Scheduling an appointment these days often means whipping out a smartphone and opening one of the many calendar and personal organizer apps on the market.

But a half-million shoppers are taking an old-school approach by writing down to-do lists and appointments in colorful paper planners from online stationery retailer Erin Condren Design in Hawthorne.

The business will be expanding its distribution deal with Staples Inc. of Framingham, Mass., this year to include 400 stores rather than 30 as well as move into the home-design sector with new products such as wallpaper.

Founder Erin Condren said business has been booming for the past 10 years.

“People say, ‘You’re so lucky (and) this is amazing what you’ve built,’” Condren said. “And I’m thinking none of this was luck. There is no luck, I think, in success. Timing has a lot to do with it.”

It might seem odd that a business selling paper products would do well in the digital age, but that’s because many people have turned their planners into modern day scrapbooks – adding fun stickers, photos and colorful markers – then showing off their designs on platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest.

Nikki Baird, managing partner at Miami’s Retail Systems Research, said she’s seen Condren’s products on Pinterest, which she said cater to those who prefer hand-crafted and personalized products.

“I think there is a bit of a fallacy going around that millennials only want to live in a digital world,” Baird said. “They tend to value personal experiences all the more so because so much of their lives are digital.”

Baird said Condren’s decision to explore other product lines makes sense, citing Playa Vista’s Honest Co. as another company that started out in a specific niche before branching out.

“It doesn’t seem that much of a stretch to take those design themes into home décor, whether for living or entertaining,” said Baird.

Condren said social media has opened the door for clients to share their time management skills. While she admits some may prefer going the digital route, there are those who still love the feeling of crossing things off.

“I’m watching these communities of mostly women share how they are a mom working 9 a.m. to 5 p.m or starting a business on the weekend or blogging,” she said. “I’m sometimes embarrassed to open my book these days because they have taken (the decorating) to such a greater level.”

Changing plans

Condren, 46, started the business in 2006 out of a 150-square-foot home office with one employee, who was also her children’s babysitter.

Now, a staff of 200 works out of a 40,000-square-foot office in Hawthorne as well as a 150,000-square-foot production facility in Austin, Texas.

Condren, who has a background in apparel manufacturing, was originally planning to launch a clothing line called Reach in 2001. She even partnered with retailer Michael Stars, who agreed to sell the brand.

But then Sept. 11 happened.

“We were already deep into tens of thousands of pairs of pants, then everything got canceled,” she said. “It was one of those pivotal times in my life of, Wow, all I really know is apparel. What am I going to do now? And in that same year, I was surprised with a twin pregnancy.”

While Condren was deciding her next step, she began creating and printing greeting cards for friends and family.

Her creations quickly became popular, and they were even featured on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show less than a year after she launched the business.

Condren then partnered with Al Marco, founder of Hawthorne fine art printing company Marco Fine Arts Inc., whom she credits with helping her streamline the business and supporting her decision to launch a planner. Marco has worked with Condren since the company was established and he now manages the Austin plant.

However, there were some initial fears that it might be the wrong time to enter the market.

“I printed this planner and had it coiled at Staples and brought it back to him,” she said. “I remember his look. The iPhone had just come out and he said, ‘Everybody says we’re going to be scheduling off our phone.’”

But Condren persisted because she thought many planners on the market were uninspiring and just not pretty. So she decided to sell coiled planners with customizable covers that could also be personalized with a shopper’s name or initials. Users can select from a variety of different patterns and also upload photos that can be printed on the front.

“We sold 1,000 (the first year),” she said. “And 10 years later, we will have sold about 500,000 Life Planners.”

Retail prices range from $40 for a basic planner to $70 for a wedding-planner book.

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The company also creates stickers, stationery and notebooks, and it expanded into accessories such as photo frames and acrylic trays about five years ago.

Condren acknowledged the company’s quick growth has been difficult to manage.

“Scalability has always been our biggest challenge,” she said. “This is not pulling a handbag off a shelf and putting it in a box. We have real designers looking at your order, so if your name is Alex or Alexandria, the font size is going to be different, the color choices will be slightly modified, (And) these are hand-coiled books.”

But the company has been able to meet demand with the help of its Austin facility, which opened two years ago.

Condren said the goal for this year will be to beef up the firm’s customer service staff and prepare for expansion into additional Staples stores. While she’s not looking into any licensing opportunities for the brand at the moment, she might be open to that down the line.

In addition to creating products for people to decorate their home, she’s also hoping to expand her business by launching planner lines for men.

Condren said it’s a natural next step for a company that has helped customers plan out their day, especially as its core demographic gets younger.

“When I came out with this Life Planner in 2007, people thought, Well, this is for that mid-40s gal who sort of missed technology and got caught somewhere in between while she was having kids,” Condren said. “But our demographics are getting younger and younger. These girls are tweeting and posting (their planner) and saying this is what got me into UCLA. It’s pretty cool to hear the success story with people who are using it.”