We were in New York when news broke that Mrs John L. Strong stationery closed its business. We had plan to visiting the store months ago to get ourselves a box or two of the famed stationery but just as we were mapping out the location of store on Madison Avenue we came across a news item on www.nymag.com that the business closed that day.
This came as a very sad news to us as we are all about personalized stationery and thank you cards. We like to send thank you notes to people who send us gifts or guests who come over dinner. We are old fashioned that way. A couple of days after hearing the news, we decided to try our luck and went up to Madison just to see if they have a closing out sale. But as feared, they've closed with this note on the door: "Closed for inventory. UPS guy ring the door bell." We trudged back to our hotel rather disappointed.
On the heels of Mrs. John L. Strong's closing is a customized online stationery company called www.paperlesspost.com. Like Mrs. John L. Strong, paperlesspost.com also has beautiful stationery and they can custom-make cards according to your style and taste. The only difference is that the stationery is electronic so you won't get an actual card. The designs are quite elegant and are nothing like the ones you get from Hallmark's website. As an added feature, paperlesspost.com can also help electronically send out letters and invites (they have designed an e-stamp) and track RSVPs.
While we still prefer actual cards, paperlesspost.com is quite a novel idea which we may embrace if only for sending birthday cards and Christmas cards to friends and family overseas. This way we'd be reducing our carbon footprint and become a little green.
You must be kidding. Mrs Strong was all about quality of materials and rigorous execution---by hand---utilizing a tradition of craft and artistry hundreds of years old. This attempt at self-promotion, coming as it does with the demise of an esteemed and venerated company, is pathetic.
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