Papeterie Nota Bene

Beautiful art books and a colourful envelope and card selection!
This place is great — with one main floor stocking loads of pens, notebooks, cards and paper and a mezzanine with art books and various storage options. They’ve got a great store display window, and they always wrap up your purchases in a brown bag with some washi tape. Their selection is arguably the best in all of Montréal, there’s no doubt about it.
I only give them four stars because the service can be at times a little too stuffy. I can understand loss prevention concerns but it’s difficult to browse with someone practically breathing down your neck. Along with that, the prices are a bit high for certain things, especially books and inks.

Both the store and the staff are amazing. I looked around with a couple of specific things in mind, but they have such a huge selection of stationary material and pens that ended up getting lost in my own thoughts. I ended up asking an employee (who happened to be the owner) and he brought me everything I was looking for. Great service, great selection, great store.

A fantastic store with a wonderful and knowledgable staff. Their notebook and paper selection is extremely strong, and they have demonstration versions of everything so that you can try out any notebook you want. Curious about how Apica Premium paper compares to Midori MD? Here, you can try them out side by side. They also carry Rhodia, Clairefontaine, and Mnemosyne notebooks, plus a variety of other brands.
Their fountain pen and ink selection is respectable, but not as extensive as their paper selection. It tends toward beginner/​student pens, with a strong representation from Kaweco, Lamy, and Pilot.
If you’re visiting Montréal, and you are a pen and paper person, do not miss the chance to see this wonderful store.

Looking for papers or notebooks??? And why would anyone? Because we use computers now! Normally I wouldn’t buy papers, nor do I know much about papers. However I indeed need physical writing materials for physical writing tools. And this is THE PLACE!!!
If you’re looking for large-​size art supply papers, DeSerres is your destination. Here at Nota Bene, they sell more sketchbooks and notebooks. They have blank, lined, dotted, graph papers, watercolour paper, fountain pen paper, cheap note-​taking paper. Whatever. They are mostly handheld sizes. And you will find niche brands here like Maruman, which I love.
This is by no means the «cute stationary» place. If you prefer Hello Kitty or decorations, look elsewhere! But for quality paper, I found mine here. I don’t find the prices too expensive either. I’ve already visited this shop three times!

This store is a papergoods-​lovers’ dream. So many high quality notebooks and stationary. Plus a great selection of pens and pencils. Prices can be a bit expensive for some of the higher end paper brands but overall great selection and range of need — both in terms of cost and the items themselves.

I can get lost in here for hours, even though it’s not that big. There is clearly a lot of care taken by the proprietor in choosing the most aesthetically pleasing and functional materials for all your writing needs. There is also a small section of art books in the upstairs space.
Staff is friendly and helpful, big plus!
It’s definitely on the pricey side (I wouldn’t necessarily come here for basics) but you definitely get what you pay for.

For stock, I give Nota Bene five stars; for employees, it’s a real mixed bag. We usually love this place, and there’s a wonderfully knowledgeable man who works here. When he’s on the job, this is our favorite shopping stop in Montréal. It’s filled with every manner of delicious paper, pen and pencil, journal and agenda, and desk organizing supplies you could want. Unfortunately, there’s also a very unpleasant, unhelpful woman we’ve encountered twice, who sours the whole experience. Her first response to any question is «no» — even if the «yes» answer (a certain kind of pencil or journal) is in a case right in front of her. It’s as though she doesn’t actually want to sell anything. It’s also disconcerting that there is always one employee designated to just stand at the entrance staring at customers to discourage shoplifting. As a retail owner myself, I understand the need to protect inventory, but it’s so obvious and sets a distrustful, uncomfortable tone when you walk in. The displays weren’t looking quite as sparkling and creative this time as they did last time, so I wonder if the man we liked so much has moved on. He seemed to do a lot of the merchandising. We left with minor purchases. In the past, we’ve dropped a couple hundred each, easily. All this by way of saying, customer service makes a big difference in terms of your customers’ experience, and can affect how much your customers buy.

What could be better than Papeterie Nota Bene?
Every kind of notebook imaginable, pens, pencils, erasers, envelopes, paper stock, card stock, ink pens, calendars, design books, etc.
Knowledgable staff with a passion for stationery, something which is increasingly hard to find. Definitely worth a visit if you are looking for quality stationery products.

The people who work there are helpful, attentive, knowledgeable, and are also stationary geeks. The store is well stocked, clean, organized possibly by OCD gnomes (even things at feet level are well organized). The upper level has a really great and interesting selection of books on design. Worth a browse, peruse, or to satisfy your itch for awesome stationary.

Such an amazing place. visiting the store makes me so happy that I could die in there. Full of inspiration.

Nota Bene has been my stationary heaven since ’06, when I first moved to Montréal. This gem, on parc avenue, has cheered up many cold afternoons of mine during my studies. The collection at the store is wonderful. You’ll find high quality paper, notebooks, pens, pencils, and calendars from all corners of the world. You step in the store, and it’s as if the noise of the world goes away and you’re left with the smell of fresh paper, the smile of the shop owner, and a world of (often affordable) stationary gems. I highly recommend the store. I’ve bought a lot over the years from them; have given their items as gifts on numerous occasions; and have always left the store with a smile on my face. A must-​see in Montréal, in my book.

Bookstores and other stationary stores could learn a little somethin’ somethin’ about how to wrap their merchandise from Papeterie Nota Bene.
This little gem is stationary Narnia. The first visit would most definitely bring back the lost romance of written letters and love for inky pens. They have a unique selection of agendas, notebooks, and sketchbooks, so you’re bound to not get the same thing as someone else.
The array of old fashion typewriters on display tickles my writing bug every time. Its location being right beside Pikolo Café is a perfect combination to get rid of any writer’s block.

Welcome to wonderland.
Crack for designers and anyone who loves paper goods, stationary, design books, etc.
Russell, the owner, is full of knowledge. They have the space pen referenced in Seinfeld for sale! He so graciously showed me various pens and answered every question. New and vintage designs.
I could spend hours here.
I’ll probably go tomorrow. Yup, sounds good.

I walked out with half a dozen notebooks that I simply HAD to have, for no particular reason. All different brands, none of which I’d ever heard of before. In retrospect, I spent too much, but at the moment they all seemed like a bargain.
I was too entranced with the paper goods to play with the writing implements, but they seemed similarly well curated. The only bags I noticed were by Manhattan Portage, which feels a little too mainstream, but maybe that’s because I’m from Manhattan.
The window displays are witty invitation to visit, and the friendly staff offers personalized service in appealing, low-​key surroundings.

We found this gem while we were waking around looking for lunch. As a couple of a writer and an artist, we were immediately pulled into the store.
From the moment we stepped through the door, the staff was incredibly friendly. They were extremely knowledgeable and offered to answer any and alk questions we had about the various papers and writing instruments available– they even pulled out some rare products from the back to show us. They were always polite and never pushy about the sale.
We could have easily spent hours here chatting it up with the awesome staff if we didn’t realize about forty minutes in that we were starving.
This is the kind of store you can excited to visit as an adult. The products are top quality and very reasonably priced and the staff is over-​the-​top-​amazing. Our biggest disappointment is that this is too far away from NYC for us to frequent.

Nota Bene est une légende du temple de la renommée des papeteries du 514. Ce qui fait le charme unique de ce magasin — qui vend aussi des livres sur le design au deuxième étage — c’est son offre répondant au besoin grandissant de revenir aux gestes de l’écriture. Pourquoi ce besoin est grandissant? C’est que dans un monde désormais porté à l’écran, rendu disponible à portée de clavier, où les communications sont devenues unidimensionnelles par la numérisation du réel, le bonheur d’être et de partager avec les autres se célèbre en (s’)écrivant sur du papier. Tout simplement. Et c’est ce bonheur qu’exalte Nota Bene.
Bön. J’atterris et reviens à ma revue. L’offre de Nota Bene s’articule sur deux grands axes: Le premier propose une papeterie très nouvelle tendance, à la facture européenne. On est ici dans les calepins multicolores de Semikolon, les gommes à effacer made in Italy, les stylos allemands LAMY, etc.
Le deuxième axe de l’offre est celui des objets à la tonalité plus sobre et au design minimaliste. On trouve chez Nota-​Bene toute la gamme Moleskine et Rhodia. On veut toucher les calepins et cahiers en papier kraft des produits japonais Midori, son très prisé «Traveler notebook» en cuir noir ou brun, personnalisable à l’infini, ses bloc-​notes cousus «MD paper» au blanc immaculé. Midori fait aussi dans la nostalgie vintage, avec des articles de bureau en cuivre, qui devaient garnir les bureaux d’architectes jadis et qui sentent bon les années 30 (règles, gros trombonnes à classeur, porte-​mines, coffres à crayons, etc.)
Nota Bene dépassera vos attentes en papeterie — et par conséquent votre budget. Mais vous en ressortirez ravis, inspirés, avec peut-​être l’envie, pour les plus audacieux, de balancer votre iGod aux poubelles!

Fancy products, amazing service and very knowledgable, very nice clean store and modern and just cool and fun! Definitely just check this place out for fun if you don’t plan on buying.

Je suis souvent passé devant cette papeterie avant d’y entrer. Déjà, de dehors, j’étais attirée par toute les couleurs qu’on voit à l’intérieur.
Un jour, je suis arrivée en avance au travail et comme c’est juste à côté, je suis entrée. Des tonnes de calepins de toutes les couleurs, de tous les motifs et de toutes les tailles sont disponibles. Des pages blanches, lignées ou carottées.
Personnellement, depuis que j’ai mon blog, je note tout ce qui attire mon attention par rapport au monde de la gastronomie, les endroits ou je veux aller ou les ouvertures à venir et depuis le début, c’est dans cette charmante petite boutique que je viens faire mon choix.
Il y a aussi une belle sélection de papiers et enveloppes de différentes couleurs pour ceux qui voudraient concevoir de belles invitations ou laisser de belles notes.
Évidemment, il y a également des crayons et des coffres à crayons.
Au deuxième étage: une galerie d’art.
Pour couronner le tout, le personnel est super gentil.
Bref, certainement ma papeterie préférée de l’île de Montréal

J’ai longtemps été un inconditionnel des calepins, dans lesquels je consignais de nombreuses informations. Aujourd’hui, avec les téléphones portables, dictaphone numérique, ordinateur portable et autres appareils mobiles, je me rend compte que ça fait plus d’un an que je n’en ai acheté aucun. Aussi, je dois admettre que je né fais pas partie de la clientèle visée par cette papeterie, car les carnets des magasins à un dollar m’ont toujours satisfait. Aussi, pour quelqu’un qui cherche un format de carnet en particulier, qu’il soit très petit ou très grand, carré, rectangulaire ou filiforme, cette papeterie est idéale. Le personnel est courtois et le choix très grand. Donc, c’est une belle papeterie, qu’apprécieront ceux qui sont près à payer entre 10 et 30 dollars pour un carnet…

«This is the best god damn stationary store I’ve ever been in.»
«Welcome to wonderland.»
Yep. That about sums it up. Rhodia pads? Check. Clairefontaine? More than you can imagine. Fabriano? Yeah, sure, if you must.
It’s a wonderful, wonderful store, staffed with people who have a real passion for pen and paper, and because of this, there’s no better place to shop for pen and paper!