$50 to $400 for a 3-Ring Binder : Busy People Turn to Organizers
Steven Spielberg uses one. So does Paloma Picasso. Eileen Ford gave one to each model employed at her New York agency last Christmas.
What’s the common link? These busy people all rely on personal organizers--compact, three-ring binders designed to keep track of various aspects of one’s life--from daily appointments to golf scores to, in a few special cases, a horse’s stud record.
Organizers have become the hottest new stationery product in years and can be found at upscale stores ranging from Fred Segal Paper on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles to Bloomingdale’s in New York and Neiman-Marcus in Dallas.
Since 1982, when the first personal organizers were introduced, annual sales have climbed to an estimated $250 million to $300 million, a figure that would include premium gift calendars and organizers given by magazines, local real estate agents and insurance salespeople. The biggest upswing has been within the personal-organizer category.
Some Cost $400
Those range in price from $50 for the “Day Runner” vinyl-covered organizer--which includes some inserts--made by Culver City-based Harper House to $400 for an unfilled Filofax organizer made of ostrich skin, imported from England. Their growing popularity has spawned a host of competing products, including those from traditional leather goods firms such as Day-Timer and Shaffer-Eaton.
“It has really taken off in the last three years,” says Leonard Fagelman, owner of Fred Segal Paper, which specializes in organizers, cards and wrapping paper. “People were finding that they had a piece of paper here and a piece of paper there. This helped organized them, especially in today’s business world.”
It used to be that calendar planners were used primarily in the corporate world. Now they are being used by busy people in all walks of life and have become a fashionable accessory as well.
“It wasn’t until Filofax came along that appointment agenda systems ever sold in the fashion market,” says Ron Kaiser, president of Santa Monica-based Londonhouse Corp., the U.S. licensee and agent for Filofax.
Kaiser came upon the idea of selling Filofax in the United States by chance. He had bought a Filofax in England in 1980 for $108 and was intrigued by the interest that it generated among his friends in the States.
He contacted the producer of Filofax--Norman & Hill Ltd. of Essex, England, which also produces leather accessories for Rolls-Royce automobiles. Kaiser introduced Filofax, which has been available in England since 1912, to the United States three years ago.
He says the key to the product’s success is that it provides an organizational system that can be adapted to an individual’s needs.
Kaiser, for example, has helped develop 250 different kinds of inserts, which include maps of U.S. and foreign cities, the New York subways and the Los Angeles freeway system. There are a variety of calendars, including a page-a-day calendar that retails for $20. Paper comes in a variety of formats--including one that helps bird-watchers keep track of their “life lists.” There is also ledger paper for accountants and music-manuscript paper.
Fagelman at Fred Segal Paper says that two women recently spent $260 each to purchase an organizer and a variety of inserts. “The big trend is being able to organize yourself at one time to have access to information so you can have more time for yourself,” he says.
The Other End
At the more popular-priced end of the market is Harper House, operated by founders Felice and Boyd Willat and their partner, John Bishop. The Willats began their business out of their home in West Hollywood and recently moved into larger facilities in Culver City. They expect sales this year to hit $25 million.
Felice Willat, who had been in the TV production business, came up with the idea for the organizer. Her husband devised the format for Day Runner, which comes in different sizes.
Harper House organizers can also serve as phone books, address directories, calendars, checkbook and credit card holders, idea books and financial accounting records.
“It has the capacity to do what a computer can get done, only faster,” quips Boyd Willat.
