Osborne Stationers

Working from home, as I do, means that your local Stationers are essential services. I run out of paper, printer ink, blank CDs, jiffy bags, card on a weekly basis, so I’m either in this store, or their other outlet in Kings Heath, more often than the staff. I also havea young son, and we enjoy making stuff at home — rocket ships from toilet rolls, robots from cereal boxes — and Osborne provides a good selection of crafty essestials, from the mundane and necesary, like cellotape and glue, to the fancy and special (to a 2-year-old’s eyes, at least) of all manner of glittering and shiny papers to cut up and remodel into an imaginary monster. I literally could not do without this lot, and Osbornes is my go-​to place.

I always seem to need big sheets of card or reams of paper and Osbournes is always my first stop.
Spectrum was always my one-​stop place for art supplies but that place seemed to move around more than the island in Lost, so I eventually gave up the ghost. Fortunately, Osbournes is right smack bang in the city center so it’s nice and easy to find.
It might not be as specialist for art supplies as somewhere like Spectrum and I still have to hunt around for paints etc. but Osbournes will do the job for basics. In fact, my review should really just be a big list of things they have; pens, folders, notebooks, various types of paper and card, staplers etc. etc.
Good place to get your basic art supplies and (obviously) any stationary you need, nice friendly staff too!

I love stationery — ergo I love stationery shops. Shopping for a new notebook or decent pen makes me happy. Osborne’s for me then, is a real treat — encompassing a wide range of notebooks and pens as well as diaries, address books, (do people still use these? I hope so) notelets, paper by the sheet, stickers, rulers, pencil cases, plastic folder things, index cards, hole punches and card. There’s a photocopying service that always seems very much in demand and a comprehensive crafting range where you can buy paper flowers and best of all GLITTER and they stock a nice range of cards and non-​fiction books — the latter best described as ‘stocking fillers’. At Christmas I also like perusing their calendars which seem to consist almost entirely of cute kittens or scenic shots of the canal network (but never both at the same time sadly). It’s the place to go for reams of paper and printer cartridges and situated by the ²²⁄₂₃ bus-​stops is the ideal place to waste a few minutes before your bus is due.