National Stationery

General information

Founded formally on the 4 June 1993 as Natal Stationery cc and later changed to National Stationery cc as the scope of the business grew, the corporation imports and wholesales stationery, craft and related products to the retail trade in Southern Africa.

The Corporation has four members who are all involved in running the enterprise. Colin Barfoot, who has over 30 years experience in stationery, is product and sales oriented. Brian Cranston, a Chartered Accountant with many years of business management experience, is our administrative strength. Clive Khaled, who has been in business since 1970, cares for imports and the computer system. Cablan Khaled completed his Business Science Degree from UCT before joining the business in 2005. Cablan heads up the sales team as the Sales Director.

The corporation operates from a head office in Mount Edgecombe near Durban, and has sales depots in Johannesburg and Cape Town. All stock is held in Durban and orders are processed centrally, from where road carriers deliver to either the depots for on-delivery or direct to the outlying customers. National Stationery employs around 90 persons, among them 22 sales representatives who cover almost all of South Africa and Namibia, and two contracted sales agents who operate within the neighbouring countries of Botswana and Lesotho. National Stationery is renowned for the diligence with which the sales force service its customers on a very regular schedule.

The corporation supplies to a variety of retail sectors, including; stationers, pharmacies, gift, craft and toy shops, wholesalers, independent self service stores, supermarkets and a number of national chain stores. National Stationery is continually seeking new product to extend and enhance its range, and strives to remain abreast with international and local market trends. Registered trademarks include the abbreviated name "Nat-Stat", "NS" as a product prefix, and "NSTRONIC" which is its electronic calculator brand name. Our pride and joy lies in the ‘RETRO’ pen which is one of National Stationery’s most successful ball pen brands.

National Stationery acquired the long established Scripto Stationery Brand in 2009. The deal included the Scripto name, stock, packaging and pen printing machinery. National Stationery has incorporated Scripto into its current setup and has successfully re-launched the Scripto Brand as a major player in the South African market.

In 2009 National Stationery also secured the official Southern African distributorship of Inoxcrom, a Spanish manufacturer of world class pens and writing instruments.

2010 brought with it the FIFA World Cup in South Africa and National Stationery were proud to be chosen as one of the official FIFA Stationery suppliers for the tournament. This was an outstanding opportunity and honour to be a part of such a momentous occasion.

National Stationery has since inception achieved steady year on year growth and has matured into a trusted and well liked brand within the Southern African market place. The corporations continued dedication to advancing and improving the NS brand shall surely result in further success and see National Stationery develop into a household name.