Rugg Road Paper Company (“Rugg Road”) is undergoing a transition after its recent purchase by Geraldine O’Hagan in May 2018 from Amy Madanick and Cassandra McIntyre, who opened the brick-and-mortar shop 25 years ago in Boston’s famous Beacon Hill neighborhood. Over the years, Rugg Road has established itself as one of Boston’s leading fine stationers, acquiring several awards in various categories such as best wedding stationery, best paper store, and best social stationery. The new transition in ownership has left the shop with organizational issues regarding their custom print services and management, including several pricing mistakes made by current staff. As a result, the store risks losing its long-standing history and credibility with loyal customers, most of them residing in Boston and New England. In addition, they’re facing declining sales as the retail paper market and card shop decreases. Rugg Road relies heavily on the residents of the neighborhood and surrounding areas who spend thousands annually on custom print services with them.
With a small team of four, including O’Hagan and Madanick, I propose that Rugg Road transform its internal systems by implementing new software solutions. These solutions are designed to reduce their time spent on repetitive tasks to improve customer experience and avoid pricing and file management mistakes. To help transform their systems, I propose technological updates and semi-automated systems to help Rugg Road focus on what matters most to them and their customers. This will be essential to helping Rugg Road achieve success, retain clients, and increase productivity, giving the staff more time to focus on product knowledge to better serve their customers and community.
Contents:
- Background on Products and Organization at Rugg Road
- The Market in Retail Card Shops, Wedding and Printing
- Proposed Solutions
- Custom Print Order Workflow
- Proof Approvals and Production
- Quality Control and Closeout
- Timeline and Investment
- Conclusions and Recommendations