Photo taken from Paper Place Website

by Kait Fowlie
Someone once asked me, if I could open up a business of any kind, what kind of business would it be? I thought about it for 5 seconds, and promptly answered: a stationery store. Why, my friend asked? Well, this prompted a long winded rant, which I won’t relay here, but long story short, I would open up a stationery store because paper goods are so much more than simply paper goods – our entire civilization rests on documents. Without them, there would be no history, no arts, no human rights declarations! Paper goods are the single most inspiring objects.  And so much more inspiring when they are pretty, have that new notebook smell, and come from a cute store that actually causes you pain to leave without buying something. Here are some of those stores in our humble city.

Pistachio (2433 Yonge St.) Pistachio believes that being environmentally friendly doesn’t mean denying yourself the things you love. Their design team is all about intelligent, better informed design. They have a massive range of journals, agendas and pretty much anything you need to personalize and inspire your workspace.

Valhalla (823 Queen St. West) Valhalla is pretty much the pinnacle of creative stationery. Their stuff – trinkets, calendars, office and party supplies, and stationary – is usually covered with vintage images of pin up girls, super heroes and housewives with crass speech bubbles.

Kid Icarus (75 Nassau St.) This little gem in Kensington Market carries posters, journals, handmade papers, T-shirts and ornaments, all made with love in their very own screen printing shop in the back.  

Papergaphix (1708 Avenue Rd.) This is a specialty store that tends toward the finer side of things. Since 1989, they’ve been offering treasure troves of fantastic stationary, with a style to suit everyone. I was sold with the camp stationary – a fun box set just for kids, who want to write to their parents while at camp(!)

La Merceria (506 Adelaide St. West) Ok, this little shop (selling things oriented toward “daily pleasures”) doesn’t carry a ton of stationery, but it has a few fun journals, and unique Letterspace cards. But the store is just so amazingly adorable it will surely encourage writing and inspired living of all kinds. It is advertised as an Argentinean Cafe & Home Accessories Shop, so what they lack in stationery they make up for in cold yerba mate lemonade and interesting teacups.

The U of T Bookstore (College St.) I once spent $16.00 on pens here and did not regret a cent of it. Their stationery ranges from academic (surprise, surprise) to one of a kind. This is a one stop shop not just for students, but anyone who needs to stock their workspace.

The Paper Place (Queen St. West) The Paper Place does not mess around when it comes to paper. They practically have a Dewey decibel system when it comes to paper (in the form of helpful and friendly staff). Their paper is so beautiful, it is a shame to do anything with it other than hang it on your wall and marvel at it. Next time you’re walking down Queen, glance in and check out their creative window displays.

Midoco Art and Office Supplies (555 Bloor St. West, 1963 Queen St. East) Touted as “your number one stop for creative expression”, Midoco is probably the furthest thing from a big box arts supply store. You can get your paws on all kinds of obscure merchandise, from Rhodia notepads and art kits to easels and one of a kind laptop sleeves.

Swipe Books (401 Richmond St.) Swipe is something of a circus for book and stationary lovers. Moleskin, Charlie Harper, Rhodia, and a slew of indie greeting card companies add to the awesome mix of art and design books at Swipe.