1] The head of the company is the seventh Earl of Minto.
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The first Paperchase stores were opened in the UK in the early 1970s,[2] and has had a very varied ownership during the 1990s and 2000s. In 1996 the private equity group Graphite Capital backed the Paperchase directors in a management buyout of the original chain of 12 stores for £1m from WH Smith, and the company has since been officially known as Paperchase Products Ltd.[3]
In 1999, Borders Group bought a 15% stake of the Paperchase company and increased this share to 97% in 2004, when it bought out the rest of Graphite Capital's share for £18.6m.[4] The four Paperchase directors retained the other 3% share between them.[5]
In 2007 Borders sold a a majority stake in the UK and Irish division of Paperchase to Risk Capital for £10million.[6]
In May 2008, the Borders Group announced it was considering selling its 97% share to one of either HgCapital, Isis Equity Partners or Change Capital,[7] with W H Smith interested in putting in a £50million bid - 12 years after selling it at £1m.[8]
With the administration and closure of Borders in the United Kingdom in late 2009, the company lost a large presence on the british high street as there was a Paperchase concession within every UK Borders. The UK division of Borders separated from its parent and the owner of Paperchase in 2007, and all Border stores were closed on 22 December 2009. To replace these lost UK retail sites, Paperchase concessions were formed in a number of hmv and Waterstones stores during 2010.[9]
In July 2010, Paperchase was sold by Borders to Primary Capital for $31m (£20m).[10]
As of October 2011, Paperchase has over 100 retail points of sale, made of up a mix of concessions and standalone stores. These are based primary in the UK, with several in Dubai and a few in Denmark.
Paperchase bases it products on strong design and is famous for having designers focus on current fashion trends. The company designs and produces hundreds of products under its own brand name 'Paperchase'. Like a fashion chain, they release 'collections' several times a year. Each collection is made up of one pattern, which is then applied to a number of different stationary, home and luggage products. These range from notebooks, pens, mugs and bags. The pattern is often applied to matching greeting cards, wrap and gift bags. The company also makes a basic range for everyday stationary.
In addition to this, Paperchase also buys half of its products from third party suppliers, mainly their gift cards and everyday stationary. In larger stores, they stock Filoxfax, Moleskine and Waterman products.
Paperchase is the brand leader in stocking innovative and design-led greetings cards, with thousands of ranges stocked in each store. They produce their own greetings cards, but buy in a large amount of third party cards.
Paperchase has over 100 stores internationally, made of up concessions within Selfridges, Harrods, Waterstones, HMV and House of Fraser, and standalone stores. They are based mainly within the UK, but with stores expanding to Dubai United Arab Emirates and Denmark.
Paperchase invest heavily in Visual Merchandising and their stores are creatively organised, with notebooks organised by height and type. Often products will be suspended from ceilings as part of displays. Their flagship store at Tottenham Court Road and is known as 'Paperchase Heaven'.
In February 2010 the company was accused of stealing artwork created by an independent British artist - [11] Hidden Eloise.[12] An artist working for the agency Gather No Moss eventually admitted tracing the artwork.[13] The items based on the copied artwork are no longer available from Paperchase.