“I’m very happy, but I’m a bit nervous,” says Andreas Schwarz and laughs. The 26-year-old has been the new boss of the Linz paper tiger since January 1, following in the footsteps of his father Georg (62). The “neo-pensioner” will not be lost to customers immediately, he will also be found in the shop in the future. It’s nice that he can still work a bit, many of the customers have become friends over time, says Georg Schwarz.
The senior is convinced that the individual advice and personal discussions would make up the flair of the paper tiger. It’s been 35 years since it celebrated its opening in 1988, at that time still on Waltherstrasse. The move to Pfarrplatz finally followed in 2016.
regionality and sustainability
Sustainability, regionality and quality were top priorities right from the start, and in addition to postcards, handmade paper and special notebooks, the range of products in the specialist shop also includes wooden toys. “We tend to be more toy than paper tigers,” says Georg Schwarz with a wink.
With the current offer and concept, his son sees himself in a trend area that is popular. Andreas Schwarz is not aiming for any major changes here, but overall the paper tiger should be more future-proof, i.e. more digital – for example, an online shop is planned. This is also to be understood as a service for the many regular customers, not all of whom are at home in Linz.
Georg Schwarz sees a lot of potential in the (online) plans, although he has “always resisted changes”. “I think it’s important that you do that, it’s just part of it these days.” His son, who studied Global Sales and Marketing at the University of Applied Sciences in Steyr, knows this only too well.
It wasn’t immediately clear to him that he would take over the business, but he always “flirted” with it, says Andreas Schwarz. After graduating, he worked as a project manager for a year and a half (“I wanted to look at something else”) before the time for the paper tiger was ripe. There is support there not only from father Georg, but also from employee Birgitt Leutgeb, who has been working in the specialist shop for 33 years.
In addition to the numerous regular customers, the paper tiger attracts many tourists, especially from the cruise ships. They are always very enthusiastic about the “Wooden Toys”. In general, the desire to buy is currently somewhat subdued in view of the current price increases, according to Georg Schwarz’s experience. At the same time, they benefit from “the fact that gifts are now given more consciously,” says Andreas Schwarz.
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