History of Papersmith & Son

It was a string of tedious, all-day and unproductive board meetings that prompted Jo Haden-Smith to break away from the corporate world and start his own business. And thus, the first truly independent, designer-focused paper merchant was conceived.

Having had an involvement in sourcing products from mills in the United States and Europe and watching their success grow in the South African market, Jo decided to do the same for himself. Two weeks after resigning he flew overseas to source the most successful papers currently in fashion in the European Market. While there, he started discussions with Curtis Fine Papers. These discussions have resulted in the exclusive distribution rights for most of the successful ranges produced by this group of mills.

When choosing the range, it was not just the product that was important, but the reliability and commitment of the mill. Curtis Fine Papers and the Scheufelen Group are Papersmith & Son's major suppliers. Both mills have been operating for more than 100 years each and have a history of quality production.

Papersmith & Son has also secured the sole distributorship of Crane Crest, which is regarded as one of the finest papers in the world. Crane & Co. has been operating from Dalton, Massachusetts since 1799 and is still a family-owned business.

With the existing paper merchanting trade being dominated by a few large, international companies, many quality suppliers in Europe and the States were disenchanted with their ability to enter the market. The large merchants all had existing ranges and were unwilling to expand their range for fear of "conflict of interest" with existing suppliers. This has opened up the whole world of paper to a new hungry merchant.

Papersmith & Son offers the design industry far more than just a nice range of papers and a sampling service. When Jo travels overseas he visits leading merchants to find out what gives them a competitive differential. These concepts and new ranges are evaluated for suitability in the South African market and either introduced or discarded. The two most important characteristics among the winners in Europe boiled down to two things: stock availability and designer-related services. Every designer has experienced the situation of a client accepting a job on a specific paper and by the time it goes to print there is no stock in the country. Papersmith & Son have overcome this problem. Every product stocked is a mill standard and where there are shortages, Papersmith & Son can and do airfreight the stock within a ten day lead-time.

In March of 2004, Papersmith & Son decided to extend their services by launching the PaperCafe, in Melrose Estate. It allows graphic designers, the printing industry as well as members of the public to see the transformation of the paper in the samples library, get a feel for most of Papersmith & Son's range, and enjoy a delicious cappuccino while at it.

Other designer related services which Papersmith & Son will offer the industry include hand-made envelopes to the designers' specification within 10 days, allowing the designers to let their imagination go wild in terms of shape and size.

Dummies can be made up within 24 hours, either a simple two fold or a complicated 12 page concertina fold. Papersmith & Son ensure that the industry is kept up-to-date with international trends and developments and new products are introduced regularly.

Being small and independent Papersmith & Son do not have the logistical problems, which the bigger merchants experience. No job is ever too big or too small and the philosophy that "there are no problems, only opportunities" is pervasive throughout the company.

The niche in which Papersmith & Son is operating is premium quality imported papers. The business is geared around designers, who recognise quality paper, incorporate it into their design, and thus require a special and dedicated service. Papersmith & Son incorporate the freshness of a small merchant with a wealth of experience and the support of some of the largest and oldest paper mills in the world.

This mixture of innovation, experience and support allows Papersmith & Son to be the
"Creative merchant for creative people"