Papyrus, that purveyor of quality greeting cards and stationary products (you know, the one with the gold hummingbird stickers) is going out of business, citing the current shopping environment as it relates to greeting cards. Read as “eCards have taken a large part of our business.” Sister greeting card line American Greetings is also closing up shop. As of yet there is no word as to whether their online counterparts will remain in business or not.
Full Text of Papyrus Statement from Dominique Schurman
In a message to employees, Papyrus owner and COO Dominique Schurman explained that “Despite our Herculean efforts to realign our Papyrus and American Greetings stores to fit today’s shopping environment, Schurman Retail Group had to make the difficult decision to close all 254 of our stores in North America, which will impact our workforce of about 1,400 employees. We will close most stores over the next four to six weeks. We want to thank all of our loyal customers for their patronage of our proud family business started by my parents 70 years ago.”
We’ve written previously about why you should never send someone an online greeting card, and also about the evils of online greeting cards. But people will still opt for the easiest way to send a card, either without thinking about what exactly they are doing or, worse, not caring.
In addition to the reasons enumerated in the above two articles to not send online greeting cards (1. you are giving someone’s email address to a company without their permission, which 2. will cause them to get spammed, and which 3. may cause them to receive an enormous, code-and-image bloated email in their inbox, and which 4. demonstrates to the recipient just how lazy you are, and how little effort you are willing to make for them) you can now add to those reasons 5: which is putting brick-and-mortar greeting card and stationary companies out of business.
In fact, according to Newsday, the number of greeting cards sent through the mail fell a staggering 35% in the eight years between 2010 and 2018. Newsday also points out that the number of greeting card retail stores has declined by more than 25% in just the past 5 years.
The Internet Patrol is completely free, and reader-supported. Your tips via CashApp, Venmo, or Paypal are appreciated! Receipts will come from ISIPP.
CashApp us
Venmo us
Paypal us
In any event, this is a sad day for anyone who actually bothers to send or give real greeting cards. Papyrus’ cards were some of the most beautiful ever made.
Papyrus’ Iconic Gold Hummingbird Sticker
What Papyrus has to say about that hummingbird symbol:
Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy and celebration. Hummingbirds open our eyes to the wonder of the world and inspire us to open our hearts to loved ones and friends. Like a hummingbird, we aspire to hover and to savor each moment as it passes, embrace all that life has to offer and to celebrate the joy of everyday. The hummingbird’s delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every personal connection has meaning and that laughter is life’s sweetest creation.
Goodbye, Papyrus, the world is poorer for your loss.
The Internet Patrol is completely free, and reader-supported. Your tips via CashApp, Venmo, or Paypal are appreciated! Receipts will come from ISIPP.
CashApp us
Venmo us
Paypal us
A commenter asked: “Did you ever find humming bird stickers I am also looking for them.”
There are some on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/275623415050/