The Papery opens temporary pop-up location

By Keaton Hills

The Papery has now reopened at a temporary location after a devastating fire at the store on Boxing Day. However, the wait for the reopening of its regular location could be “a year or maybe longer,” according to owner Katherine Slack.

The Papery at 850 Bank Street sold holiday-themed greeting cards, wrapping paper and other items.

“The fire was a huge shock. We’ve been selling paper for well over 30 years and always at the back of my mind has been the risk of fire. I was there at the store when it broke out and I heard noises so I went upstairs and came into the main part of the store and saw flames and my head went ‘Oh my God, there it is after all these years,’ there’s the fire,” said Slack.

Everything in stock and the store itself was severely damaged and the store had to close.

“I had never dealt with smoke damage. The smoke damaged everything. I was not expecting that. Any paper – even if it was wrapped in plastic – there was no way I could guarantee the integrity of the product. It took a long time to really convince me of what was about to happen. If you go into the space now there is nothing left; if you walk into the front door you can see the windows on the back wall. The hardwood floor – which was always a great feature –that’s gone. All our fixtures are gone and all our stock is gone,” Slack said.

On March 27 The Papery opened a temporary pop-up location on the upper-level of 858 Bank Street not far from its original location.

“It’s a much smaller space so we’ve had to trim down what we offer but we still have a comparable selection of greeting cards. We have a good collection of paper serviettes. The art supplies are looking good, we have gift bags, some roll wrap, some sheet paper,” said Slack.

The reopening of the original location will be a long process.

“The demolition is complete and now it’s going to be conferring with the inspectors and finding out what needs to be done. Codes have changed since that building was built so there will be upgrades that will need to happen,” Slack explained.

Frequent customers of The Papery have been supportive during the difficult time.

“We’ve received emails, we’ve received phone calls, people have dropped off notes and taped them to the front door,” said Slack. “I’ve answered as many emails as I can and we’re really looking forward to being able to welcome everybody back in.”

Since the fire the Papery has also gotten support from the insurance company and the store’s staff.

“Our staff has been great. We’ve been able to rehire some of our part-time staff, we don’t have the same staffing

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needs but there will be familiar faces here,” Slack said.

Slack credits her manager Kathy and assistant manager Sean for playing a big part in getting them through the tough times.

The store is now open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a,m. to 5 p.m.

Keaton Hills is a second-year journalism student at Carleton University.