Ryman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ryman is a British stationery retailer.
It was founded in 1893 by Henry J Ryman who opened the first store on Great Portland Street, London and was successfully owned and managed by the Ryman family until the 1970s. After it was sold it had a chequered history for a couple of decades, changing hands several times and experiencing some periods of poor performance.
It is now owned by Theo Paphitis who is one of the Dragons on BBC's Dragons' Den. He acquired Ryman in 1995 and he has since turned it into successful and profitable retail businesses and now heads up a 350 store chain and a group turnover approaching £250m.
Developments since acquisition by Paphitis have included the introduction a 'Ryman Direct' mail order catalogue in 1996, a website in 1998, promotional campaigns in the press and football sponsorship of the Premier Division, Division One North and Division One South out of the Isthmian League. The Premier division is two tiers down from the Blue Square Premier.
