Archives: Paper shredder sales boom in Illinois

http://www.i-street.com/newsarchive/yr2002/mn02/08fellowes.asp

Paper shredder sales boom in Illinois
February 8, 2002 10:00
By Jeff Meredith

CHICAGO - The aftershocks of the Enron scandal are having a positive effect on Itasca-based Fellowes Inc., a leading manufacturer of paper shredders: the company reported a 20 percent increase in shredder sales since December. Enron and audit firm Andersen made headlines when they shredded documents relating to the largest bankruptcy filing in history.

"Whenever shredders are in the news, we see sales increase for first time buyers as well as people who are returning for a more heavy-duty machine," said Jamie Martin, shredder manager at Fellowes.

The company, known for ergonomic accessories, media storage products, and other technology accompaniments, controls 40 percent of the US shredder market. And it's clear that shredders are not just for white-collar criminals. The rise in identity theft prompted consumers to buy between 6 and 8 million shredders last year, totaling $200-300 million in retail sales.

Shredders are also more affordable than ever - Martin says prices at Fellowes range from $19.99 to $199.

"Ours will basically handle paper and some of them will shred credit cards," said Martin. "The ones that can do far beyond that tend to be the shredding services that come to your office."

The National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) - no, we're not kidding - has been attempting to remind the media that "the overwhelming majority of document destruction that takes place on a daily basis is done so quite appropriately and for the cause of good."

Representing more than 250 companies here and abroad that destroy confidential information as a primary business, NAID notes that payroll records, health information and personal information kept by companies on individuals are regarded as confidential and must be disposed of accordingly.

What would Harvey Pitt, SEC chief, think of all this? In a prior life, Pitt was a defense attorney for Arthur Andersen. The indications are that he's a fan of paper shredders too.

"Each company should have a system of determining the retention and destruction of documents," Pitt wrote in a law review article in 1994. "Ask executives and employees to imagine all their documents in the hands of a zealous regulator or on the front page of the New York Times. Obviously, once a subpoena has been issued, or is about to be issued, any existing document destruction policies should be brought to an immediate halt."