What Blue Mountain Arts does

Blue Mountain Arts is a privately held greeting card and gift book publishing company founded in 1971 in Boulder, Colorado by poet Susan Polis Schutz and physicist-illustrator Stephen Schutz. The company produces physical personal expression products — birthday and occasion cards, everyday sentiment cards, holiday cards, and gift books featuring poetry, prose, and illustrations — drawing from a roster of more than 18 named contributing authors and artists including Douglas Pagels and Marci. Individual cards are priced $4.49–$8.99 and gift books $9.95–$34.95, with sustainable production using recycled paper and wind-generated energy, all manufactured domestically in the USA.

The company operates primarily through a direct-to-consumer e-commerce storefront at sps.com, supplemented by phone, mail, email, and fax ordering. A wholesale program invites retailers to stock products, though the company explicitly notes shipping is limited to US addresses via USPS ground (5–7 business days). Community engagement is maintained through a biannual poetry contest and detailed author/artist profile pages, while content has been translated into 11+ languages including Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, French, and German, indicating latent international reach that has not been operationalized.

Blue Mountain Arts generates revenue from one-time unit sales of cards and books, with no subscription or licensing model disclosed. The catalog has produced several durable bestsellers: Susan Polis Schutz's "To My Daughter with Love on the Important Things in Life" has sold over 1.8 million copies and Douglas Pagels' books have collectively sold over 3.5 million copies. The company employs 51–100 people, has no disclosed funding, parent company, subsidiaries, or M&A activity, and remains an independent family-founded publishing operation.

Name

Blue Mountain Arts

Legal name

Blue Mountain Arts, Inc.

Website

https://sps.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Blue Mountain Arts is a privately held greeting card and gift book publisher founded in 1971 in Boulder, Colorado, selling poetry- and illustration-based personal expression products direct-to-consumer online and through wholesale to retailers across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Greeting Cards & Gift Book Publishing

NAICS

Greeting Card Publishers (513191), Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Retailers (459420)

SIC

Greeting Cards (2771)

akta.pro primary industry

Greeting Cards, Wrap & Party Supplies Retail (CRALAJAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Humor, Gift & Specialty Format Books (Journals, Coloring, etc.) (MPAJAAAN)

Keywords

• Greeting card publishing
• Gift book publishing
• Personal expression products
• Inspirational poetry publishing
• Stationery publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

Boulder

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Greeting Card Sales: Sale of physical greeting cards for various occasions including birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and everyday sentiments. Cards are sold individually at price points ranging from $4.49 to $8.99.
2. Gift Book Sales: Sale of inspirational and sentimental gift books featuring poetry, prose, and illustrations. Books are sold at price points ranging from $9.95 to $34.95.
3. Wholesale Distribution: Wholesale inquiries program allowing retailers to stock and sell Blue Mountain Arts products through their own retail channels.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Blue Mountain Arts publishes and sells physical greeting cards for birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and everyday sentiments, along with inspirational gift books featuring poetry, prose, and illustrations. Cards are sold individually at $4.49–$8.99 and books at $9.95–$34.95, distributed primarily direct-to-consumer through its own e-commerce website (sps.com) with a secondary wholesale program.

Product overview

Blue Mountain Arts is a greeting card and gift book publishing company founded in 1971 by poets Susan Polis Schutz and Stephen Schutz. The company offers a portfolio of personal expression products including Birthday & Occasion Cards, Everyday Cards, Holiday Cards, and Gift Books. These products feature original poetry, prose, and illustrations from a roster of contracted authors and artists. The company operates direct-to-consumer e-commerce sales alongside a wholesale distribution program, and maintains community engagement through a biannual poetry contest. The core product architecture consists of physical greeting cards and published gift books, with no digital or API-based product offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• pix & pagels: A gift book and greeting card line by Douglas Pagels featuring colorful photographs paired with heartfelt writings.
• Children of the Inner Light

Products and services

• Birthday & Occasion Cards Greeting cards for birthdays and special occasions including anniversaries, graduations, new baby, and wedding celebrations, sold individually with envelopes at $4.49 to $8.99 per card.
• Everyday Cards Greeting cards for everyday sentiments including appreciation, friendship, encouragement, love, marriage, sympathy, and relationships, sold individually at $4.49 to $8.99 per card.
• Holiday Cards Greeting cards for holidays including Christmas, Easter, Father's Day, Mother's Day, and Valentine's Day, sold individually at $4.49 to $8.99 per card.
• Gift Books Inspirational and sentimental gift books featuring poetry, prose, and illustrations by Blue Mountain Arts authors and artists, including trade paperback ($9.95–$16.95), hardcover ($14.95–$21.95), premium illustrated (up to $34.95), and coloring book ($9.95) formats.
• Keepsake Gifts Keepsake gift items that complement Blue Mountain Arts' greeting card and gift book product lines.

Quantifiable outcome

• Susan Polis Schutz's 'To My Daughter with Love' has sold over 1.8 million copies
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Moonpig Group: Moonpig is a personalized greeting card and gifting platform dominant in the UK and Europe. Operates the same personal-occasion card model with a strong digital/phygital approach; serves as a regional comparable showing how the card category can scale via technology.

Broad incumbents

• Chronicle Books: Chronicle Books is a specialty trade book publisher known for visually driven, gift-quality titles — directly comparable to Blue Mountain Arts' specialty/gift book publishing arm. Broader publisher, but meaningful overlap in the inspirational and gift-format book category.
• American Greetings: American Greetings is one of the largest greeting card manufacturers with direct overlap on birthday, everyday, and holiday card categories. Comparable product architecture (physical cards, gift packaging) and similar D2C plus retail distribution model.
• Hallmark Cards: Hallmark is the dominant greeting card publisher and the most direct comparable to Blue Mountain Arts in terms of product category, occasion-based card merchandising, and gift-aisle retail presence. Direct competition at the high-volume end, but Hallmark also operates a much broader portfolio (TV, retail stores) than Blue Mountain Arts.

Direct peers

• Recycled Paper Greetings: Recycled Paper Greetings is a specialty greeting card publisher focused on art-driven, witty, and emotionally resonant card designs — very similar positioning to Blue Mountain Arts' poetry/illustration-led cards. Closest like-for-like comparable in product ethos and artist-driven content.
• Papyrus (C.R. Gibson / Schurman): Papyrus is a premium stationery and greeting card brand known for elevated design, gift packaging, and keepsake positioning — closely aligned with Blue Mountain Arts' premium card and keepsake gift category at similar price points.
• Avanti Press: Avanti Press is a B2B-focused greeting card publisher selling primarily through retailers and distributors — directly comparable to Blue Mountain Arts' wholesale distribution program and occasion-based card catalog.
• Compendium Incorporated: Compendium is a publisher of inspirational gift books, stationery, and meaningful gift products — directly comparable to Blue Mountain Arts' gift book line ($9.95–$34.95) and emotionally-resonant product positioning. Closest peer for the gift book half of Blue Mountain Arts' portfolio.

Emerging players

• Paperless Post: Paperless Post is a digital invitation and card platform that competes for the same personal-occasion use cases (weddings, birthdays, holidays) that Blue Mountain Arts addresses physically. Not a direct physical product competitor, but represents the digital substitution risk in the same occasion-driven gifting category.

Others

• 1-800-Flowers.com: 1-800-Flowers is a gifting-focused DTC and e-commerce company serving the same occasion-based gifting use cases (birthdays, holidays, anniversaries). Not a card publisher, but a comparable addressable market and D2C gifting motion that competes for the same consumer wallet share.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Blue Mountain Arts