Mark’s Hallmark

Conveniently located close to the hotel we were staying at. I needed an emergency birthday card. The store was clean and the associates very professional. It’s a bit smaller than your average mall-​based Hallmarks but hey, beggars can’t be choosy!

I’ve been on this hunt for 5×7 envelopes which do not exist in real life. So I’ve been forced to look for them in card + envelope packs, such as Thank You card packs or… Christmas Card packs, which were on SUPER sale here right now. I got a bunch of the envelopes that I needed (with cards that I dont’ need) for really cheap, like 75% off almost free cheap. So I’m glad I stopped in and was able to pick up a bunch of them. I really should have ordered them online, but when you’re a procrastinator like me, Hallmark to the rescue!
Cute shop, nice employees. Cards and gifts galore if that is what you’re looking for. ;)

Very friendly ladies working the Sunday that we stopped in to purchase cards. They obviously love their job and the public. This store will do great with these gals around! Good Job!

Eh.
I’m not card person. I think they’ve a complete waste of money. For $ 4 you can buy a really yummy latte. But most people *expect* cards and therefor I buy them. When those occasions come, I check two places for cards: Target and Hallmark.
The people working here do feel a little cold. I feel like I’m bothering them when I approach the counter.
One time I came in and their system was down. After waiting and waiting, the girl asked if I had cash-​not if I wanted to instead pay with cash, but if I HAD cash. I don’t want to pay with cash, and it’s not my problem your system is down. Considering I waited ten minutes, she should have just given me the damn card. We’re talking $ 3 here. But she didn’t.

Hallmark now carries cards with postage paid envelopes! That’s pretty freakin genius if you ask me!
And while some of the rewards are lame («get this kitschy teddy bear for only $ 5 when you spend $ 20!», «$ 4 off when you spend $ 25» — I don’t know how I could possibly spend $ 25 here, unless I bought all my cards for the year at once), I did get two packages of stickers and a gift bag for ONE PENNY over Xmas. And today I used a B2G1 °F coupon, so I was pretty happy. Oh, and they have a decent 99 cents card section. And most of the employees are very friendly.
I sure am gonna miss this Hallmark store when I’m not working downtown anymore. Sad face.

Christmas ’08
Despite the music and decorations barrage, the people outside are miserable.
I’m winding down from my annual nervous breakdown caused by the anxiety of trying to figure out what the hell to buy my parents that I haven’t already got them for the last 8 Christmases. It’s truly the most wretched time of the year.
I got my gifts and ducked into Hallmark for the finishing touch. They have cards for every possible combination of relationship you could dream of: Son to Father, Father to Illegitimate Child, Baby Daddy to Baby Mama, Catholic Priest to Former Choir Boy, Cousin to Cousin Who Ya Kinda Had A Crush On As A Kid And Saw Naked Once When You Were 12 But Things Are Still A Bit Awkward. And every card is either dipped in god-effin’-awful puny jokes that are as unfunny as Family Circus comics or such a frickin’ gooey mess of «I hope you have the most woooonddderffuulll, unbelieeeeevable, apocalyptically fuckin’ fantastic, ethereal Christmas that you can do nothing to top it but jump off a bridge» jargon that it couldn’t possible be suited for a grown man to send his parents. And to make matters worse, all the cards were touched off with «Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!» in them. Well what the hell am I supposed to write then aside from «Love, Me»!!! I felt a breakdown swelling in me again.
The only other cards available were in Japanese, Russian, Polish, Greek and Squiggly. Who buys these cards?! How big is the Russian population in Seattle that there is a viable enough market to supply these cards? «Oh! I have to get a Christmas card for comrad Peter back in the motherland! But where can I get a card in my native tongue?! I know: Hallmark!!» I mean, seriously! Why not have Christmas cards in Arabic or Hebrew while you’re at it?
So, who buys these cards? I do. The Polish card had a nice design, some backwards letters with dots and strange punctuations and, as far as I could read, didn’t say Merry Christmas or Happy New Year, so it was wide open for me to fill that in along with my signature.
Done and done!
I’ll convert to Islam before I go back.

It’s your typical Hallmark store for the most part. Somewhat biggers than others I’ve encountered. The people are friendly for the most part and are very helpful at looking for a certain type of cards.
I suggest going down here to pick up some of your cards. Oohhh and I appreciated that they had their holiday stuff out early because writing Christmas cards is a time consuming activity and it’s the one holiday thing I like to get a jump on!

Every year I get a new Hallmark Keepsake Ornament. Two years ago they came out with a Fairy Collection, which is Flower Fairy «Messengers», which I’ve started collecting. Problem is, it’s sometimes hard to get a hold of one. Last year was awful, but I managed to get one.
This year, I called around. Mark’s was the closest one to me, so I tried them first. Not only did they have the specific ornament I wanted, but were willing to hold one for me for a couple of days until I could get to them. Not only was the staff courteous on the phone, they were just as nice when I showed up today.
The store was easy to find (having never walked that area before), clean and organized despite the rush of Holiday Shoppers out and about and inside the store. The Clerk was helpful and they actually had name-​stamped gifts with my daughter’s name on it (which is hard to come by). I was in and out in a jiffy and would have no qualms about returning!

While waiting for one of the cranky women workers to stock a specific area which I just happened to want to browse (she was not moving until she was done no matter who was waiting) I heard a one-​sided conversation between a terse store clerk speaking to an English-​as-​a-​second-​language woman (I couldn’t really hear or understand the latter):
I can let you have Sunday off but I have to know now.
That’s fine but Sunday is two days away.
Tomorrow is Saturday and then it’s Sunday.
You can go to the back and get the schedule if you want.
You need to let me know now.
That won’t work because you’re scheduled for Tuesday.
Tuesday is four days from now.
You can get the schedule if you want.
And on and on it went.
That vibe from the bitter women, the really bad Muzak, the selection of depressing figurines and everything else sent me to Bartell’s for a card.

This Hallmark store always has the perfect cards. If I can’t find what I’m looking for I’ll ask one of the sale clerks for help and they can normally provide me with a half dozen cards that meet my criteria.
Besides the great selection of cards they have a nice selection of wrapping paper and gift bags. They also have a bunch of ‘office’ type gifts, you know you go into work and you find out it’s your co-​workers birthday and you need to get a gift, this is the place that can help you in a pinch.
I also just discovered they carry this Colombian semi-​dark chocolate called Santander that is to die for if I can’t find it anywhere else I will go back to Hallmark and buy me another bar of it.