Crane Stationery Being Revived Under New Owner

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The venerable Crane Stationery is turning a page with its new owner. 
 
WP Strategic Holdings says it has completed its acquisition of 200-year-old company, according The Albany Business Review. 
 
Todd Kletter, managing partner of WP Strategic Holdings, told the Review that he expects it will restart operations on Friday.
 
About 90 percent of the employees abruptly laid off in February when its parent company Mohawk Fine Papers was acquired by an international firm are being told they will be rehired with the seniority and benefits intact. They expected to receive offer letters today. 
 
The Albany, N.Y.-based consulting and investment firm had Crane listed in its portfolio within days of its closure and stated its intention to acquire the company.
 
"We are thrilled to welcome Crane Stationery into the WP Strategic Holdings family," Kletter said in a statement to the Review. "Crane Stationery's unparalleled reputation for quality and craftsmanship aligns perfectly with our vision of supporting companies with a strong heritage and a dedication to excellence."
 
Mohawk Fine Papers of Cohoes, N.Y., purchased Crane Stationery in 2018 with plans to expand the operation. But it closed the North Adams plant in 2020 and laid off nearly 200 employees. 
 
Fedrigoni, a specialty paper and luxury packaging manufacturer based in Italy, acquired the paper company in February. Mohawk, family owned since 1931, had entered into a manufacturing agreement with Fedrigoni in 2022 and became its North American distributor last July.
 
Some Crane employees had been offered jobs in Cohoes, where the printing of Crane was to continue, and remotely. Those workers were abruptly locked out of the company's email and servers on Feb. 14.
 
Kletter told the Review that Fedrigoni had placed Crane's assets in a holding company while negotiating with his team and Crane will lease space in Cohoes from Fedrigoni. He said retired Mohawk CEO Thomas D. O'Connor Jr. had helped facilitate the deal but has no stake in Crane's revival. 
 
"We are excited about the possibilities that this acquisition brings," Kletter said in a statement. "This acquisition will enable Crane to maintain its growth initiatives, expand its reach, and continue the legacy of delivering premium stationery products to our discerning customers."
 
He also told the Review he has been assuring Crane's customers, who had been cut off with no explanation. The Crane website, which for weeks had a notice that the site was down for maintenance as "We are taking a moment to reflect" is back up. 
 
Kletter, who founded WP Strategic Holdings in 2020, had previously consulted for Crane and is currently the interim chief operating officer.
 
Offer letters to employees say the the transition will "unfold in several phases" but they can "rest assured that your wages and payment schedule will remain unchanged."
 
"Our goal is to make this transition as seamless as possible for you and keep benefits as closely aligned to what had been offered in the past. We appreciate your patience as we finalize these details."

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Main & Mill: A Vibrant New Restaurant on Main Street

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — You can now enjoy another eatery on Main Street by well-known restaurant siblings Colleen and Sean Taylor.

Their restaurant Main & Mill opened for the first time Tuesday, bringing their vision of creating something vibrant and new to downtown North Adams.

"We have created Main & Mill to be part of our day. It's very seasonal ingredients, thoughtful cooking, beauty, beautiful presentation and dishes. And we really wanted to be part of the community, the downtown area, and start a vibrant area on this end, which has been shuttered for a while," said Colleen.

The building is owned by Ginko on Main Street LLC, which has granted 20 years exclusive possession of the property to Latent Builds as the developer. Jack and Suzy Wadsworth, behind Ginko, are development partners with Karla Rothstein and Salvatore Perry of Latent.

The bank closed in early 2021 and was purchased by Ginko late that year. Plans for the property unveiled three years ago envisioned a restaurant, retail, a park and rooftop bar. 

Colleen saw potential and said she initially wanted the building when it first went up for sale. Being good friends with Rothstein and Perry, she helped them design the kitchen and the bar before learning in March that she could lease it as a restaurant space, something she told them would be a great idea.

She said one of the most important things about the restaurant was the collaboration between Rothstein, Perry, and the Wadsworths, who put a lot of time and energy into the building.

"If Sean and I had done it, we would not be able to do what the collaboration supported. The collaboration of the three of us being able to really have that kind of money to put in down here. The design that the architecture firm that Carla and Sal own is stunning," she said. "The time and effort, everyone came together to do this in a really trusting manner."

The two wanted the restaurant to be an all-day venture, so people could eat at any point throughout the day, all week long.

"We wanted it to be open for coffee and socialization in the morning where people can meet, have their cup of coffee, have a quiche, a vegetarian quiche, or croissant or yogurt. Something intentional with their coffee," she said. "Then move into a lunchtime for the downtown business or anybody, and then go into supper, dinner, with drinks later into the evening. So have it really be open all day long, so that there wasn't a void on any particular day."

They also wanted to do something different than the other restaurants they owned.

"We didn't want to mimic any other restaurant in town. We wanted to bring something that was inspiring, something that had some familiar things that people would see, and other things that we would bring to them for them to experience," she said.

As a woman business owner, Colleen said she wanted to bring a female chef into the kitchen. 

Colleen brought on Chef Anna DeRose, who she said puts twists on a lot of her dishes.

"So we have a creme brulee, but our creme brulee is topped with marshmallow," she said. "Our creme brulee is like almost two desserts in one. It's a s'mores creme brulee. So you could have a s'mores, and you could have a creme brulee - but when you put both of them together, fireworks go off."

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