With Its Colorful Products, Russell+Hazel Aims to Make Sure Paper Is Always in Style
By Terri Sapienza
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 28, 2008
When Chris Plantan was growing up, her family celebrated the start of school as if it were Christmas. "My grandparents would send a lovingly wrapped package of school supplies to us each fall" from their general store in Sheffield, Ill., she says. "I loved it."
Thus began Plantan's personal relationship with paper. Years later, when she went to work as an architect and was uninspired by the notebooks, notepads and folders in the office supply closet, she made her own. Then she did the same for her daughter.
Rather than sending her child to school with a store-bought vinyl binder, Plantan made one out of heavy-grade book board. She covered the spine in bright red-orange linen, attached a dry-erase board to the inside cover and wrapped a big rubber band around the whole thing to avoid "binder explosion." When classmates began offering her daughter money for her homemade binder, Plantan knew she was onto something.
Today, she is the founder and owner of a successful high-end stationery and office supply business based in Minnesota. The products are designed to be fun and functional -- to "add life to your work," according to Plantan. She named the company after those same grandparents, Russell and Hazel.
Started as an e-commerce site in 2003, Russell+Hazel has a flagship store in Minneapolis, and its supplies can also be found at http://www.russellandhazel.com, national retailer the Container Store, in the Neiman Marcus catalogue and in smaller boutiques worldwide. Last year, the company did almost $2 million in sales, a remarkable showing for a paper-based business in a sluggish economy and a society bound to iPhones and BlackBerrys.
But these are not your ordinary office supplies.
The company's clean, colorful take on notebooks, pens, binders and storage containers have made it a favorite among designers, shelter magazines and movie studios. (Its products have appeared in "The Devil Wears Prada" and the latest Indiana Jones movie, to name two.) This summer, Russell+Hazel was invited to open a temporary shop in one of Manhattan's luxury department stores, Henri Bendel.
The small satellite shop, meant to tempt school-clothes shoppers, includes a "binder bar," where customers can get help putting their organizational components together, and a "fitting desk" for shoppers to try out their picks before making a purchase. Binders start at $14, single-subject notebooks at $12.
Plantan and her designers look to fashion runways and the home-design industry for guidance when choosing the newest shades and patterns to add to their core collection of colors: lime green, red-orange, light blue and charcoal gray. The vibrant and stylish R+H products beg to be displayed on a desk or carried about town.
Welcome to the world of the office supply as a personal accessory.
We talked to Plantan via phone and e-mail from Minneapolis about Russell+Hazel and the appeal of paper.
How does a company that so heavily relies on paper continue to thrive in an increasingly electronic world?
I don't think we'll ever become a completely paperless society -- we're just not wired that way. I think we need to hold products and use things instead of just type away. Being able to write things down is a part of who we are as a culture.
Who are your competitors, and what makes R+H stand out among them?
Our competitors are big-box stores where purchases are made out of convenience. We are a separate destination. Shoppers have to make the decision to visit our site or a place that carries our products. . . . It's the level of quality and our attention to detail that makes us stand out. For example, our designs have lines that don't run off the pages, which is more expensive. The paper is made of mostly recycled content. The weight of paper is heavier, so there is no bleed-though, and we use metal corners for reinforcement so products don't fall apart. We don't add things to drive up the price point. Everything is added for a reason and enhances the product.
Who is your typical customer?
Female, ages 18 to 45 -- but I think I'll say 50, so I can be part of that group! -- from urban areas.
What is R+H's most popular item?
The three-ring binder. A binder is something we've all grown up with, and it's an easy way to organize. We print things out and need to put them somewhere. We always recommend you start with the binder, either size [standard or mini]. We specifically designed the system around them. All the paper products and organizational items work within or around this system.
What is your favorite?
The mini-notebook. I use one per week, and I date them by week. I carry a whole month's worth in my mini-binder. When the month is over, I organize them in my desk, where I keep the whole year for easy reference. They are great when you're on the go, because you don't have to carry a whole binder.
Do you prefer paper?
I do for my record-keeping and personal date-keeping, and I still take notes that way. I will say that I don't know what I'd do without my BlackBerry, but . . . I can't imagine ever going completely electronic. I think I'd panic.
How do you come up with new ideas?
We look at what people will be wearing each season and bring in colors that will add a lot of punch and juice in small doses. We take the colors we see on the runways and in the stores at the moment. . . . Someone may not look good dressed in one of those colors, but they can spend $16 on a binder and have fun with it without making a huge financial investment. This fall, the new colors will be Apricot and Mandarin.
What does the future hold for Russell+Hazel?
Bendel's was so exciting: opening a store within a store and using other people's real estate. We're very excited to start working with that same model in different locations and are currently in talks with iconic landmark retailers, Fred Segal in Los Angeles, Halls in Kansas City and Selfridges in London. We want to turn buying office products into a Saturday afternoon purchase with friends or family, instead of a drudgery purchase made after work. The thought is: Can Post-it Notes be lip gloss?
When are you going to open a store in D.C.?
If we had some capital, we would love to. . . . I'd love to be in D.C. or Ann Arbor [Mich.] . . . areas that have a lot of energy. I do see the excitement and joy when people walk into a store. I mean, gosh, we are more productive when we are organized.
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