Acton's 'The Paper Store' Files For Bankruptcy

ACTON, MA — The Paper Store, an Acton-based company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday. The company cited the coronavirus pandemic's effect on its finances as the main reason for the filing.

The 31-page motion goes into detail, citing the filing as a way to protect the company and its 2,000 full and part-time employees. The Paper Store started as a mom-and-pop shop 55 years ago but has expanded to include 86 stores.

The motion said the company, like many others during the pandemic, was placed under immense financial strain when it was forced to temporarily close stores and now is left with little to no cash balance for the Christmas season, the company's busiest season to buy inventory. The motion mentions that the company lost significant profit while closed in May and June, two of its historically profitable months.

"The COVID-19 shut-down hit the Debtors right during these two critical months – the Debtors missed sales for Easter, Mothers’ Day, school graduations and year-end gifts for teachers. In addition, the Debtors lost the selling season for their fashion catalogue and their spring gift catalogue," the motion reads.

The motion says the company plans on selling in August but will continue operations in the meantime — several locations reopened in May and June.

The Paper Store furloughed the bulk of its staff in March due to the pandemic. According to the motion, the company has 393 full time and 554 part-time active employees, as of Tuesday. The company hopes to hire back and employ all 2,000 people who were originally on staff, according to the motion.

You can reach Samantha Mercado at samantha.mercado@patch.com