IP’s Former "Paper Shop" Comes Back to Life, Returns to Richmond

 

According to a report this past week by Richmond Bizsense, Richmond., Va., USA, the former retail branch of the world’s largest paper company, International Paper (Memphis, Tenn.), known as "If It’s Paper," is under new ownership and has returned to Richmond, one of its most prominent markets during peak business years of the past for IP retail paper. If It’s Paper has now been revived in the region’s market when it opened April 8.

The 3,100 sq. ft. store is now the third for owners Lisa DuCom and Cubby Culbertson, who purchased the brand from IP in 2010. DuCom said it was one of 40 stores owned by the pulp and paper giant before it began to wind down retail operations to focus on production.

DuCom had been the store manager at the If It’s Paper location in Columbia, S.C., for 13 years prior to its closing. She said long-time customers were dismayed that the store was shutting down.

"There were a lot of sad women in Columbia that day," DuCom said. "I just had a lot of people saying, ‘Lisa, what are you going to do?’"

DuCom expressed interest in taking over the If It’s Paper brand, but she wasn’t sure she had the capital. Then, a frequent customer asked if she knew Culbertson, a prominent Columbian businessman. "Two days later (Culbertson) showed up in my office, and we hatched a plan to move forward," DuCom continued. "I knew the stores were profitable. I had first-hand knowledge of the financials and what kind of profits we had," she explained.

DuCom said she beat out, reportedly, about a dozen other If It’s Paper managers who had approached IP about purchasing the concept and its trademark. "I had built my reputation for 13 years," DuCom said. "(IP) knew if anyone could do it, I could."

DuCom and Culbertson opened their first new location in Columbia in 2011 and added a Greenville, S.C., store in 2012. Both were profitable within a year, DuCom said. She explained Richmond was the logical choice for their next step because the area was previously one of If It’s Paper’s biggest markets.

 

 

With the addition of the Richmond location, the company now has 10 employees. And DuCom said she’s been able to rehire former IP/If It’s Paper workers. "I’ve had no better satisfaction," she said. "One, they know the business, and two, they put their heart and souls into the jobs."

If It’s Paper purchases inventory from more than 50 vendors across the country. It caters to the paper needs of small businesses with orders that don’t meet the minimum required by bigger paper suppliers, a common problem now reported in today’s "paperless economy." The store also does printing jobs such as wedding invitations, business cards, and programs.

DuCom said it usually costs about $100,000 to open an If It’s Paper store. The company is financing the expansion into Richmond itself.

The company launched a new website last year to begin online sales, but it has ambitious plans to open more stores in various states throughout the southeast. "My goal is a dozen total stores in nine years," DuCom concluded.