I've lived here in DMV area since 2000. I've been to Paper Source a total of 3 times including this last experience. Overpriced things, but they have some cool chachky's that are hard to get anywhere else. You CAN find most of the same things online for cheaper, you just have to search a bit harder. I wanted to see if they had any notebook/journal covers. I like to see these kinds of things in person. I've waited 4 days to post this review, thinking maybe the issue was me. I'm going with my gut, as I don't think it was. I've never experienced SWB before. Shopping While Brown. Granted the shop is in Old Town, Alexandria, full of privileged White bratty adults. Fine. I'm bratty too. big whoop. However I felt really cr@ppy being hounded in the store every 5 minutes by both female employees. "Just Looking" didn't work on this day. I was trailed my whole time in the store. I was dressed casually, Ralph Lauren jeans and Ralph Lauren polo, Gucci shoes and Gucci messenger bag. I didn't think I looked like a shoplifter or someone questionable. I was, however, the only non-Caucasian in the store. I hate thinking this way, however, this is the DMV area. I was approached 4 times while shopping in the store, 3x by the same employee. From my Park Mobile receipt, I parked on the street at 2:12 and ended my parking time at 2:39. Figuring I was in this shop for approximately 25 minutes (with at least 5 minutes spent checking out) I was asked if I needed "help" 4 times. good customer service? mmmm maybe. I trained customer service for years and I don't think this was just excellent cs skills. NO other customer was asked how THEY were doing. Just me. I was quite cognizant of that. I dropped $76 in that store that day (no journal cover). Maybe I'm out of my tree and the nitwittery of this area finally got to me. I'd like to think i'm making something out of nothing but unfortunately, I don't think so. :( Will not shop there again. Too many better things at better prices on-line. read more

Really nice Paper Source - the staff is super helpful. Gretchen helped me with some pretty complicated returns and she was incredibly gracious and patient with me even though I definitely took much longer than necessary. Was really great customer service. read more

My name is Pheniece, and I am a stationary junkie. I get cravings for monogrammed thank you notes, embossed writing paper, and ribbon. I am currently seeking help and trying to avoid all Paper Sources in the area. read more

A lovely Paper Source location. Friendly, knowledgeable staff. Large selection. Clean store, well organized. Each season happily brings new crafting ideas, wrapping supplies, and overall fun! Always worth a pop in, any day of the week. read more

I completely agree with Stephanie P's review and don't really have much to add. It was so hard for me to walk through this store and not want to buy EVERYTHING. I fell in love and kept thinking up different ideas of what I could make. Luckilly, I left my book binding tools in Florida and didn't sink all of my savings into buying out this place. Aside from the great selection of papers, detailing, etc. They've got great books on various prints, idea books, how-to books, and histories of paper/prints/images. You can also sign up for some mini-classes that they offer that teach you how to use their stuff if you're a total newb. read more

This is the cutest freakin' store ever. Not only do they have really cool stationary, paper/envelopes, pens, greeting cards, etc. but they have awesome gifts for men, women, children, moms, dads, wives, etc! I love the planners and desk calendars they have in stock here. The store is so fun and lively in color just like the super friendly staff that helped me find a gift for my mom-in-law this coming Mother's Day! Best store ever! Super kawaii! read more

This Paper Source was my very first, and for a craft fanatic it was like walking into Never Neverland. The selection is unique, and I was most impressed with the demonstration a staff made with the embossing heating tool. I had never seen such a thing and she wasted no time reading my curiosity and giving us examples on how to use the tool. I was thrilled! This was going to make my homemade Christmas cards that much better. I am a frugal and resourceful consumer, so I pulled out my phone to find a paper source coupon. No such thing existed at the time, so I researched quickly and discovered the same tool (without the Paper Source brand) available at Michael's and it wad 40% off. Obviously, I didn't mind holding off the purchase so that my money could be stretched. So I bought another stamp from PS and headed to Michael's. The same employee rang me up at the register and asked why I decided not to get the heat tool. I explained that I was going to wait a while and purchase it elsewhere. Needless to say, she was visibly irritated that I wasn't buying it from PS. I understand wanting to uphold your brand and your store, but don't have bad form when a customer is purchasing something in front of you and had resourcefully located a better deal for a different product. It was altogether tacky and another woman in line even eyeballed me because of the obvious tension. I love my stamps and my glitters, however! This store is a treasure trove for the craft lovers, and in many ways overly expensive. I hate to give it such a low star rating due to a single bad customer service experience, but customer service is the only defining factor between Amazon and actual stores. Those skills need to to be fine tuned and unwavering. read more

Bit pricey but, hey, it's a specialty paper/stationary store. Great selection of quality papers and envelopes though I'd stick with Papyrus or similar for everyday stationary. They do carry some bookmaking supplies though it's tucked away in a back corner. I'm not a scrapbooker so my only assessment of their scrapbooking supply collection is "looks good to me." It's a very dangerous place for the "art" supply or stationary-obsessed like myself. read more

I went here to buy things for my bridesmaid proposal box and potential wedding invites. A store clerk followed me around to see if I was shoplifting. I'm a woman of color. She hovered around me but never asked if I needed help, and then I watched her look over a section I had just left to determine if items were missing. I hope this company will address their employees use of racial profiling in the future. Until then, I wouldn't recommend this store if you're trying to avoid a similar experience. read more

Wonderful store! Staff is extremely knowledgeable, patient and friendly. I have been in this store so many times over the past few months getting everything ready for my wedding and each time I return I discover something new! Bottom line: Great selection and great staff! read more

This place had a great selection of gifts for all ages. The staff was very helpful and friendly. However, their prices for gift wrapping are ridiculous. I have never left an negative review on yelp before, but I want to warn others. We were told that they charge an $8 fee for wrapping, which is totally fair. THEN we were told that we had to purchase our own paper, and our own ribbon. The paper prices range from $4-11. But if you want a piece of paper that will totally cover your gift, you either need to buy 2 pieces or a single piece of paper that starts at $6. Our total for the wrapping and ribbon was $18, more than half the price of the gift we bought there! I tried to buy tape for $4 and roll of paper for $8 do it myself, but the total would have been $12 and not have included ribbon. If I wasn't in a rush I never would have settled for this. Obviously they know they're overcharging or they wouldn't overcharge for scotch tape. In addition, the bow on our gift was tied like a shoelace, not like a gift for someone. Will NOT be going back. I cannot believe they're still in business. read more

Paper Source - Shoelace bow. Not a present bow. - Cards & Stationery Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

Not impressed... We went with hopes of doing a DIY project. The selection is very limited, way overpriced and the service is pretty bad - especially from one employee who pretty much wrote us off with her attitude the moment we asked for DIY help rather than order her overpriced invitations that take six weeks to come in. If you want a paper place with amazing service, outstanding quality and selection, as well as reasonable delivery time, take a trip to Hawthorne House in Occoquan. read more

Fun, helpful staff, a nice selection of gifts and other items, lots of sales on seasonal Items, and my dog is welcome. Could I get some items cheaper elsewhere? Maybe. Could I walk to other such places or get the same level of customer service? No. The only caveat is that my friend ordered her wedding invitations from here and had a bad experience. But I've never ordered stationery myself so I'm excluding that experience. read more

I love visiting the Paper Source. They are a bit pricey, but the after-holiday sales are a great deal. I have found, however, that sometimes they are lacking in fun/unique items. Best to check back often for the ever-changing stock of neat stuff. read more

There's paper, of course, of myriad types. But there're also fun and funky books, toys, etc., for kids and adults. The staff is warm and friendly. The décor is warm and bright. In fact, it seems to be all about warmth and fun. read more

Paper Source has great variety of crafts, DIY kits and stationary options. I could spend several hours perusing the cute cards and endless variety of crafty paper things, but at the end of the day, is it really worth spending $9 - $10 on a card? read more

Cute stationary store in Old Town. Wandered in looking for cards to send thank yous for Xmas gifts and came away with 2 reasonably priced boxes with nice designs. Great variety of cards, invitations and note paper. read more

This is a great place for of course paper goods but also crafty supplies, fun gifts, and quirky items. I loved the paper sheet you can buy and many of them were well priced. I will probably buy more the next time I go. One small irritation is that some of the sheets had the prices on the far side so you had to pull the whole sheet out to see the price and since there was a pretty big range in the price, it was worth checking when making a decision. It would be nice if all the prices on the paper sheets were easy to spot. read more

Paper Source in Alexandria... what a treat! A wonderful variety of paper products from individual sheets of wrapping paper and printed cards, to blank envelopes/cards where you can create your own. All sorts of bric-a-brac and seasonal items. I would love to have a place like this near me during the holidays because they had so much fun stuff to purchase. Everything you need for your gifts. We had a great time looking through here. read more

This place is my wife's absolute favorite. I like perusing and looking at all the cool and interesting things here, and the kids like seeing all of the interesting papers and textures that they have. My wife always gets craft supplies, cardstock, scrapbooking stuff, and other knick-knacks I don't really understand. I'm sure it would all be cheaper on Amazon, but we like to support local independent stores like this. read more

We bought our wedding invitations here. They were expensive, but worth every dime for the convenience and service we received. They delivered them directly to our doorstep, and when we changed our mind (a few times!) after the original order (but before final proofing), they were very accommodating. We were so happy with the final product, and they set a wonderful tone for our wedding. read more

This store is dog friendly! And I love the paper flower kits!

This is my mecca! I adore everything about this store- the merchandise, the people that work there, everything!

I wish it was possible to give negative stars. Do NOT go there for balloons!! The staff was rude and condescending and incredibly slow. They charge per balloon and when one didn't float for some reason they did not refund me and simply said I don't know what happened but I don't have a balloon in that specific color. When I simply asked for a longer ribbon length, the employee scoffed and said there was a little extra on the ends already if I wanted more length. This used to be my go to for cute party supplies but I will not be going back for balloons or anything else. read more

Love this place. I could quite easily spend an entire afternoon in this store. It's a school supply lovers dream come true and a great place to get genuinely cool gifts for children and adults. I will never hit up the Target dollar bins again for stocking stuffers after walking around Paper Source. Amazing! read more

I happily drive 30+ miles to come here on occasion. I love it that much. Super great location right where everything is "happening" in old town, friendly staff, awesome paper and the coolest stuff you can find at a store. I heart!! read more

I love all the beautiful paper products. Amazing variety and a wonderful collection of journals.

Visited Alexandria over a weekend and tried to do our part to "shop local". My daughter spent her money to buy a set of decorative string lights which weren't cheap. Upon getting home we plugged in batteries and discovered they don't work. Paper Source Alexandria will not let me mail them back for a refund, the store said I can only bring them back in person. I'm certainly not going to drive all the way back to Alexandria and my daughter paid in cash so we're out of luck. But hopefully I can warn others that their products are overpriced and defective and their return policy is unfriendly to the customer. Next time we'll skip shopping local and head to Amazon. read more

Terrible customer service. I spent a LOT of money on wedding invitations here and related items. I recently tried to return some products that were in the original bag I bought them in, unopened, price tags still on and with the origin receipt. I was 10 days past their 90 day return period and a very rude manager wouldn't honor the return or come to any sort of compromise. These were items that could easily be restocked and resold. Instead, I'm stuck with $80 worth of crap I don't need. It would have been an entirely different experience if this manager would have been polite, but she was quite rude and unwilling to offer any sort of assistance. I rarely give bad reviews but after dealing with Paper Source Old Town and their overall poor service all summer long while planning my wedding this was the last straw. Thanks for absolutely nothing. read more

This is my preferred Paper Source location. Staff is always friendly and knowledgeable. One of the few places that carry products like PVA and Methyl Cellulose for book making. I'm surprised to see some folks saying they were not assisted. Sometimes if a retail business is busy they just can't possibly assist everyone the entire time, and they can't just know who needs help - you have to ask! read more

What an amazing store! My fiancé and I wanted to put together our wedding invitations and the staff helped us complete the wedding suite entirely. Jenn and Sam were incredibly helpful and we will be returning for future events as well. The quality of the products are impressive and we can't say enough nice things about the experience. Highly recommend for all of your party event paper needs!! read more

I've never paid for gift wrapping, but desperately needed my wedding gifts to look classy and elegant. Jackie and Kim were awesome. Jackie took a lot of time to help me understand what paper styles would meet my needs (vs birthday gift wrapping) while keeping this within my tight budget, and then Kim did a beautifully professional job with the gift wrapping. There's a separate fee for the gift wrapping, plus you need to purchase all the materials. It cost me about $40 for them to wrap two medium presents and purchase the paper and ribbon. But all my friends oohed and aahed upon sight, so it was totally worth it. I'll be back in the future. Thanks! read more

I love this place. It IS a little on the expensive side but the quality is out of this world, and they have such a wide selection. On top of that, the staff is super helpful - always eager to help you craft that perfect project. I've gone in having a vague idea of what I need, knowing that someone can help me pick out exactly the right things. read more

My wife and I love this place. We have both purchased a ton, from stationary to weird little gifts. The staff is helpful and have called stores in other states to help us get what we needed. read more

This store is so fun! I'm not really into scrapbooking, but I can see why this store would be a crafter's paradise -- a huge selection of beautiful papers, along with a big selection of other crafting tools. What I really enjoyed, however, was the variety of fun gifts and merchandise they had. Pretty cards, big mugs, fun notepads, and lots of other cool things kept my friend and I busy in the store for a while. Great place to check out while shopping in Old Town, just a couple blocks from the waterfront on King Street! read more

Ahh, PaperSource. You suck me in with your beautiful wrapping paper, your kitchy cards, the amazing stationary and adorable gifts year round. And you drain my wallet, and make me feel like a failure for not being more artsy craftsy. I'm a fool for your love, PaperSource. I keep coming back, and you know I always will. read more

Terrible. Ordered RSVP cards and wedding website cards for our wedding on June 10th and we have still not had them delivered! I have been on the phone with both managers at the store and this issue has still not been resolved. If we do not receive the order by this week we will be cancelling. Do not order from Paper Source and save yourself the headache. read more

Great selection for anything DIY paper related. And the employees are very helpful! I went in for advice on placecards and they ended up teaching me how to emboss =). They're also my go-to for unique and silly gifts. read more

I love this store. Not only do they have a wide variety of blank stationery, you can order custom print jobs. They have a tremendous selection of cards, unique so if you're looking for just the right sentiment you're sure to find it. Recently I ordered a small accordion calendar on-line; I tracked it thru their system. Unfortunately the day I was notified it had been delivered, it was not here. I contacted customer service and they replied the next day for details--to confirm I'd used the correct address. I had. But the delivery was thru USPS which, in our area, is notorious for misdelivering mail. We receive mail all the time to a house with the same street number but a totally different street name! I told Paper Source I suspected my delivery was someplace else and that person had not returned it to USPS. No problem to Paper Source---they sent a replacement that day via FedEx, which came today; along with a personal hand-written note of apology for the inconvenience and thanking me for being a customer! Now I ask you---what business does THAT any more! As I told them, yet another reason to love this company!! read more

This particular store does not seem to carry many of the items it used to carry. Lots of the stamps were gone and while some of the stuff is nice, it is really expensive and manhandled from all of the tourists that are coming and going all day. They have beautiful papers for crafts and some interesting books. Some though are really weird and do not seem to fit in with the high end vibe they seem to be trying to project, like a book of farts and note pads that have expletives on them. The staff is trained to hover over you and try to get you to buy things that you really have no intention of buying. (which is the main reason I do not go in there often) This past weekend while we were there, one of the managers, a girl with long brown hair and glasses was lecturing the other employees on what they were doing/saying wrong. That in itself was just annoying. Every time the poor guy would say hello to a customer, she'd come running over and telling him he should have said something else. Eye roll. It was painful to watch. Thankfully she was too busy torturing the other two employees we were able to browse around a little and then get out without being hassled. It would be a much nicer place if they would simmer down with the hard sell approach and just let the customers decide what they want to purchase. read more