University Stationery

Incredible people, diverse selection, great location, and awesome student discount.
Go here before you go to staples, office max, etc. It will be an easier and more enjoyable experience!

Great variety, great pricing, lovely people. Highly recommended.

I’ve only been here once so far but I really enjoyed it. It’s run by a group of friendly older men and women who have very amusing and endearing banter with each other. They are extremely friendly and considerate and very much willing to do discounts! I got a good deal on a set of moleskin notebooks and have a wide selection of pens. I’d definitely recommend servicing them over a big store like CVS or Staples as they’re local and have pretty much the same prices.

This place is great. The prices are very reasonable, and there is a huge selection in a relatively small store. They have the Pilot G2’s that I like, in both pencil and pen versions! The owners are super nice — I just feel good going here. I’d pick this place over Staples any day!

This place is great. The owners are fantastic. It’s family run, which we should all support more often. It’s got anything you could imagine, but the quality of all their products is just better than what you would find at Staples or OfficeMax. They accept all major credit cards and don’t have a limit on how much you need to spend to use one.
A Cambridge institution!

I really super love these guys. I cannot imagine why anyone would ever choose to go to an awful box store knowing that everything you need for your office or school work is here, and there are smiling faces at the register. Oh, and did I mention that their prices are better on pretty much everything and they even have a few cute toys to distract you. Yay!

This store is the best. The owners are great and will order anything that is not in stock. In addition to the common stationery items, they’ll bewilder you with novelty items at the register, such as handerpants.

As the office manager for a boutique financial firm sometimes last minute projects come up. We have a very important client meeting tomorrow and I needed to get a special binder that my supervisor prefers for all presentations. Typically I order from big box stores like Staples however needed the binders the same day. I called around to many places and as it was after 12 pm I was unable to order them from WB Mason.
I found University Stationary online and called to see if the binders were in stock — they were in their warehouse and Barry said he could have a courier deliver them to us in a few hours. We received the binders before we knew it and I was so happy to present them to my supervisor as she really didn’t want to get another kind.
The customer service was above and beyond and really helped me in a pinch. I will definitely order from them again!

This place is a hoot ! I love talking with the owners.
They have the goods from greeting cards to USB drives, novelties, gifts, etc. You get great service here every time. It’s not like going to Staples, or Walgreens, and wondering, oh, will they be able to help me find what I need without calling somebody else in to consult…
Service is so rapid and friendly, you’ll enjoy chatting with the staff and owners with the time you saved.

First let me say: I am straight-​up neurotic about my day planner. It must be the perfect format and layout for my taste and I am willing to pay a pretty penny for a good one (within reason, of course).
My initial impression upon walking in was that this was a somewhat disorganized, but charming little office supply store. I did have a little trouble finding the planners section, but the woman working there quickly greeted me and directed me to the appropriate place.
The selection was adequate, especially given that I was looking for a 2013 planner in February, so I was a little late to the game. I saw that there were some great deals on certain planners, but I was unsatisfied by their layout. After perusing the options for quite some time, the woman came back over to ask if I needed any help. I explained my day planner neuroses and she quickly agreed that finding an appealing layout was key, telling me to take my time. All in all, it was an exchange that I fully appreciated.
Finally, when I had made my decision, she rung me up, throwing in the student discount, and I was on my way with a lovely new planner. I would highly recommend anybody looking for any office supplies (not just day planners) to visit University Stationery. Not only do they have a wide variety of stock, but the place has a natural charm and friendly staff that cannot be beat!

What a great place! While stocking up on supplies here, we noticed an inexpensive St. Joseph, about 9.5 cm tall — just the gift for our friends trying to sell a condo. We bought and mailed it and, within a few weeks, the condo was under contract! Just sayin’
Thank you, University Stationery! A Central Square landmark.

You will be impressed! Without a doubt, the best customer service ever. Barry, the owner, is very friendly and helpful. I’ll never shop at another Staples or Office Max again!
Also, the owners are very supportive of local college students and are very generous to MIT.

I’ve bought some fun office supplies here, like staplers that look like ladybugs and finger flashlights. Stop in sometime, if you’re lucky enough to be there when they’re open.

I love this place. They’ve gotten me out of many-​a-​jam. I feel eternally prepared with these guys on my side. AND they deliver! Also, they guarantee that their prices either beat, or match Staples. It’s so important to shop locally and keep these guys going in our ever-​changing community of Central Square. They’ve been there for 3 generations, I believe. It’s our civic responsibility!

Outstanding customer service. I needed 21 log books within 24 hours. After hours of scouring the internet and calling every major chain retail and getting replies like «I dunno, can you hold?» I stumbled upon this gem of a store. Within minutes Gail had called her warehouse and made this come together for me. Many companies aspire to this service but very few provide.

I needed some nice stationary to write a letter, and I came upon this little store. Even though the store is small, it seems to have a much better selection of things compared to Staples or the Coop. The owner greeted me and helped me find what I needed quickly. Because I only wanted one sheet of paper, the owner offered it to me for free (I insisted on paying though)! Growing up with large chain stores my whole life, I felt the service and charm of the store was truly unique. Plus the prices aren’t much different than Staples and probably cheaper than the Coop — I did get a good deal on a Moleskine notebook. I will definitely return there anytime I need office supplies or stationary!

If you are just you, go to University because they’ve got everything you need and if they don’t, they can get it for you. Fast.
If you are an office manager or other person responsible for the supply ordering for a company, you need to explain to your CFO or controller that NO volume discount from a disgusting conglomerate like Staples (whose CEO made more money last year than probably every single one of his employees, combined) is significant enough to trump AMAZING personal service (first name basis, sometimes same-​day delivery if we’re desperate) and a real, honest-​to-​goodness small business who really delivers and really makes you feel good about spending your money with them.
We couldn’t be happier and every time the Staples or WB Mason reps call, I tell them «thanks, but we have used the same mom-​and-​pop [technically bro-​and-​sis] outfit for 20 years and have NO PLANS TO CHANGE. EVER. GO AWAY NOW.»
We love University and the administrators here would be dragged kicking and screaming from the building before we ever switched. Not for nothin’.

Just had an amazing and typical experience at University Stationary with my heroes, Gail and Barry Seidman. They just helped us find and install a part for an Automatic Numbering Machine. We had looked online for replacement pad and ink and we saved money and our sanity by checking in at University, before we ordered. The part was a ¾X ¹⁄₈ inch felt pad. Online it cost $ 7.95 plus shipping. At University, it cost $ 2.95. Barry helped me install it and Gail made a copy of the directions for my machine which I had long lost, from a newly boxed version of my gunked up model.
This is something that big box stores would like to emulate but cannot fully pull off. They will have many excellent employees, who give their heart and soul to their work but corporations are organized to value and reward profits. As good as the employees will try to be, their corporate masters worship the «bottom line» and never care about the product/​s they way people like Gail and Barry and their staff do. This small store values their customers and really understand the needs of the people in the the field they service.

This place is awesome. The service is great and the price is surprisingly low.
I have been looking for a pocket size index card holder and some binder inserts for business cards. I couldn’t find them at Target or MIT Coop, after reviewing all the great Unilocal reviews, I decided to give this place a shot. Thanks to Unilocal,I found exactly what I was looking for and at prices a lot lower than I expected.
It’s hard to find things in this store, but don’t worry, they will help you to locate the item. I love Mom & Pop places, but I have to admit most of times, I give in to Wal-​Mart or Target for its prices and selection. Or sometimes I avoid mom and pop, because if the store is empty, I feel bad not to get anything and walk out. Anyway… both of my usual concerns do not apply to this store. The price is great, the service is great but not too attentive that makes you feel bad not to get anything. And on top of the already great prices, they offer 20% discount to students. And it’s 5 min walking distance from MIT dorms.
Bottom line: This place is awesome! Check it out before you shop at the big buys or Coop.

I am writing this review having never bought anything here even though I lived blocks away for five years. It wasn’t after I’d moved to DC when I returned for a visit that I finally walked into this store.
Before a lunchtime meeting, I realized that the zipper of my suit pants were mad at me and would only stay up for about 2 minutes before drooping inevitably down. I walked down the street hunched into my jacket trying to mentally engineer a solution until I bumped into University Stationery. I walked in and asked, really begged, for A safety pin — no not a box, but I will buy a box if I need to, all I need is one…
Surprisingly they didn’t sell safety pins or were out of them. As a very nice older lady rooted through her desk drawers for one, she told me the story of how one day a poor young man had walked into the store asking also for a safety pin, because he needed them to hold his pants up. She chuckled at this story, but in the midst of telling it, had miraculously dug out not one, but two safety pins (just in case). I thanked her profusely and triumphantly safety-​pinned my pants together.
If you’re reading this, don’t go to the Coop. The nice people at University Stationery will find whatever you need, even if you need your pants put back together.