Award Winning Stationery

Over the years we have been runners up, finalists and shortlisted for many industry awards; Paper Awards, Wedding Industry Awards, The Henries… the list is endless. While each of these nominations has been a huge achievement in itself, we have usually been pipped to the post - But not this time!…

The Stationery Awards aim to recognise and benchmark good practice and innovation in the retail stationery sector, recognising manufacturers, retailers and rising talent.

We received fantastic news in an email on Wednesday morning, telling us that we had won the 2020 Stationery Award for Best Independent retailer – Midlands. We will be framing our certificate and displaying it proudly in store in due course.

The Stationery Awards, judged by leading industry players, was originally due to take place in April to coincide with the London Stationery Show but sadly was cancelled due to the pandemic. Even though the awards couldn’t take place in their usual format, organisers felt it was more important than ever to recognise the talent and hard work across the stationery industry.

We knew we’d been shortlisted back in August but still could not believe it when the news came in. When we opened the shop back in August 2018, we never expected it to be such a success. It was originally seen as an added bonus to a great studio space in town, where we could have a small retail area for our products and a select number of goods from brands and creatives we loved and wished to share with Shrewsbury shoppers.

The judges said: “We particularly love the support given to the lesser known artists, designers and makers by offering them a space to shine and for keeping the more traditional stationery offerings alive.”

Much of what is on offer in our shop is produced in house. For this reason, Artcadia’s unique shopping experience could not be truly replicated online. You can pick up a beautiful and tactile letterpress greetings card, whilst simultaneously watch it being run through one of the noisy old windmill presses behind the counter. We think this encourages shoppers to consider how the finer things are made, making it difficult to opt for the mass produced.

We are lucky to have a dedicated and loyal customer base who generously support our business and are happy to tell us what they love, but also how the shop could be improved. That is what drives the business and we hope to be a fixture of the town for many years to come.