Time to Celebrate

Happy Birthday to Us!
We’re turning 90.

Kelly Spicers celebrates 90 years in business this year, and we’re ready to blow out the candles on the birthday cake!

We’re excited to commemorate this special milestone, a tribute to everyone who’s been a part of our organization for nine decades –including our colleagues, our customers and our suppliers over the years.

Our path to becoming Kelly Spicers is one filled with legacy and lore, partnerships and collaborations, dedication, evolution, innovation – and a lot of hard work!

Through it all, our values have remained the same – rooted in a genuine commitment to the success of everyone who has been a part of our journey, and the pledge to always make doing business easy.

Our Legacy

The 90-year history of Kelly Spicers has been built on the legacies of such legendary West Coast independent paper merchants as LaSalle, Noland and Frasier, among so many others. Along the way, we’ve served printers through nine decades of change in the printing industry and have remained committed to the print community every step of the way.
No matter the name or the era, each organization in our history shared a similar approach to business by creating a flexible, stable and reliable environment with a friendly, knowledgeable and can-do culture that defines who Kelly Spicers is today – and will continue to do so well into the future.

The paper you need,
when you need it.

Imagine being a printer in 1935 and being able to always get exactly the paper you need, when you need it. Our longstanding relationships to suppliers have allowed us to bring our customers the brands you know and trust. That’s a promise we have kept for 90 years – whatever you need, we can get it for you, usually overnight.
We’ve always been down to earth. Our team prides itself on being a part of the community and delivering the knowledge and expertise that only comes with putting in the time to understand our industry.
Customer Service is a priority for Kelly Spicers and always has been. We’re on it no matter how the order is placed – in person, via landline or cell phone, or through our always stocked online store.
Growing and diversifying has always been part of our business plan.
We meet our customers where they are – no matter their location across the West. In 1935, that meant business was done in one location in downtown Los Angeles. Today, we have 25 stores across the Western U.S., and warehouses and offices in seven regions!
Our stores and warehouses are always well stocked with a wide range of inventory. The product mix has evolved through the years to include packaging, wide format and facilities solutions.
An early truck used in our Downtown Los Angeles location.

Our fleet now includes more than 120 vehicles, including trucks, tractor-trailer combinations and vans.

Our History

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  • 1935-1949

    Spicers Paper originates as a legacy brand with a strong local presence and deep ties to such well-established paper merchants as La Salle Paper (est. 1935) and Noland Paper Co. (est. 1949).

  • 1936

    Kelly Paper opens its doors in downtown Los Angeles.

  • 1938

    Founder Art Kelly expands to Long Beach, beginning decades long growth in the retail paper business throughout Southern California, Las Vegas, Sacramento and Arizona.

  • 1952

    Kelly Paper opens its first “Cash and Carry” operation adjacent to its downtown warehouse.

  • 1986

    Australian-based James Hardy Industries buys Noland Paper (est. 1949), begins operations in California and Arizona.

  • 1986

    Kelly Paper is acquired by the Dutch company VRG and becomes a division of Buhrmann.

  • 1987

    James Hardy adds LaSalle Paper Co. (est. 1935), expands into Nevada.

  • 1988-1992

    Galvin Paper, Fraser Paper Co., and Seaboard paper are added to operation.

  • 1994

    Spicers Paper USA is established and adds Denver and Honolulu locations by the end of the decade.

  • 1994

    Spicers Paper (est. 1896) is established and adds Denver and Honolulu locations by the end of the decade.

  • 2004

    Kelly Paper is acquired by PaperlinX and joins Spicers Paper USA under PaperlinX NA.

  • 2006

    The retail store model expands into the Pacific Northwest, with locations in Portland and Seattle.

  • 2012

    Kelly Paper, along with sister company Spicers Paper, is acquired by Central National Gottesman.

  • 2015

    Spicers Paper acquires Los Angeles-based Performance Paper.

  • 2016

    Kelly Paper and Spicers Paper celebrate a combined 150 years serving the West!

  • 2017

    Spicers Paper acquires Northern California-based JC Paper, growing market share in the region, as well as Clean Smart Solutions, a jan-san distributor serving large facilities.

  • 2019

    Spicers Paper enters the packaging business with two acquisitions: Premiere Packaging and KWW, both based in Southern California.

  • 2019

    Kelly becomes an official dealer of HP Latex Wide Format printers, inks and media.

  • 2020

    Spicers Paper expands its packaging presence in the Northern California region, acquiring American Packaging.

  • 2020

    In partnership with Clean Smart Solutions, Kelly Paper increases its offerings of sanitation and janitorial products to meet the COVID19 post-pandemic reality.

  • 2021

    Kelly Paper and Spicers Paper combine to become Kelly Spicers, with categories including paper, packaging, wide format, digital, facilities solutions and stores.

  • 2022

    Kelly Spicers adds new capabilities, services and geographies with a series of acquisitions, including packaging supplier BJF, legacy paper company Keldon, the Denver office of Lewis Paper and the West Coast operations of Connemara Converting.

  • 2022

    Kelly Spicers Packaging establishes two key packaging services centers: A Demo Center for customers to test out packaging equipment, and a Design Center, where packaging designers create custom solutions for clients.

  • 2022

    With more than the 120,000 farmers, growers and packers across the West, Kelly Spicers enters the agricultural packaging business—offering everything from netting, baskets and Kraft wrap to tarps, twines and stretch film.

  • 2023

    The acquisition of Connemara Converting’s West Coast operations more than doubles its converting capabilities, adding two new state-of-the-art converting machines plus a slitter/rewinder. All three machines are now housed in Santa Fe Springs.

  • 2025

    The acquisition of Creative Packaging adds new product categories to our growing packaging business.

Cheers to Us!

And a big thanks to you –
our customers and suppliers who have joined us along this 90-year journey.
From a handful of employees to nearly 700 colleagues working in sales, support, logistics and warehouse, our people have always been at the heart of Kelly Spicers!