Paper Smiths Shop Visit - Box Park, Shoreditch
Last weekend I went on a mini stationery tour with Priya from The London Parchment. One of the shops we visited was Paper Smiths pop up shop in Box Park, Shoreditch. This shop is a little gem with a nice collection of different stationery brands. The displays are simplistic and neat making it really easy to explore what they have on offer.
We spent an unusually long time in the shop trying to decide what to buy. The staff were really friendly and knowledgable about the products without being pushy, and the music was pretty good - part of the reason we lingered for such a long time.
The selection of products on offer was good and it felt like the more time I spent looking the more I saw. There is a section devoted to gift cards, high end magazines and travel related guides and stationery. I liked looking around this section of the shop as it’s not something I would normally be drawn to when shopping online.
There is a small pencil wall, in a familiar display style, although nowhere near as extensive at the CW Pencils wall. There were small notepads that encouraged you to test out the different writing tools on offer. Scattered among the pencil and pen pots were a selection of different notebooks and notepads in various different sizes.
They have a selection of Kaweco Skyline Sport fountain pens and inks in a range of colours. The Skyline Sport range fits into Paper Smiths perfectly, the colour scheme suits the store and I am sure catches peoples attention when they’re browsing.
The shop had a selection of pencil cases, pouches and writing desk tools. I got the chance to have a look at a few Blackwing single pencils, including the controversial 205, which I thought looked quite nice in person.
I came away with a modest selection. I could have bought more, and probably should have done as our second store visit was a little disappointing. I am most excited about the Bindwerk notebook. The notebooks has an ivory linen cover and the pages inside are a blank high quality paper stock which should work perfectly with my fountain pens. I probably wouldn’t have bought this notebook online because I am fussy with the type of paper I like in my notebooks, but seeing this in person I was immediately smitten.
I also bought a few Artline fine liners, an intriguing white pencil which is extremely heavy and seems to not have a core. It’s almost like an adult colouring pencil. I bought another High Tide pen roll in navy and a very amusing greeting card.
My Paper Smiths visit was great fun. I really like the range of products they have on offer and the way they present the stationery. There are areas where I think there are some big gaps but overall it’s a great shop.
