The Paper
Clip - filling a niche for two decades
(Reprinted from The Bitterroot Star
Feb. 4, 1998)
By Marnie
Prange
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The Paper Clip
in downtown Hamilton is a mom and pop office
supply store that has served the community for
over two decades. Originally part of the Ravalli
Republic, The Paper Clip was incorporated in 1976
and purchased by Al and Carol Mitchell in 1988.
Come April, they will celebrate a decade in
business together. Married for 23 years, the
Mitchells were raised in Hamilton and educated in
its public schools. They have a wealth of small
town pride and a genuine commitment to their
community. Staying in one place all their lives
has meant customers with familiar faces.
"It's like an extended family," Carol
says. "When they don't come in, you
wonder."
"Mom and pop businesses like ours are as
close as a business can get to a family farm,
because everybody has to pitch in," Al adds,
including the Mitchell's three sons: Andy, a
22-year-old pharmacy student at UM who helps out
when he can; Dan, a junior in high school who
works during vacations and after school; and
Greg, a 12-year-old who's waiting his turn
"We're waiting for him to become of legal
age," Al says, adding "we're looking
forward to getting him in here." Although
they love their work, small business ownership is
a struggle and always has been, Al says. What's
the biggest threat to their business today?
"It's the big boxes up in Missoula," Al
says, a subject he warms to immediately.
"We can't match them price for price,"
though the Paper Clip tried that six years ago,
Al recalls, and almost went under. Nowadays, Al
says, they sell below list, "at a fair price
that yields a fair return. "However, a fair
price can appear to be price gouging, Al says a
result of distribution practices. For example, a
big box store sells a shipment of 200
discontinued printers at a huge discount, and
sells a print cartridge for $10. When the
customer returns three months later for a new
cartridge, the big box doesn't carry them
anymore. "Then the customer comes down here
and I charge $33. They think I'm working them
over. What they don't realize is that I had to
pay $30 from my distributor."
In the past 10 years, over 70 percent of mom and
pop office supply businesses have disappeared, Al
says. He calls it planned obsolescence, the
conscious effort on the part of distributors to
cut out the little guy. "Distributors would
rather deal with 20 big boxes than 1,500 mom and
pops and you can't blame them," he adds. As
an example of a common practice, Al describes a
recent transaction. Goods he purchased from a
distributor for $50, Al sold to a bank for $60 a
fair profit. Two weeks later, when he reordered
from the distributor, the same goods cost him
$75, which puts him in an awkward position with
the bank next time they reorder. "The
distributors play this game all the time. They
could sell 'em for $50 all the time. They're out
there to make their shareholders money."
Like many small businesses struggling to survive,
The Paper Clip makes up for its higher prices by
offering service and convenience. "When a
box store runs out of something, they can't
reorder," Carol explains, because all the
merchandise on their shelves is sent to them by
distributors. "They get so much, and that's
it. We can reorder and I can have that product
here within the next day." "We're not
planting corn this year, we're planting barley,
because the corn markets have gone sour," Al
says, returning to his farm analogy to illustrate
how flexibility is one key to survival. The Paper
Clip carries less and less office supplies while
branching out into new areas, such as teaching
supplies and scrapbook needs, goods that don't
duplicate other stores in the area. "You've
got to adapt," Al says, "to always be
looking, always be changing."
The Mitchells also believe in giving back to the
community, whether contributing to the Kiwanis
soccer team, or to a baseball team, or to
community theater. "A lot of people who shop
at big boxes don't realize that they don't return
anything to the community," Al says,
"and mom and pops do. "As well as
contributing financially, local business owners
serve on community organizations. Al has a wall
of plaques behind his desk to prove it. Voted
Business Person of the year by the Bitterroot
Chamber of Commerce in 1993, he has served on the
board on several occasions and recently retired
as president of the chamber. He's also been head
of the Elks lodge and a national officer for a
year. "I challenge anyone from Missoula to
come down here and do that!" he laughs.
Both Mitchells put in a tough work week, six days
for Carol, and seven for Al. Carol is up and
running when the store opens and rarely slows
down. "I get maybe a 15 minute lunch, if
that," she says. Al is a "morning
person" who starts work at 4 a.m. "But
by 5 p.m. I'm done, even if I'm here," he
laughs. Carol spends her days out front, while Al
is in the office. "Once in a while I'll come
back here to ask him a question, but other than
that we don't really talk during the day.
Everybody does their own thing," Carol says.
And when they go home in the evening, they make a
conscious effort to leave work behind. Has the
recent population boom in the valley been a boon?
"It's one of the reasons The Paper Clip
hasn't joined the 70 percent of closed mom and
pop businesses," Al says.
Both looking forward to meeting new folks as well
as seeing familiar faces. "It's been great
to raise a family in the same place we were
raised," Al says. "We want to thank our
customers and let them know we appreciate all the
business they've brought us. "We've been
here 10 years and I hope we're here for another
20 years. When it's all said and done, I hope we
can look back and say we provided for our family
and we gave back to our community, and feel good
about ourselves." |
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