Pulp & Ink

Over the past five years I have had Pulp and Ink design Business Cards, Invitations, and referred friends family and client’s to them NOT once has anyone been let down. It is a unique business very custom and very creative. This is an established business in the unique Old Town neighborhood. Leading edge for paper décor and custom work and very responsive!

Tried to go here to buy a birthday card at the last minute. They were closed 20 minutes before Unilocal and the sign said they were supposed to be. I called the phone number from in front of the store and actually saw a gentleman walk out and pick up the phone, then walk into the back again and tell me that they had to close early that day. Seems like the reviews about the poor customer service are true– luckily, there are a few other spots on Wells that you can check out that are actually open when they say they are.

Ever notice that the negative reviews are written by people looking for a single greeting card? Lol Excellent service! A place for designing your dream invites. We had invitations for my parents anniversary party made here. And everyone was so impressed. We wouldn’t hesitate to go back. Great quality. We needed more invites & they ordered more for us at the last minute. Great turnaround time. This is probably why they are always busy. Not your average greeting card store.

Horrible service. There was no one in the store. I had to continually interrupt the man working in there while he was on Facebook. Not worth ever going back!

Colin has the best taste, and his knowledge of state-​of-​the-​art printing comes together to give you truly gorgeous and memorable invitations and stationary. Everything that Pulp&Ink did for our wedding was truly beautiful to the eye and to the touch. Thank You.
Colin has the taste and knowledge that you want so if you are looking for a bubbly sales clerk rather than someone who has an artistic eye and is a walking rolodex of ‘who’s who’ in Chicago then perhaps Pulp & Ink is not for you. What you get with Colin is a stationary artist that does an enormous amount of top quality work with short turn around times. He is also a pillar of the communities that he serves. If you found that he did not smile and bubble at you in the just the right the way then please try and get over it.

Like most everyone else who has reviewed this place, I had a terrible experience with whom I assume was the owner. I stopped in to grab a card for a friend, and I asked a few questions about whether or not they had the particular type of card I wanted. He seemed a bit perturbed that I was asking him any questions at all. But he *tried* to help me. He pointed me in the right direction. Their selection wasn’t terrible, but I would’ve expected more for the size of the shop. However, when I asked if they had a particular card I had seen at another local stationary store he rolled his eyes and was beyond rude to me. I was actually shocked. He was very condescending, dismissive and just completely rude. I know these boutique stationary stores sometimes have some of the same cards, but I also realize they’re unique to each other. Either way, my question didn’t warrant the reaction I received. In fact, I don’t think any person could justify that type of reaction towards another human being, especially in a business setting. That being said, his attitude was horrendous and I will never step foot in there again.

Colin has been nothing but great in my Wedding invitation process. I designed 2 completely different invitations for a destination wedding and a reception and both went very well. The process was smooth, detailed. I was very happy with the variety of options he showed me.

I could not be happier with the work that Colin did for my wife and myself for our wedding invitations and thank you cards. We clearly needed direction and help with our invites and he was very hands on and engaged with our vision and lead us in the right direction. Colin is very easy to work with, just tell him what you want and he can bring it to life. We will definitely be back for all future holiday cards.

Worst customer service ever! so rude! i came in looking for wedding invitations. He was over the top rude, staring at me, looking as i was wasting his time. i tried asking him a question and the guy was like «just look on the back for prices».I told him he didnt have price for the specific one i had and he just rolled his eyes. I was afraid to ask any more questions and left. No hi no bye from him. He killed my wish to look for other places and i just ended ordering my invitations online. They are ¹⁄₃ of his prices and they even proof read them and design them. Came in the mail, nice looking, anyway no one really looked at them or kept them. A little advice for owner: Be nice! or you will end without any customers! online ordering now offers free samples so you can get better looking peace od paper than you will ever sell! maybe it used to be important to old folks how invites looked but guess what– new generation doesnt care! all we care is rsvp so we can seat them and feed them! i am sorry your life sucks but guess what deal with it! if you dont like your work hire someone who will be nice to customers!

I came to Pulp & Ink to do my wedding invitations and Colin was a delight to work with. He had great ideas, was respectful of my budget, and patient through my rounds of review/​proofing. Everything arrived on time, was accurate and turned out great. I was thrilled with our end product.

My Fiancé and I did our save the dates form Pulp and Ink. I can not say how dissatisfied I was.
The owner, Collin, is horrible. He is rude, unapologetic and must have a serious self esteem issue because he made excuses and blamed us multiple times when he made mistakes.
He missed key details we asked him to do that were in the proofs, missed the printing deadlines more than once.
All around, I would never recommend this company to anyone. Chicago is too big to waste your money on a sub par product coordinated by a jerk.

My mom and I stopped into pulp and ink to «get ideas» for my wedding invitations. Colin was amazing, truly the expert! He showed us many different options, got a feel for the look I was going for, and helped us narrow it down. We are looking to keep the price down, so he suggested different papers, inks, etc. Highly recommend! Great little shop!

Nothing irks me more than poor customer service. It’s simply not that hard to be friendly and helpful. Especially when you work in retail and ¾ of your job is to give the customer a good experience so they will recommend you and come back. What I’ve experienced at Pulp and Ink goes beyond poor customer service and crosses the line into pure, offensive rudeness.
I’ve been in here twice and both times had an almost identical experience. Both times I was not greeted by the owner when I entered. I was the only one in the small shop so why was I glared at from the back of the store? Felt watched and uncomfortable. Asked for the price of a card and got a harsh reply, «It’s always written on the back.» Then, when I approached the counter, I was told both times to wait one minute while he finished something. Right after that he proceeded to make a call the moment before ringing me up. The first time the call was him berating whoever was on the other line about a shipment order. Awkward. The second time was him complaining to the person on the other line about how inappropriate his fellow employee had been. Hm, ironic? Because to me that seems like a pretty inappropriate conversation to have in front of a customer…
The whole time he didn’t make eye contact with me and the only word he said to me was «$ 4.26» I left without a goodbye or thank you.
Take my advice and avoid this place unless you want to be treated like a roach rather than a customer.

Colin, the owner, helped me with all the paper products for my wedding, including invitations, menus, programs, etc. He came highly recommended by a friend at work and my coordinator and I can see why. He was patient in working with me to design the exact invitation I wanted, and to make sure that the other products used the same design motif. The store will also mail them for you (and I understand provides rsvp services, though I didn’t use those). Everything came out beautifully, and more than one guest commented that they were the nicest invitations they have ever seen.

While the shop is lovely and the products offered are gorgeous, I find the owner to be unpleasant and did not have a positive experience when actually placing an order. I will not use them again under any circumstances.

My first experience with this shop was quite pleasant. I was looking for wedding invitations. I did not have an appointment, but it was pretty quiet in the store and the young gentleman working that day was exceptional. He immediately greeted me when I walked in and let me know just to ask if I needed help with anything. I explained what I was looking for and he walked me through the invitations and choices. I found the wedding invitations I was looking for, he recorded all of my details, provided me with a rough estimate and told me when I was ready to purchase just stop back in (no appointment necessary), give them my name and they could pull my file and they would finalize everything.
A few weeks later I stopped in with my mother-​in-​law, the store was again quiet but we were not greeted by the man in the store. When I approached him, he identified himself as the store owner and asked if I could wait a minute or two while he finished up something. We waited for about 10 minutes, he came over and I explained I had previously worked on designing my wedding invitations and asked if he could pull the details and show my mother-​in-​law what I had chosen. I was given so much attitude from this man, he was not helpful and made me feel like I was inconveniencing him with my visit and inquiries. Needless to say I did not purchase my invitations from this store and will not be giving them any business in the future.

The guy that owns the place is rude and full of himself. I never understand people in retail or the service industry that act as though they are better than their customers. The guy is just a total jerk. The owner also tries to nickel and time you on everything so be careful.
I will steer all of my friends away from the place.

This is a wonderful little shop. They have amazing cards (many are letter press and/​or handmade, which accounts for some of the higher-​than-​expected pricing). If you want a $ 1.99 Hallmark or American Greetings card, this is not the place for you!
However — if you are looking for a sophisticated, urban, cool, elegant invitation for any type of event (party, Mitzvah, wedding, engagement) they carry a wide array of upscale brands not seen in a lot of other stores. Colin helped me design my daughter’s Bat Mitzvah invitation, over several visits. We even went as far as ordering a proof of one design before I decided I hated it and we started over — he was with me all the way.
His service was not just limited to printing the invitations, though — he designed and ordered a gorgeous matching custom postage stamp; had his calligrapher copy a font I liked; and assembled, stamped, and addressed the invitations for me. (I didn’t even have to do anything but mail them!)
A word about Colin: he is quiet and a bit reserved — SO WHAT? He knows his stuff, makes great suggestions, and cares 100% about delivering the perfect product to his clients.
I will use him & refer the store again & again. THANKS!

I have to admit, I’m shocked at the low ratings that Pulp and Ink has on Unilocal as well as the harsh criticisms of the store owner, Colin. My wedding planner recommended him and I was a little concerned just because I do put a lot of stock in what Unilocal reviewers have to say but I feel like they’re completely off base on this one.
We just ordered our wedding invitations from here and couldn’t have been happier with Colin’s customer service as well as the selection. Colin worked with us to find a design that we all liked and helped keep us within a specific price point, which no other place offered to do. Colin is a consummate professional and I look forward to working with him again.
If you’re looking for custom invitations, definitely make an appointment, Colin wants to make sure you get the best of his attention and, if you have an appointment, that’s what you’ll be getting.

Stopped in here today looking for cute party invitations that weren’t over the top expensive. The selection was OK… found a few different cards that I thought about purchasing until I saw the prices. Geez– I could make my own invitations that would be just as cute and about ¼ of the price at kinkos!
I did notice that they sell Crane’s paper, which would increase their rating in my mom’s book (she has a thing for Crane’s). The sales guy could have been a bit friendlier as well… he answered my questions, but didn’t go out of his way to help me. His mistake because with a little help I probably would have bought my invitations here!
Edit ⁵⁄₃₁: Stopped back in here today to buy a card and the sales associate was much friendlier this time (maybe cause I bought something?). I mentioned I was in the process of moving and he even offered me empty boxes from the back!