BlackBerrys, laptops and other electronic devices have become an integral part of daily life. But for some things, many consumers still prefer paper and pen.
At Bookin' It in Little Falls, Minn., sales of journals "remain strong," said owner Laura Hansen. The store carries journals from seven companies, one of which is Under the Mango Tree. "We took a chance on them a couple of years ago--we thought the price point might be too high for us--and we sell out several times a year," said Hansen. "They're made of lush, soft leather, some with stone embellishments and hand-tooled elements--very earthy and rustic." The journals are handmade from 100% recycled materials using a 2,000-year-old paper recipe that, according to the company, is the same kind of paper on which Shakespeare penned his sonnets and the U.S. Constitution is written.
Earlier this year Bookin' It began carrying notebooks from Whitelines, a three-year-old Swedish company that launched in the U.S. in April. Hansen became aware of Whitelines at last year's Midwest Booksellers Association trade show. "They were mentioned during one of the Rep Pick of the List sessions," she said. "We visited [Whitelines distributor] Consortium's website every few months watching for them to become available."
Whitelines' signature product is a sleek-looking white notebook with orange accents that comes with a hardcover or softcover and in a variety of sizes and bindings. The paper, pale gray with white lines, has been dubbed "paper without distractions" by the company's founder, designer Olof Hansson. The light hues are easy on the eyes, and the lines don't compete with what's written or show up when photocopied, making, he said, for a more pleasurable writing experience. "We see it as a lifestyle product," said Michael Walters, Whitelines's director of business development in North America. "What we've been finding is that people who start using it become very brand loyal."
Appealing to environmentally-conscious consumers, each notebook is labeled with the item's carbon footprint. "It has become the world's healthiest paper," said Walters, who noted that very low levels of carbon dioxide are emitted in the creation and distribution of Whitelines' notebooks. (The plant in southern Sweden where the products are manufactured reuses carbon dioxide in a closed loop.)
Whitelines is carried by more than 250 accounts in the U.S. and Canada, many of which are bookstores. "We're getting the most traction right now in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Chicago," Walters said. He noted that recently customers in Boston and elsewhere in New England have been inquiring about which stores in the area carry the notebooks.
Like some other booksellers, Emoke B'Racz, owner of Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville, N.C., received a sample of a Whitelines notebook and a note from Olof Hansson. "Not only did I like the personable note, but I loved the design and feel of the notebook," said B'Racz. Gina Moon, the store's mistress of cards and sidelines, added: "It's fast becoming one of our bestselling journal lines. They're attractive, inexpensive, and well-made." Malaprop's also carries journals and notebooks from Èccolo, Ecojot, Seltzer, Yellow Owl Workshop, Moleskine (which makes the store's bestselling date book) and Paperblanks.
The latter brand is popular with Malaprop's customers for gift-giving. Paperblanks, based in Vancouver, B.C., has been producing journals for nearly two decades and has a 450-item backlist--journals, guest books, address books and day planners--with new products added twice a year.
Journals come in a wide array of styles, from the evergreen bestsellers in the Old Leather Collection--which are crafted from paper to resemble antique leather--to a new line called Japanese Lacquer Boxes, inspired by the ancient craft of lacquerware. Recent additions to the popular Embellished Manuscripts line--adorned with excerpts from the works of writers, artists, musicians and philosophers--are F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Edgar Allan Poe's epic poem "Tamerlane." (This year is the 200th anniversary of Poe's birth.)
For its paper, Paperblanks uses pulp harvested from damaged lodgepole pine trees. In the American West and Canada, large swaths of the trees are being destroyed by the mountain pine beetle. Once infested, they either rot away or can be harvested for pulp.
Paperblanks products are sold in more than 500 independent bookstores, Borders and Barnes & Noble, served by the company's team of 85 sales representatives. Paperblanks exhibits at several regional trade shows--PNBA, MPIBA, NEIBA and, for the first time this year, MBA--where the company offers specials and giveaways. "We really value our relationships with bookstores," said Laurel Rivers, U.S. sales director. "Given the economy, this year we've made some positive changes to show our partnership commitment with our bookseller retailers." One involves volume discounts based on how many units are ordered. Another is a rebate: accounts that grow their business a certain percentage in 2009 will receive a check at the end of the year that can be cashed or applied toward future purchases.
A growing segment of Paperblanks's business is day planners--60 different designs for 2010. Sales of day planners have risen 25% year over year since they were added in 2006. "I don't think computers are going to be replacing the ease of a day planner any time soon," said Rivers. One reason is that having information like holidays available at a glance aids in planning and scheduling. "People still keep wall calendars in their kitchen for the same reason," added Rivers. "You're not going to run upstairs to your computer to look at the date. You want it in front of you."
Whether it's a practical matter like ease of use or something more intangible, journals, day planners and the like continue to hold their appeal. "There are people who find it important to write things down," said Whitelines's Walters. "We can do digital artwork, but we still paint, we still draw, we still sculpt. The sense of expression in human nature is always going to be there."--Shannon McKenna Schmidt