Tomoko Maruyama

What Tomoko Maruyama does

Tomoko Maruyama LLC is a privately held, founder-owned designer and artist studio that operates under the "Colors of San Francisco" brand, producing art prints, stationery, and gift products featuring original watercolor illustrations of San Francisco landmarks and scenes. The company was founded by Tomoko Maruyama, a designer born in Japan and raised in Asakusa, Tokyo, who previously worked as a graphic designer at a New York advertising firm before establishing her San Francisco studio in the SoMa district. A second studio, branded "Forest Studio," was opened in Seattle, Washington in 2020.

The product line is a single, cohesive collection of physical paper and gift goods rather than a software platform or technology product; there is no proprietary technology stack, digital platform, or AI component. The business monetizes through two channels: direct-to-consumer sales via the company's Squarespace-hosted website (tomokomaruyama.com) and an Etsy storefront, and wholesale distribution to retailers through the Faire marketplace and direct sales relationships. The website reflects a basic e-commerce setup with products, a wholesale catalog (gated behind contact details), and standard contact pages.

Customers are split between B2C gift shoppers and tourists purchasing San Francisco-themed souvenirs, and B2B buyers — museum stores, hotel gift shops, airports, and specialty bookstores. Named retail partners include SFMOMA Museum Store, Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center, Alcatraz Island Store, The Ritz-Carlton Gift Shop, Grand Hyatt at SFO, Marriott Vacation Club, Pack N Go and The Bay Collection at SFO, Books Inc, MaiDo Fine Stationery & Gifts, and Sausalito Ferry Co. Wholesale pricing is not publicly disclosed and is available to verified retailers on request. The company is structured as a single-member LLC with no institutional investors, no subsidiaries, and no public listing.

Name

Tomoko Maruyama

Legal name

Tomoko Maruyama LLC

Website

https://tomokomaruyama.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Tomoko Maruyama LLC is a founder-owned artist studio producing hand-illustrated watercolor art prints, stationery, and gifts under the "Colors of San Francisco" brand, sold wholesale to Bay Area museums, hotels, and specialty retailers and direct-to-consumer via its website and Etsy shop.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Art Prints & Stationery

NAICS

Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Retailers (459420), Office Supplies and Stationery Retailers (459410)

SIC

Greeting Cards (2771), Costume Jewelry & Novelties (3960)

akta.pro primary industry

Tourist Souvenir & Destination Gift Shops (CRALAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Stationery & Office Paper Products (notebooks, pads, forms) (IMAMAHAG)

Keywords

• Art prints
• Stationery products
• Gift products
• Watercolor illustrations
• Wholesale stationery

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Wholesale/B2B Sales: Products sold wholesale to retailers including museums, gift shops, hotels, and bookstores through Faire marketplace and direct relationships.
2. Direct-to-Consumer Sales: Art prints, stationery, and gifts sold directly to consumers through company website and Etsy online store.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Tomoko Maruyama designs and sells art prints, stationery, and gift products under the "Colors of San Francisco" brand. The products feature original watercolor illustrations celebrating San Francisco's scenery and cultural landmarks, and are sold both directly to consumers (via the company website and Etsy) and wholesale to museum stores, hotel gift shops, and specialty retailers primarily in California.

Product overview

Tomoko Maruyama offers a single unified product line under the "Colors of San Francisco" brand, consisting of art prints, stationery, and gifts. The products celebrate San Francisco's beauty and cultural heritage through visual art. There is no platform architecture—the offering is a cohesive line of physical paper and gift products sold through direct retail channels (the company's Etsy shop and studio locations) and wholesale distribution to museums and specialty retailers across California.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Colors of San Francisco: A brand celebrating San Francisco's beauty through art prints, stationery, and gifts.

Products and services

• Colors of San Francisco A product line of art prints, stationery, and gifts featuring original watercolor illustrations by Tomoko Maruyama that celebrate San Francisco's scenery and cultural landmarks. Products are designed for gift-giving, souvenirs, and home décor, and are sold both directly to consumers (via the company website and Etsy) and wholesale to museum stores, hotel gift shops, and specialty retailers primarily in California.

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• FairecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFaire wholesale marketplace used by Tomoko Maruyama for B2B ordering. Retailers can place wholesale orders directly through the company's Faire link.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Broad incumbents

• Anthropologie: Large specialty retailer offering an extensive assortment of curated gifts, stationery, and home décor with a similar artisan/lifestyle aesthetic — relevant incumbent comparable on customer demographic, channel mix, and premium gift positioning.
• Terrain: Anthropologie-owned garden, home, and gift retailer known for curated, locally-inspired merchandise across physical stores and online — comparable on aesthetic positioning and destination-style gift assortment at greater scale.
• Shinola: Larger American heritage lifestyle brand carrying a curated assortment of premium gifts, home goods, and accessories across its own retail stores — broadly comparable as a higher-scale incumbent competing for the same premium gift-shopper wallet.

Direct peers

• Rifle Paper Co. Artist-founded stationery, greeting card, and gift brand known for hand-painted floral and destination-inspired artwork sold through its own site, wholesale to specialty retailers, and museum stores — directly comparable to Tomoko Maruyama's art-print/stationery/gift model and premium retail distribution.
• Papier: Digitally native stationery, greeting card, and personalized gift brand sold DTC and through select retail partners — comparable as a contemporary stationery/gift brand competing for the same millennial/Gen-X gift-buyer demographic.
• Minted: Online marketplace aggregating independent artists to sell art prints, stationery, and gifts — directly comparable as a parallel channel for artist-driven home, gift, and paper products with similar buyer demographics and product mix.
• Clementine Stationery: Artist-founded greeting card and stationery brand sold through wholesale and DTC with a focus on destination and lifestyle designs — closely aligned with Tomoko Maruyama's artist-led paper goods and gift positioning.
• Egg Press: Independent artist-run greeting card and stationery studio selling whimsical letterpress cards and gifts through wholesale and DTC — comparable on artisan production, premium specialty positioning, and small-team scale.
• Mr. Boddington's Studio: Artist-driven stationery and gift brand with hand-illustrated designs sold DTC and through museum and specialty stores — directly comparable to Tomoko Maruyama on product line, premium retail placement, and boutique artisan origin.
• Sugar Paper: LA-based artist-founded stationery, gift, and paper goods brand carried in specialty boutiques and museum shops — closely comparable to Tomoko Maruyama on product category (cards, stationery, gifts), artisan origin story, and premium specialty/wholesale channel mix.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tomoko-maruyama

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Tomoko Maruyama