Todd Kirshner Buys Michel & Co. Paper Div.
Staff -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 6/1/2001
Under the umbrella of his privately held company, Punch Studio LLC, of Culver City, CA, Todd Kirshner acquired the paper products division of Michel & Co. from its owners, Giftware Holdings. The new entity is called Michel Studio and it will distribute its own proprietary brand of notecards, giftwrap, gift bags, paper-covered boxes, and other paper products, as well as licensed Mary Engelbreit and The Gifted Line paper products. Giftware Holdings will incorporate the giftware sector of Michel & Co. into its Figi operation while maintaining a separate design studio for its Michel & Co. giftware line. Kirshner will act as president and CEO of Michel Studio; he served as general manager of Michel & Co. from 1990 to 1992 and as its president from 1992 to 1998. About 50 employees from Michel & Co. will transfer to Michel Studio in order to maintain the continuity of a "dedicated, loyal, and experienced staff," according to Kirshner. Michel Studio paper products will be distributed through independent reps, many of whom served as Michel & Co. reps before Giftware Holdings took the sales force in-house when it bought the company in December 1997.
As first reported in Gifts & Dec Direct
