Facts about paper clips

Now ACCO Brands Corp., based in this Chicago suburb and dubbing itself a “global powerhouse of leading office-products brands,” hopes Americans will embrace a snazzier clip costing more than 16 times as much.

“This is our reinvention of the paper clip,” says Carol Lucarelli, a brand manager at ACCO, as she hands a visitor a sheaf of paper held together by stainless steel clamps called Klix in shiny hues of red, purple, green, blue and “classic silver.” Klix, resembling small hair barrettes, make a snapping sound when closed. “It’s very fun,” says Ms. Lucarelli. “It’s this clickiness.”

It is claimed that traditional paper clips have been underperforming in the marketplace.

The eleven billion paper clips used each year in this country are made largely in the United States, perhaps because there are 100%+ tariffs on the import of paper clips from abroad.  Yet ACCO, the number one American clip maker, reports that paper clips account for less than one percent of their sales.  Some of ACCO’s 38 paper clip-making machines are more than fifty years old.  One rival company claims it does not understand how Americans use so many paper clips, namely 35 per American.

Some paper clips are used to unclog tubes of glue.

Plastic-covered clips are not covered by the tariff and they are manufactured largely in China.

The story is here and for the pointer I thank Brent Depperschmidt.