Stationery Store Series: Evripidis in Athens, Greece

One does not expect to come face to face with a Mont Blanc fountain pen peering proudly from within a glass display cabinet in a stationery store in Chalandri of all places. Chalandri is one of Athens’ northern suburbs. It has got some of the features of the Greek metropolis: narrow pavements, higgledy-piggledy urban planning and an overabundance of cars. But inside Evripidis stationery shop where said Mont Blanc resides there is order and peace and tranquility. 

It is only a couple of days until the Orthodox Easter, a great occasion for the native folk, and the shops are full with festive candles and chocolate eggs but there are only a few people buying – Greece is at economic dire straits and who really cares about stationery? And so the Mount Blanc will be probably gathering dust for the foreseeable future. But enter Evripidis and be tempted: Mont Blanc, Cross, Waterman, pen trays and cases and in the basement paper goods to feast the eyes on.

Evripidis stationery shop is the child of the four-storey bookstore which is situated in a small alley nearby. The bookshop was founded in the mid-1950s by Evripidis Vasilopoulos. It offers today a comprehensive collection of books and is a pleasant venue for book browsers and coffee drinkers. The stationery shop is a much smaller affair. The basement is dedicated to paper goods, notebooks and folders of various sizes, pens and some art supplies. There is Moleskine and Clairefontaine but also a Greek well-known range of notebooks and diaries called Epi Hartou ( Επι Χαρτου) and range of notebooks made by Salko, a Greek stationery company.

Purchases of the day: Two GreenLine notebooks, from Salko’s eco line; one ledger-style notebook 20x30 cm, 50 pp, by Salko; three lined Epi Hartou notebooks;; one classic Clairefontaine in pink; one blank notebook with brown pages by Stoiheio Publications (obscure); one gridded paper notepad by Ordinary Stationery (unknown). In Evripidis, The Bookstore, around the corner I found a vintage-like notebook made in the style of a Greek office receipt pad and two lined notebooks featuring covers of an old childrens’ favourite comic “Gaur Tarzan”.

Looking forward to testing my notebooks.

Left: Two lined notebooks from Salko's eco line, no. 2 and no.3; Middle: a blank notebook with brown pages by Stichio; Right: two lined notebooks by Epi Hartou.

Ledger-style notebook by Salko

Vintage-style lined notebook in the style of office notepad

Evripidis stationery shop:

Andrea Papandreou 8, 152 33 Chalandri

Books can be bought online but sadly no paper goods. Some pens though. Check out Evripidis online shop.


If you would like to have the small grey Epi Hartou notebook, please leave a comment below. A name will be chosen randomly on Tuesday, 3 May. I shall post internationally.