Meet the 'New" Kate's

By Sarah Schwartz, Editor

Kate's Paperie is arguably to stationers what New York is to America: the tastemaker, the trendsetter — and thus, to many, the standard by which all others are judged. While each has contenders to its throne, both have such distinctive, engrossing voices, you tend to tune out the competition while you're there.

The first Kate's Paperie was opened in Manhattan in 1988 by Joe Barreiro and Leonard Flax, and named for Flax's wife. In the ensuing two decades, the venue's success was such that when a new artist or company got in, that company had, in a very important sense, arrived.

These days savvy shoppers in Manhattan or Greenwich, Conn., who are looking to personalize their written and printed communications — not to mention their wrapped gifts — know they needn't look farther than Kate's. With a globally sourced giftwrap and paper collection 2,000 strong, accented with 500 ribbons, their gifts are perfectly dressed for any occasion or recipient.

So when Angelica Berrie, the widow of gift powerhouse Russ Berrie, bought the venue, the stationery world held its breath to see what would happen. But the store's fans needn't have feared — Berrie's resume and drive are as dynamic as her late husband's. When the couple met, Angelica owned a papier-mache factory in the Philippines that exported jewelry, holiday ornaments and decor to companies like Crate & Barrel and Pier 1 Imports.

“Russ was one of my buyers (for) paper jewelry, which he liked to tell people he could not get at a good price and so had to marry me,” Berrie remembered. “I worked for Russ after we married, starting as director of paper goods. After we sold the company (Russ Berrie), I was casting about for a new challenge. (I) sought out the owners of Kate's because it was always the store I loved most in New York City.”

The Brand, Redefined
Berrie purchased a majority interest in Kate's Paperie in November 2007, and on Aug. 8, 2008, bought the remaining outstanding shares to finalize the ownership. She then “embarked on refreshing and polishing the brand.”

Three words sum up the store's reinvention in more ways than one: discovery, creativity and inspiration. “Kate's Paperie started as an arts supply store in Parsons School of Design and evolved into an insider's resource for the design community,” she noted. “As other paper stores became more sophisticated, Kate's continued to attract people from out of town, but needed to burnish its image. It needed to become more of a destination experience that engaged the 'creative influentials' (as) a place (to) find ideas and inspiration.”

Achieving this required a complete overhaul. The first step was hiring a brand strategist to help position Kate's as the nexus for celebrating creativity. Nearly a year was devoted to assembling management and branding teams to “bring the magic back.” New buyers and visual merchandisers were brought in to create windows to signal, in Berrie's words, “something new is happening at Kate's!”

“I likened the process to 'changing the tires while the car was moving,' as we could not afford to stop selling while we made changes,” she described. “I hired Design MW, a boutique agency in Tribeca, known for their award-winning work for retailers such as West Elm and Saks Fifth Avenue. I wanted a more artisanal and organic feel to the logo, packaging, signage and Web site.”

The new logo updates the original “k” within a circle. Variations of it, each with different textures and colors in the circle's background, represent “fingerprints” reflecting the individuality of the Kate's customer. “The signature pattern on the interiors of the shopping bags and store signage combines dozens of fingerprint variations, expressing the collective creative forum that is Kate's,” Berrie explained.

Honing the Image
Other 2008 projects included bringing in a British artist, Zoe Bradley, to create giant paper flowers for windows with Kate's papers. Berrie's brother Greg discovered Bradley in London when he stumbled upon windows she'd created for fashion companies.

“We provided Zoe with our Japanese Yuzen and Stardream papers and she die-cut, hand assembled and finished giant paper flowers inspired by Oriental gardens, hanging them artfully, without any visible wires in all our store windows. Just magical!” Berrie recalled. “The flowers were so huge Zoe had to fabricate them in her studio outside London. There were a total of 29 S-shaped curve sculptures, each one containing approximately 12 flowers of six different styles ranging from 12 to 24 inches plus the hanging blossoms that extended 36 inches.

“We shipped them in containers to the U.S., and she came over with an assistant to direct our visual merchandise team, assembling them herself until midnight — mounted on ladders and newly pregnant,” she continued. “This was her largest window art installation in the U.S., and we launched the windows with a party, producing postcards of her creations for the press.”

Other introductions included a gift guide as well as the launch of Unwrapped, a publication for the shop's fans. The store's greeting card section, already renowned for its broad range, was expanded further. A redesigned Web site with editorial content was launched in late December.

And all that, Berrie explained, was just Phase One. “We have also partnered with the Museum of Art and Design to sponsor their first show: SLASH: Paper Under the Knife, with paper artists developed by the museum displaying their works in Kate's windows. By 2010, we expect to launch Kate's Paperie's wholesale line.”

Future plans also include partnerships with fashion and design figures to create eponymous, exclusive collections. “We want Kate's to be a place where creative designers develop unique products we sell to other creative people because they share the same language,” she pointed out. “Prospective partners include craft designers who will create branded paper party goods and paper manufacturers who look to Kate's as a laboratory to test ideas and build their brands. We'll also seek out paper artists, graphic designers and letterpress printers to create products exclusively for us.”

At the Core
The paperies themselves are a work in progress. “My vision for the store involves transforming spaces into experiential selling theaters that empower our customers to create and share ideas with each other,” Berrie said. “We have changed store layouts (with) better merchandised gift sections, and hope to create areas like gift boutiques and creativity centers with activities that attract people into participating.”

Promotions, too, will receive a makeover via a gift card program, she added. “We want our gift cards to provide access to special events and experiences. This will involve meeting artists and writers at the store, partnership occasions with other companies and gifts members will (see) first.”

Her latest endeavor also will enhance Berrie's already remarkable philanthropic efforts. “I was appalled by the lack of creative arts programs in public schools, which are so important to the development of children. We are developing a product line to benefit arts programs in public schools through existing nonprofits.”

Berrie continues to be inspired by her late husband Russ. “My husband was a gifted sales entrepreneur who had such great instincts for finding impulse gifts. It is a talent that cannot be duplicated, but I learned from him how important it is to develop gifts that connect people emotionally,” she finished. “He used to say, 'We are not selling products, we sell love, friendship and emotion.'”