Commonwealth Packaging Company was founded in 1959 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania by college sweethearts, Jay and Diane Maisel in the basement of their home. Diane, the mother of three young children at the time, was the driving force behind the company’s launch, encouraging Jay to start a packaging business where he would sell paper bags to discerning retailers in the area. As the Commonwealth team tells it, Jay worked with local printers to brand the names of stores on their packaging. Meanwhile, Diane was a one-woman administrative staff—secretary, bookkeeper, office manager, and everything else!
Today, Jay and Diane’s legacy now includes three regional offices located across the country in Pennsylvania, New York, and California, and a varied customer base from independent brick-and-mortar stores to e-commerce brands and beyond (including many names you’re likely familiar with, from Saks Fifth Avenue and Good American to Rent the Runway and Shinola). Over 60 years later, the business is still family-run. Commonwealth is currently owned and managed by their sons, Mark and Steven, and their grandchildren, Sydney Maisel-Straitman and Andrew Straitman, have joined the business as well.
An Anything But Common Partnership
From the very beginning, Commonwealth has been focused on creating memorable and special packaging with exceptional service. They pride themselves on providing all-inclusive packaging solutions and will walk their customers through the whole process, from design to delivery. Not surprisingly, we feel a special kinship with a company focused on creating great products and providing great customer service! In part, it’s due to Jay and Diane’s granddaughter Sydney’s college choice—she’s a University of Michigan alum! When her dad, Mark, would come to Ann Arbor he also made some local connections, bringing folks like us, Bivouac, and Literati into the fold of their packaging family.
Our iconic yellow and red bags have been around a bit longer than our relationship with Commonwealth, but they have been our partners in printing these bags since 2009. They work with all sizes of businesses, including some much, much larger than our account, but for us, these two items are a BIG line item on our expenses. Since we started working together, they have consistently gotten us the lowest price, while also ensuring we have a high-quality product. Deli Managing Partner Rodger Bowser says,
Mark has been retired for a few years, but still handles our account personally! He takes the time to educate us on pricing and what makes our product better. He always picks up the phone and talks about printing and packaging any time I call and even if Commonwealth isn’t the right fit for our project, Mark points us in the right direction.
Recently, we were searching for a source for a more environmentally friendly, compostable, and PFAS-free version of our deli paper sheets (you know, what our sandwiches are wrapped in), and guess what? Commonwealth was able to find a solution for us. It’s been a great relationship, as Purchasing Manager Mark Fate says,
Our previous vendor wasn’t helping us find a solution that met our needs, so we turned to Mark and Commonweath. They did all the testing and helped us find a better product—one that was both compostable and didn’t contain any “forever chemicals.” I look forward to Mark’s annual visit to Ann Arbor, sitting on the patio in June, having a sandwich together, and talking business and more.
While we’re talking about sustainability, we want to address our choice of using plastic instead of paper bags. Folks are sometimes surprised by the decision and question whether it’s at odds with our commitment to making choices that are good for the planet (like championing reusable containers, our earth-friendly expansion, and choosing to work with fellow artisans with the same passion for sustainability). It’s not! In fact, after extensive analysis, we were able to determine that plastic bags were the more ecologically sound option due to the number of times that people report reusing these higher-quality plastic bags and also the considerable amount of water required to manufacture paper bags (that goes for recycled paper bags, too). We do stock a variety of non-branded paper bags (also thanks to Commonwealth!) so that people can choose what they prefer. And we’re always open to new research and know that Commonwealth will be at the ready to help us!
