Years ago when one would refer to a local retail stationery store the vision that would come to mind would be a small shop manned by its owner, display racks made of wood housing a limited quantity of greeting cards or newspapers and dusty shelves along the perimeter of the store with abbreviated quantities of practical supplies for school or the office. You might also find under a dollar toys like rubber banded airplanes made of balsa wood or pick-up-sticks among the treasured items from the small stationery retailer. The smell from wooden racks and floors permeated the air and the creaking sound of the wooden floors is remembered with nostalgic pride. Today, the term local stationery store has remained yet the ambiance and its contents are quite different. Most local retail stationery stores now offer less practical merchandise since the onset of giants like Staples who have dominated the retail stationery industry. If loose leaf paper, or pens and pencils are the order of the day we do not visit a local retail stationery store, as a matter of fact, that doesnt even come to mind anymore. Were off to a Staples or Office Depot. Today we visit our local stationery retailer to purchase custom printed invitations or gifts. We seek these stores out for their stylish and exciting gift wrapping, usually a cello wrap with colorful ribbons streaming down the package. The stocks in these stores are usually plentiful and eye catching. The store windows reflect a level of fun and sophistication where conversely it was once a simple dusty window of comic books and cigarettes. The staff in a local retail stationery store has a sense of style and whimsy compared to its days of practicality and simplicity.
