The Paper Merchant was started in 1976 by Michele and George Buonocore Jr. It was started on the dream of Michele who worked at the Stationery Show in New York, in the Sixties. She wanted to bring the small town of Naples a bit of the elegance of the big city. In the Seventies, there were no places to buy custom invitations or personalized products. The first store opened in Tin City on the Gordon River in Naples, Florida. The location was soon out grown and the shop moved to the more commercial district on Fifth Avenue South, next to Pratt Shoe Salon and Song and Story Books. The next move came in a search for a more refined shopping area and led us to The Third Street South Shopping District in 1985.
The Store has been there since with other store fronts coming and going from The Village on Venetian Bay to The Promenade in Bonita Springs. Currently there are two locations in operation: The Old Naples store which is managed by George Buonocore III and The Park Shore store managed by Corinne Buonocore-Strubel. Michele is no longer with us, but George Jr. is still at the Helm spending most of his time in Old Naples delivering his unique style of service, that he is known for. The most notable feature is our eclectic mix of products we carry. This has come from Michele’s long held belief that if the customer wanted it and we could get it, we would. Over forty years of that standard has led us to fill the shelves with a wide array of gifts, toys, stationery, leather desk accessories greeting cards and much more.