Fifty Years of Gifting

There's a name that crops up continuously in the history of the gift industry over the past half century. That name is Papel. Today, Stanley Papel runs Papel Designs from Palm Springs, California. But the full story goes back to 1955, when Stanley's father, Phil, opened a retail gift store, Ruggles China & Gifts, in the brand new Disneyland in California. To inventory his store, he formed Phil Papel Imports, which also sold to other retailers. Young Stanley worked in the business on weekends and vacations, and became a full member of the gift and impulse items company in 1970. Phil retired in 1975.

"Ruggles grew to 20 locations at its height," says Stanley. The import business, now called Papel Giftware, grew even larger before being sold to Russ Berrie in 1987. Stanley went along with the sale, working in product development before leaving in 1990. He then converted Ruggles to Stanley Papel Designs, a licensing company, and sold off the retail stores.

Meanwhile, Russ Berrie sold Papel Giftware to a third party in 1996; Cast Art bought it in 2000 and ran it until 2003 when Stanley repurchased the trademark and copyrights. Later in the year, Papel Designs signed a licensing deal with The Encore Group for exclusive use of the Papel Giftware name in the U.S., distributing Papel's Midlife Crisis and Name Mug lines, among others. Papel Designs also licenses designs for private-label companies.

Over the years, Stanley has had the help of many family members. His sister Arlene Slater joined the company in 1978; today she is in product development with Ganz. Melissa Papel Moscot joined Papel Designs in 2000, and is now vice president of product design.

Papel Designs has "done it all, from A to Z," including Blue Mountain Arts Giftware, 1984 Olympic collectibles, Pet Pals Giftware, Zip It Socks, and Zippity Zoo Giftware.

"Part of the survival of our company is being able to adapt to the changes in the industry," says Stanley. "And just surviving for 50 years is an accomplishment."