Cream City Ribbon had its factory located at 181 N. Broadway when owner, Lorette Russenberger, decided to open Broadway Paper as an outlet to sell her ribbon in a retail environment. Her original intention was to open as a seasonal store during Christmas of 1988, but the response was so great, she kept it open year-round. It was only the second retail store located in the Third Ward and they developed a loyal following of customers.

Lorette ran the store until 1996, when Linda Longworth walked in one day and asked if she ever thought of selling. Lorette said “no, but that she might,” and 2 weeks later, they closed the deal! After owning the store for more than six years and running the business from either side of the globe, Linda made the hard decision to sell.

A love of all things paper and excellent timing found Tracie Stier-Johnson the next owner of Broadway Paper! Never satisfied with the familiar, Tracie made it her personal goal to always find simple objects of unique quality.

Tracie took Broadway Paper to new heights from a 1,200 square foot outlet with $400,000 in annual sales, to a 3,200 square foot boutique with over a million dollars in sales.

In December 2008, Tracie decided the time had come to focus on her family and sell the store.

It all started with a blog post titled "Parting is such sweet sorrow" by previous owner, Tracie Stier-Johnson, when current owner Kate Strzok knew in her heart she couldn't pass up on such an amazing opportunity.