Aug 25, 2012

Meet The Owner: PapélBy Joanna PriscoCarrollGardens.Patch.com

Carroll Gardens, NY – Family businesses have a long history of success in Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill, as these small neighborhoods enjoy supporting mom ‘n’ pop shops over cookie cutter chains and big box stores. Some have been running for decades, like Marietta, Court Pastry and D’Amico.

Others, such as Papél New York, are much younger by comparison. But its story is just as sweetly sentimental.

“I opened Papél with my father, who had owned his own business selling fiber optic cables my entire life,” says owner Raegan Hirvela. “He knew nothing about stationery but he knew business and he knew sales, and he knew it really, really well. So he was my sounding board. I could have never opened it up without him,” she added.

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