| |
McWhorter's and Ideal Stationers
A Rich Tradition
McWhorter's has been a part of the Bay Area since the first store opened in downtown San Jose in 1940. With local ownership and a tradition of putting customers and employees first, McWhorter's built strong loyalties and long-term relationships. As a result, the company thrived and achieved steady growth throughout the Bay Area. In the late 1980's nearly 12,000 independent Office Product dealers disappeared across America as giant chains of office "super-stores" arrived. Yet, McWhorter's thrived because of the loyalty of both customers and employees.
Dramatic Changes
In 1996 McWhorter's was purchased by U.S. Office Products (USOP) of Washington D.C. This ended the local ownership and our long affiliation with Hallmark Cards. USOP purchased over 200 small companies, attempting to form a powerful nationwide commercial office products company.
While doing well in the Bay Area, USOP lost market share nationally and eventually filed for bankruptcy in March 2001. In June of 2001, USOP began the complete liquidation of McWhorter's to pay off debts, resulting in the loss of nearly 600 jobs most in the Bay Area. Many loyal customers shared in the sadness of the employees at the demise and closure of our thriving local chain.
A New Beginning
In August 2001 Ron Clare, owner of Ideal Stationers in the North Bay, purchased a number of the stores along with the McWhorter's name. Ron has always been a big fan of the McWhorter's business philosophy so this was a natural move. Through tremendous individual efforts all of the stores were opened for business within three weeks, just in time for Back-to-School. We believe that consumers need a local, customer-oriented alternative to giant national chain stores. We're proud to continue providing top-notch customer service, a unique product selection, the addition of a lower pricing strategy and the restoration of Hallmark cards in all of our stores.
|
|
