It’s Paper Mart’s 96th anniversary, and that means we’re celebrating by offering you savings on our top-of-the line wholesale packaging!
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August 8 – Free Gift with Purchase
Get a Free Travel Bottle with your $50 order (valid August 8-13th)!
August 15 – Paper Mart History
A timeline of Paper Mart’s most historic moments, right in your inbox.
August 17 – Flash Sale
An assortment of favorites at 10% off!
August 22 – $96 Giveaway
Stay tuned for details for a chance to win a $96 gift certificate!
August 31 – 96¢ Sale – One Day Only!
Some of our most-loved products will be marked down to $0.96, $1.96, $2.96…you get the idea. One day only!
Don’t wait! Visit www.papermart.com and start saving on everything from durable packaging materials to unique crafting supplies.
And if you’re looking for crafting tips and more unbeatable deals, follow us on social media! You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
For a company that is nearing its centennial mark, Paper Mart is looking as fresh and vibrant as it first started. This month Paper Mart is celebrating its 96th anniversary. To fathom how long that has been, Paper Mart began when Charlie Chaplin starred in the classic film The Kid, Winston Churchill became the Prime Minister of the Colonies, and Albert Einstein gave his lectures in New York on his new Theory of Relativity.
Excited for the Future
Founded by the Frick family, Paper Mart is in its fourth generation as a family owned business. Steering the company into the next century is going to be the next exciting thing. The current president Buffy Frick Simoni, recently did an interview with Brit+Co where she recalls her Mother’s advice, “Accept fear as part of new experiences, not a barrier to them. Her words remind me to focus on the opportunity for positive outcomes in new endeavors, rather than just the risk.”
Despite challenges, Paper Mart has always looked towards a brighter future. The company will change as business environments change, or new technologies emerge. This is a testament to how adaptable the company has become.
The company kept growing from that small garage in Los Angeles to a 14-person office on Marengo Street, to a building in the City of Commerce, finally settling here in Orange. The current facility has a 10.5-acre warehouse and houses over 240 people in Orange, California.
From Humble Beginnings
Paper Mart was born from a garage in rural Los Angeles in 1921. Back then it was called California Towel Supply. Started by G.A. Frick as the sales and deliveryman and Emma Frick as the bookkeeper. This husband and wife team worked hard to make their business grow. Most of their profits were put back into the business and they managed to stay out of debt.
Challenges arose during the great depression and World War II. Paper Mart and the whole country experienced a labor shortage. This put a lot of pressure on the company. All efforts were geared towards the war. They were hard times, but they got through it.
After the end of the war, second generation son Robert Frick became the new leader of the company. From there they changed names to Frick Paper Co. The product lineup also changed to concentrate on consumables such as paper towels and tissue, janitorial, and shipping supplies.
John Frick (third generation) took over the leadership role after Robert. He renamed the company to what we know today as Paper Mart. The business model also changed from a salesman style business to a regional discount mail order catalog business. This proved to be a good move. The business grew much faster. Leveraging the mail order and postal delivery system was a great business decision.
Tom Frick then joined the company in 1970 and helped with putting all of their energies into packaging supplies. Tom and John ran the company as partners.
In 1995, Paper Mart decided to invest in the power of the Internet. At that time, they were one of the first companies that showed pictures of products online where websites would typically only display text. This is yet another example of the company’s propensity for adaptability.
Paper Mart Has Come a Long Way
The company kept growing from that small garage in Los Angeles to a 14-person office on Marengo Street, to a building in the City of Commerce, finally settling here in Orange. The current facility has a 10.5-acre warehouse and houses over 250 people in Orange, California.
The current leadership is the fourth-generation daughter, Buffy Frick Simoni. She once said in an interview “Most new things are a little bit exciting and a little bit scary.” It seems from the very beginning the family’s attitude of embracing challenges as an opportunity rather than being a little bit scared has proven to be the right philosophy over all these years. Paper Mart is as fresh and vibrant as it first started and is looking ahead to an exciting future.
Join us in celebrating our heritage and dedication to providing people all over the nation with a massive selection of affordable, quality packaging!
Congratulations on your 96th Anniversary. It’s so nice to hear that after all these years, the family owned business is thriving. I purchased ribbon and other packaging for my wedding in June 2014. The bows we made for the church pews with your ribbon were gorgeous! The packaging we selected for the candy bar at our reception were a big hit. Thank you for making our day perfect with your wonderful products. Continued success to you!
Hi Susan,
We are so happy to hear that our products were able to help make your wedding day more special. Thank you for sharing it with us and we wouldn’t be where we are today without all of our wonderful customers!
Emily at Paper Mart
Hi
I just wanted to say hello and congratulations to your company. What is amazing to
me is I use to live in Orange County, then Long Beach but that was many years ago.
I was born and raised in San Diego but moved to Orange County when married, then to Long Beach before moving to Washington where we continued raising our children. I found you up here in Washington and was so happy to find you and hope to visit you this summer when I come down to visit my sisters. Do you allow visitor’s to come and shop? I hope so because I love shopping on line in your store, you have fantastic ribbon and bows. Thank you for all your wonderful products.
Judi Abbey
Hi Judi,
Thank you so much for saying hello and sharing your story! Because we sell only online, we don’t have a walk in store for customers to shop in. However, we do hold a parking lot sale every year. The date hasn’t been set yet, but keep following us on social media to get updates. We really hope you can make it and we want to thank you for choosing Paper Mart for all these years :).
Dear Paper Mart,
I am an Elementary School Teacher. If it weren’t for you, a few years back, our school’s Science Olympiad competition would have been a wash. I discovered you through browsing. We use your boxes for our egg drop event and have not looked back since that first discovery six years back. Thank you!
Jayashree
Hello Jayashree,
We are so honored that you chose Paper Mart for your students! We are happy to have been a part of something so special for the last 6 years! Thank you for sharing your story and for being a Paper Mart customer :).