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Made in the USA

After the past several decades, many manufacturers have relocated their businesses from the United States to another country. Cheaper labor and raw materials cost has been the biggest carrot for these businesses. This has not been unique to any one particular industry.

Spiral Paper Tube is different.

Back in 1949, Spiral Paper Tube & Core was started by two brothers. Both grew up poor in Wisconsin during the Great Depression. Great served their country during World War II. Then both moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of the “American dream.”

The Hibard brothers starting manufacturing spiral paper tubes in South Central Los Angeles. The address was 8802 S. Graham, Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90002. For over fifty years, the business was tucked in, near the 110 freeway and 105 freeway interchange (though the 105 freeway wouldn’t come until the 1980s). It was just south of Manchester Avenue, and just west of the Alameda Corridor.

The proverbial carrot entices many businesses to move their operations offshore, but Spiral Paper Tube & Core is committed to continuing its operations in the United States of America.

Made in America. Made in Los Angeles.

Over the past 10 years, California manufacturing has become nearly nonexistent.

Many businesses that were started by the Greatest Generation have gone out of business, moved out of California, or moved their operations off shore. And for good reason.

California businesses pay some of the highest taxes in the country. California businesses also have to endure crippling regulations. Most recently, we had to sell a few of our 26 foot bobtail delivery trucks, though they worked just fine, because California outlawed them.

Even though Los Angeles is a tough place to run a business, we continue to endure. We adapt, and move forward. We’re proud of our history, and proud that our products are still manufactured here in the Los Angeles area.

Over the past seventy years, we’ve expanded our product line, and value the relationship we have with each and every one of our vendors and customers.

In 2022, we’re looking forward to solving more packaging and shipping problems, one paper tube at a time. Happy New Year!

Serving Los Angeles since 1949

Spiral Paper Tube & Core was founded by George Hibard Sr., a US Marine and World War II veteran, nearly seventy years ago.

A machinist by trade, he designed and fabricated most of our first machines. From 1949 to 2004, we were located south of downtown Los Angeles at 8802 S. Graham, Los Angeles, CA 90002.

Bursting at the seams, we needed a bigger building, more more efficient transportation, and additional office space.

Originally, we manufactured spiral paper tubes such as garment tubes, tape cores, and mailing tubes. All were, and still are,  relatively simple to manufacture and serve a wide audience.

Over the years, we’ve explored more industries, discovering even more spiral paper tube needs. This has resulted is us making smaller diameters, larger diameters, shorter tubes, longer tubes, thinner tubes, thicker tubes, as well as adding custom paper, plastic and metal end closures.

In 2002, George Hibard Jr., like his father, designed and fabricated a machine that manufactured a paper product with a few different names: edge protectors, corner protectors, or simply “v-board.”

Invisible to most retail consumers, this v-shaped corner protector can always be seen at big box retailers such as Costco and Sam’s club on pallets of merchandise still shrink wrapped on the shelving.

 

With nearly seventy years of business under our belts, we’ve learned, grown, adapted, and have enjoyed serving Los Angeles with our paper packaging and shipping products. We’re looking forward to another seventy!

Four Years Later

It’s been four years since we launched our e-commerce store!

We’ve been manufacturing paper tubes since 1949, but it wasn’t until 2013 we decided to take the plunge.

Our turnaround times have always been a significant factor in our customers’ purchasing decisions.

Conversation after conversation, the feedback was consistent: we need our paper cores faster.

We put our heads together, implemented a few new changes and created solutions to give our paper core customers just what they were looking for:

Same Day Shipping

In 2013, we launched our e-commerce store with a handful of 3″ ID (inside diameter) x .125″ thick paper cores. Since then, we’ve increased to over 90 different lengths.

The process couldn’t be simpler:

  1. order before 11 AM Pacific
  2. orders ship UPS that same day

Our customers are pleased, and so are our new ones. The feedback we’re receiving now is different, but still consistent: thank you.

 

Ordering Shipping and Packaging Supplies

Screen Shot 2014-11-15 at 9.34.11 AM

The information highway is responsible for a vast majority of communications and sales throughout the world. In the United States, online sales are estimated to account for roughly 60% of all retail sales and will equate to approximately $370 billion. These figures do not include web-influenced sales such as research, browsing, and mapping retail products and stores.

This figure also does not include retail sales of items not purchases or rarely purchased on line such as gasoline or restaurant meals. Retail manufacturers will be more successful in online shopping with products that do not have a need to be touched or seen first hand.

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