Discussion

By John Bifone on Jan 31, 2012

A loss. The store is very convenient for the "ON Demand" Market. Many Times we pick up paper the same day for rush projects. I am not sure how they intend to fill this void but I hope they do.

By Clifford Smith on Jan 31, 2012

Just another testimony to the demise of the printing business as we know it. Mac Papers has delved into the Sign Shop supply business to keep their doors open. For the small businessman PRINT. IS. DEAD.

By Betty Maul on Jan 31, 2012

This puts yet another nail in the coffin for small business owners and on-demand digital print shops.. Perhaps we as owners should come up with a Co-Op solution for digital shops regionally...Surely Xpedx could have thought creatively or talked to their clients to create a solution that serves everyone. Simply closing stores, is very detrimental to all small printers. Too bad they never involved their clients for a solution that works for all of us.

By Pete Masterson on Jan 31, 2012

This is a sad occurrence. While the press release states that Xpedex opened its retail stores in 1995, they actually existed as Arvey Paper in several markets from the 1980s... they were also known as Kirk Paper in other markets. When I owned a small print shop in the late 1980s, I frequently purchased paper from Kirk (that was delivered) and would drive to the nearby Kirk and/or Arvey stores for special needs when they were urgent. (I also used a competitor's store, J C Paper.)

In recent years, I've visited the retail paper stores rather less often. The "big box" office chain stores often offered paper in the most common sizes at lower prices. Still, I had to purchase special quality and uncommon sizes from the paper merchant retail stores -- like offset grades of paper (60-70 lb), various cover stocks (office supply stores have a very limited selection), and the "tabloid extra" size paper (12 x 18) that I use in our color laser printer.

I'm sad to see these stores close -- but I have to admit that in recent years, I was always surprised at the lack of customers in the stores -- and dismayed by the high "list" prices offered to non-printer customers. (When I owned a print shop, I had "last column" pricing regardless of quantity purchased -- but even there, the local office store often offered a better price on the basic copy paper I used.)

So, the closure doesn't surprise me -- these stores were not always competitive with the office supply stores evan in the 1980s. It will be an inconvenience for me to purchase the specialty size papers I've currently been getting through paper merchants. Hopefully, another vendor will step in to fill the void left with the departure of Xpedex from the marketplace.

By John Lampe on Jan 31, 2012

The Xpedx "Store" in our city never had much traffic from what I have seen and we had stopped using them years ago. That being said, if this means they are closing down their "Arveys" franchise too then that does slightly affect us. More of a nuisance than a problem. I get several small purchases from them a month that makes it easier to do very short turn jobs. But, all of these items can be had at other places and will just require more pre-planning / anticipation of need on our part.

The store location just seemed to be a satellite warehouse. That would just mean you go to the actual warehouse in your area. I'm in a major metropolitan area so maybe it's less of an issue for us.

Always disappointing to see jobs lost but sadly it seems this is the business norm.

By Bobby Naylor on Feb 07, 2012

Here's another option for all your paper needs.

Kelly Paper Co. We have 48 locations through out Southern California, Northern California, Las Vegas and four stores in the Arizona market. We provide excellent customer service, product selections and paper/graphic knowledge.

Please view our website at: www.kellypaper.com or call us at 1-800-67kelly

We would be more than happy to assist you in any way we can so please contact us.