Avalon Stationery & Gifts

You know… there’s something about that small mom and pop shop. In this world of big store chains it’s nice to come across a sweet little shop like Avalon. I had a sweet lady help me with my new personal work stationary. She really took the time to help me through the selections and designing it and just really provided not only great customer service but personal care, which I really appreciate. Especially knowing how picky I can be, she really helped with the details on proper etiquette for personal stationary. That was awesome! Turns out she’s the owner! They’re really great there and if you’re looking for stationary and gifts, what a wonderful place to support! Love local businesses! Especially those that deserve it! I purchased 100 personalized notecards and envelopes each, came out to $ 200.
I was actually on my way to Paper Source when I happen to see Avalon Stationary. I’m so glad I gave it a chance. Truthfully, it might have been a tad more but it was worth the help and experience. And you know us inner loopers love uniqueness and character, so if you’re looking for stationary and gifts, check out Avalon!
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This is such a lovely store to browse through. There were so many things I would love to get my hands on to keep me busy. I really enjoyed all their options and can’t wait to get back for all the card stock!

This place is the worst! So cluttered, piles of boxes, paperwork and random stuff all over including the register area. Even this could be forgiven if the old lady in charge had an ounce of sense about how to treat customers. I was purchasing a set of bookends for a friend and when I asked for a box, she acted like I had asked for one of her kidneys… and there were boxes EVERYWHERE! In the midst of this transaction, she was also deriding a younger employee. I finally just gave up and left. Miserable place.

I needed a gift for someone who is difficult to buy for so I stopped in for a browse. Loved all the things to look at, contemplate whom they would be perfect for as a gift on another day. Up and down and viola there it was; the perfect gift. Staff was friendly. I will return when it is time for the next gift excursion or maybe a splurge on myself.

We stopped into Avalon to look at wedding invitations. We informed them of our budget, and we were steered right to the type of invitations we were looking for. Our budget was small, but they worked within it, and they never tried to up-​sell us.
We thought it was going to be less expensive to buy the card stock and print out our own invites. After seeing the prices at Avalon, we determined it was only slightly more expensive then doing it ourselves, and we received a professional product.
If you are looking for invitations, or anything stationary related for that matter, I recommend checking this joint out. They are friendly, low pressure, and very upfront with their pricing.

Stopped in today just to look at card stock to possibly print out our own wedding invites. Looked around at their gigantic selection of blank invitations. While we did not end up going that route they do have a lot of beautiful and fun invites you could use.
We then spoke with the stationer Charlene and explained to her our wants and needs. She was more than helpful in steering us in the right direction as far as style all while keeping us at the price point we wanted to stay in.
We certainly didn’t walk in the store planning on purchasing our invitations today but the whole experience working with Charlene at Avalon went so smoothly that I am happy to report the invites are ordered!
Aside from invitations, Avalon has a large selection of gift items, calendars, unique cards, and a whole lot more!

WHAT THE WHAT!!!
All I wanted was a little journal book thingie/​organizer. You work at a stationary store. How do you NOT know where stuff is? Ditsy lil thing…

It pains me to write this, but I just have to make a public statement about Avalon Stationery. Please don’t shop here. On principal. I like to shop local. I love stationery. I write personal notes. I keep a written calendar. Heck, I still write in script and have excellent penmanship. They have a wide selection, but — as others have mentioned — this store has always had a disorganized pile of stuff (think Hoarders) amidst the well organized displays. It’s odd. I visited this store twice in a week and both experiences have been unpleasant. Visit #1: I went in with my 4 year old for a Moleskine and was followed around. I think she thought my son would break something. I was offended but ignored it because I can appreciate that as a store owner you want to protect what you’ve built. In that same visit, we had to wait quite a while to check out because a customer came in with a return and there was a nasty dispute about the receipt vs. the item. We waited patiently but it was uncomfortable. Visit #2: I came back to return paper party cups and the Moleskine — still in its wrapper (wrong format). They refused to take back the Moleskine (which goes from now through the end of 2014) because it’s their policy not to take back calendars (which they incorrectly call ‘dated items’, even if they’re unopened and not outdated. I JUST BOUGHT IT A WEEK AGO. She claimed that they may have lost a sale during the time (7 days) that I had the item. Pretty much everything here you can order online, cheaper. Do that. For custom invites and stationery there are several stores in Houston that I’m sure have better customer service (Berings, etc).

As a collector of Sid Dickens memory blocks I was excited to find this shop as they carry several. Unfortunately I’m left feeling offended that they didn’t seem to want to sell to me. I went in initially to buy signed blocks by the artist and they had alot that I wanted. The first clerk that helped me was very kind, told me the price and went to grab one for me. Then another came and said that she would honor the price on it, but didnt know how much they wanted to sell the rest for. I left my number and waited to hear back, i heard nothing and went back a few weeks later to buy more and asked again about the price on the signed blocks and was told «i told you i would call». I said fine and asked if she could also call and tell me when the new collection came in. It has been over a year and I never heard anything. I just hope this woman is not like this with all her guests. I felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman when they said they had nothing for her and asked her to leave.

They have every Moleskine ever. Ever. In any color. I love it. As my IRL friends know, I make lists all day long and frequently rewrite the same lists. I’m also a firm believer in mailing birthday cards and keeping a paper planner — it will be a cold day in hell when I import my schedule onto my phone. The woman who helped me at Avalon was immensely sweet and made great suggestions for my custom order. I love the written word, and I know that a letter can brighten someone’s day. Avalon is the perfect place for paper.

I am reluctant to write this review because I am afraid to expose this hidden gem. In today’s era of instant communication, stationary has been a forgotten practice. But really– does opening an email evoke the same intense emotion as receiving a hand written note via snail mail? We need to bring back the romance and that is where Avalon comes in… cue the music [preferably Billie Holiday]…
Conveniently located, this store has everything you can want and more… personalized note cards, wedding invites, beautiful holiday cards and unique gifts. Yes — you can order paper online and probably for less BUT you will not get to see the thickness of the card stock, proof before printing and guaranteed work. The staff at Avalon has been doing stationary for decades and can offer suggestions and expertise an online order form cannot. The owner even showed me the proper order to fill out a Thank You card (yes, I am crazy about details like that).
I am all about supporting small business, only they can offer personalized attention you cannot get anywhere else… for me paper is definitely worth every penny!

I must admit that I wasn’t really impressed with this place. If you need to see something firsthand (i.e. if you have to match inserts to invitations you already have or the like), it’s great. It’ll take you longer than it should, and the place looks like a tornado hit it, but it’s good. But if you’re looking for personalized stationery, order it online. I went in because I’ve never ordered any before and wanted to talk to people about it and was very surprised that they literally didn’t know anything more than I knew after poking around online for about an hour, and all of the designs were the same.
I was also surprised that they didn’t recognize me when I went back in to pick up my order. Maybe I’m being silly – I know that they have other customers – but I guess I thought that they should at least have a vague idea that they’d seen me before when I came back in.

I stopped by this place looking for some unique birthday cards and to satisfy my general stationary needs. (Even though I have trouble actually getting letters in the mail, I have a sickness for collecting random stationary sets.) The selection of individual cards was fairly small, so I think they specialize in boxed sets, invitations, and personalized custom orders, all of which they have in copious amounts.
They had a good selection of items to paw through, but the store was so cluttered I wasn’t sure where to look for any particular things. I found myself at one point in an area where they were storing special orders. (That’s what I deduced anyway because they had names and dates already printed.) Most items didn’t have price tags, so if there wasn’t a manufacturers suggested retail price next the bar code I suppose you had to guess.
I also had a hard time finding the cash register/​check out area. It was buried behind a counter filled to the brim with invoices, receipts, and stuff. (I needed professional assistance to locate it.) I expect a place that upscale to be a bit on the tidier side, but to each his own.