Upmarket card and stationery retailer Paperchase will have a US presence again after entering a partnership with American retailer Target to sell its products.
The move comes as Paperchase disclosed rising sales and profits for last year.
Target, which has 1,800 discount stores in the US, will start to sell Paperchase products from next month.
It is a return to the country after its former US parent company Borders Inc collapsed last year.
Chief executive and part owner of Paperchase Timothy Melgund said: âWhen Borders collapsed, we left behind a lot of customers in the US and we always said we wanted to go back there.
âThen Target came along and we fit with their strategy of working with like-minded companies that can add that little bit of difference.â
This week it will also launch in Paris department store Galeries Lafayette, triggering a roll out across France in 2013.
Paperchaseâs turnover for 2011 increased 9% to ÂŁ77.6m. Pre-tax profit jumped 29% to ÂŁ846,000, while EBITDA was up 20% to ÂŁ5m, excluding the impact of terminated overseas operations.
In the year, Paperchase opened 14 stores, taking the UK total to 81. Next year, the retailer has committed to âa number of standalone sitesâ, including an 18,000 sq ft store in Glasgowâs Buchanon Street, which opens in March.
Paperchase said it also plans to plough âsignificantâ investment into its online business, as sales have gathered momentum across the channel due to an increase in overseas buyers. The website will be upgraded in the âcoming monthsâ.
Melgund said: âWe have now emerged from the Borders legacy and, despite the widely accepted challenging retail market, Paperchase is performing well.â


















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