Stationery and Social Conventions

Civility is the underlying, unifying philosophy of this exquisite Chicago venue

"You're intrigued by GREER the moment you see its "House of Greer" crest. Emblazoned on the store's awning, two lions -- one drinking a martini, the other writing a letter -- flank Latin words that roughly translate, "We are optimistic because we are stupid."

It seems to decree: Beyond this threshold is a luxurious netherworld between the traditional and unexpected. And indeed, myriad delights in paper goods and accessories for the home, body and desk populate the 1,200 square feet of retail space located at 1657 North Wells Street in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.

But the crest doesn't tell you everything.

Chandra Greer was once an eat-nails-for-breakfast overachiever who scored in the 98th percentile on the GMATs, earned an MBA from the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business, and managed a $40 million account at Leo Burnett. So how did this career woman become a neighborhood proprietress? Simple: She reconciled the difference between who the corporate world she demanded she be -- that is, a hard-charging business woman, with who she is -- a hard-charging business woman who reveled at reams of papers and was enchanted by the "old world" notion of civility. So, although Greer's working 70- to 80-hour workweeks now, she's a much happier person.

Inspiration

"Civility is not a sign of weakness." Spoken by John F. Kennedy in his 1961 inaugural address, these seven words and a love for design inspired Greer to found her business in 1998. It was her hope to "help, in some small way, build a world where (those words) are not a hope, but a reality."

While Greer is clearly passionate about this philosophy, does it succeed in a retail venue? "(My new business was) a marriage of my passion for the beauty and communicative power of paper, but also my other passion, which is to preserve and defend the notion of civility -- decency, appreciation, courtesy, self-restraint, dignity, respect and kindness," she explained.

While everything GREER offers in the store is imbued with a sense of civility, there are a few guideposts in the mix, namely George Washington's book, "The Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour," and portable cards of gratitude, Civilettes.

Matchbook-sized, the Civilettes express simply: "Thank You." Brown ink on heavy white 100 percent cotton paper, they are intended as spontaneous tokens of appreciation. To encourage more gratitude, the recipient is advised to "please reuse." Perhaps more so than any other product offered by GREER, these epitomize the store and its founder's intent.

Location, Location, Location

When Greer first stepped off the corporate hamster wheel, she landed in Glencoe, a suburb of Chicago, where the rent was cheap and no other cutting edge stationery stores existed. But all too soon, the chasm between her tastes and those of her customers became insurmountable; Greer began fulfilling requests for custom designs and even dabbled in corporate identity.

At her second location, in suburban Winnetka North Shore, she continued to struggle. While her original vision was to have a retail outlet through which she could sell her designs directly, Greer was forced to re-evaluate when these markets were slow to her aesthetic. It was during this reassessment period that Greer also acknowledged that her line wasn't extensive enough to support a retail operation.

So finally, in 2005, GREER made the pilgrimage to Chicago. Despite high rents and stiff competition, the business thrived. "We found the urban audience to be much more receptive to our aesthetic. We cut back drastically on custom design and went back to our original goal of creating our eponymous line of products, and almost everything we've designed since that retrenchment has been well-received," Greer said.

Discerning Taste

As Greer fleshed out her product selection, she discovered a motley crew of designers who exemplified the GREER aesthetic. Among those first lines were: G Lalo and Mignon imported by Exaclair, Snow & Graham, Soolip, Motel Deluxe, B Designs, Notes and Queries, Egg Press, Retro 1951 and Black Ink.

"We've had customers comment that while we have a wildly divergent product mix, it all fits together, which is as much a testament to how smart our customers are as to what we're doing," said Greer.

Greer doesn't just take a great care and pride in scouting out the undiscovered designers. From the elaborately staged displays on antique furniture to the hand picked staff whose ideologies and work ethics are beyond reproach, everything is carefully selected to work in chorus. Her belief is that people are looking not only for authentic products, but authentic experiences in the places where they choose to spend their money.

So what stationery has Greer excited, looking forward? "I'm excited about resurgent interest in luxurious, sophisticated stationery because that's where I'm at. Many of the newer stationery designers, while enormously talented, are working with imagery and concepts that lack maturity, conceptual depth and sophistication. This is why I treasure designers like Binth or some newer players who are doing things that may not be the most mainstream or marketable, but are incredibly smart and well-designed.

I think whimsy can be done well," she continued. "Art School Girl, Little Otsu and La Familia Green come to mind, or You Send Me, which is one of the best executed lines around. In general I'm over birds, deer and hand-drawn little girls prancing around cards. We joke that GREER is a 'no-cute' zone." she explained.

Web Site

While they had found their customer base in Chicago, their Web site, www.greerchicago.com, launched in 2005. With offerings that mirror those of the brick and mortar, it brought appreciative new audiences from New York and California. In fact, until recently, Greer was considering expanding her bricks and mortar presence on both the East and West coasts.

Currently, her goal of store expansion is on hold while she focuses on growing her Web business, which has doubled in the past year. In general, the percentage of sales from the Web site has grown from 10 percent to around 20 to 25 percent, depending on the month, according to Greer.

Greer strives to maintain beauty and excellence across both venues, but inevitably, one product may perform well online and not in the store, and vice versa. Greer attributes this to the fact that some things simply translate well digitally while others don't. It also helps, she noted, that some of the more complex products have explanatory copy on the website.

According to Greer, both their press section and the @GREER section, which describes the inner working of the company, are the most popular. Somehow reading about how the employees have fallen into what "can only be characterized as pseudo British-aristocrat-speak, "complimenting colleagues with the phrase, "I salute you, you magnificent bastard," can't help but endear you to them.

Giving Back

For as long as she can remember, giving back has been an integral part of Greer's personal and business life. From VH1's Save the Music Foundation to Northwestern Medical School to a local theater company, GREER has donated thousands of dollars and products.

Greer has also started reusing boxes with a "Packaged in a recycled box for your environmental protection" label. And not-for-profit groups are treated on a first come first serve basis to the most exquisite remnant envelopes and papers.

Perhaps most importantly, Greer donates her time. After appearing in an O Magazine article, she answered hundreds of emails asking for advice and support. "My dream is to one day fund a foundation with the profits from GREER so I can take our company philanthropy to a new level," she explained.

Quick Q&A: Chandra Greer

Q: There are some things that are timeless -- the little black dress or perfect martini comes to mind. What is timeless for you in stationery?
A: Any really good stationery from France or Italy; G Lalo's Verge de France tablet, envelope and card system, Jean Rouget's duo stationery line, Amalfi and Pineder all come to mind. I would also add Crane's, a sometimes undervalued American classic.

Q: What trend are you most proud of forecasting?
A: I would say the trend I'm proudest of forecasting 10 years ago is that people will always want stationery even with the proliferation of electronic communications. When I began in this business there were many people who warned me it was a mistake because "people don't write." The other trend I predicted is that the thank you note would make resurgence. I also anticipated the indie stationery design trend.

Q: With new stationery designers cropping up daily, how do you recognize the talented entrepreneurs among the hobbyists?
A: I look for people who are doing things no one else is doing; the talented pioneers, if you will.

Q: When it comes to NSS, how is a booth sure to get your attention?
A: Have a booth that has the qualities I'm looking for in a product -- creative and well-designed. Also, I'm much more likely to breeze by a booth where the representative is just sitting there, bored and unsmiling. The message they're sending out is, "there's nothing happening here," so I take them at their word and keep going.

Q: How do you walk NSS?
A: I have a very disciplined, thorough approach. I start at one end and work my way through each aisle. I have sort of a head-swiveling technique as I'm walking and when something catches my eye, whether it be a great looking product display or an engaging representative, I stop. I also plan to spend a lot of time in whatever section the newer designers are in. And I also make sure I visit the booths of every exhibitor we currently carry.

Q: If you were a set of social stationery, what would you be?
A: A pack of Civilettes. Smart, elegant and straightforward, yet packed with meaning.

By Amanda Avutu
Special to Stationery Trends