New Pulp Cards: COMPETITION!

Papyrus has just opened up two stores in downtown Toronto, and they happen to be absolutely gorgeous. Aside from the card tycoon being a top competitor to my precious, new-born New Pulp, I really love the designs Papyrus uses on some of their cards. The whole store concept is also very boutique, bright and exciting, much unlike a Hallmark or Carlton Cards... which makes it painful to walk past as it is situated near my work. The stores have their walls lined with brightly coloured graphic cards, expensive gift wrap sheets (not tubes!), boxes of thank you cards, small gifts, and a Custom Printing section in the back that offers consultation for making any kind of printed matter you might require (aside from posters and the like).

I must sound like an idiot for promoting their new stores and products, but hear this! They are quite expensive, especially for the fancier cards (obviously). Another drawback to their brand is materials. What I noticed from their shop and website is their giant ecological footprint. Below is a statement from their website on the paper and ink they use:

PAPYRUS & the Environment Paper Papyrus papers are made from fiber harvested using sustainable forest management. Sustainable forest management means the environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of forests for present and future generations. Inks All Papyrus cards are printed with soy-based inks. Soy-based inks are made from soybean oil, a renewable resource. Unlike petroleum-based inks, Soy inks have low levels of volatile organic compounds which help to reduce air pollution during printing. Soy inks also respond to de-inking better than petroleum based inks, and facilitate the making of paper waste into recycled paper.

Sounds a bit better than what I thought they may have been using, and although they say their sources are renewable... it's still a whole lot of sources for the amount of stock each store carries (online and offline).