Laywine’s

I own way too many pens, inks, notebooks that I never catch up and need to buy anymore but I must. You see, I am an addict and this is the store for me. I am not sure what I like more — the note books or the pens. And they have lovely leather things. I have to hold myself back — no one could possible use some many pens or write in so many notebooks. Life is grand.

What can I say? Laywine’s feeds my addictions.
I love stationary a bit too much and have a penchant for spending an absurd amount on fountain pens and nice paper.
Laywine’s is my guilty pleasure in Yorkville. I used to come to this store every Wednesday after class on Bloor St. just to feel the paper and admire my favourite German and Swiss fountains.
For fountain pen aficionados out there, this store has a great stock of ink– Swiss, French, British, Japanese, you name it. The selection of fountain pens is a bit limited but they have all the standard ones. They unfortunately do not have that many vintage pens, but that’s expected of any small stationary store.
Great store for a quick birthday present or if you have peculiar predelictions like mine, somewhere to splurge your money.

My previous review was a response to my first purchase at Laywine’s. I was not at all impressed but have since turned around and am in love with this store. I started dealing exclusively with Peter, the store owner, and would recommend this place to anyone.
I believe they have the best offering of brands and pens in the city and their ink offering is on par with my needs and wants.
Peter has taken a good amount of money from me but has also earned my trust as a reputable salesperson, business owner, and team leader. I am very happy to say that my past dozen or so visits to his shop have been exceptional and they’ve gone out of their way to support me in my esoteric asks.
Now that I’ve moved cities I won’t be by as often as I’d like but I intend on making regular visits to Laywine’s whenever I’m back in Ontario, if not just to visit and say hello.

Went here to pick up a small, hard to fine item. They couldn’t have been friendlier or more helpful. I would definitely recommend this place for your pen supplies.

This place is so adorable! I found it looking for places that sell Filofax accessories. They had a good selection of inventory of pretty much anything stationary related but all on the higher end. Everything looked to be great quality. They had everything from funky, hip notebooks to very classy pens. They have the cutest card section I have ever seen. I plan to buy some birthday cards here.
The staff was very friendly & not judgmental. I came in looking a bit of a hot mess after a doctors appointment. A lot of places in the neighbourhood would not really served me wearing sweats & my hair in bun. They didn’t treat me any different then the person next to me. I love that. The service was great, the staff was so knowledgeable. I will definitely be coming back.

Went there today to buy a pen. What a rare treat to find a store nowadays where the staff take pride in what they do and the high quality products they sell! Great service, beautiful things.

I’m a man who appreciates carrying around a quality pen. There’s nothing like taking it out of your breast pocket for someone to use (especially for a phone number)!
I came in with no idea what I wanted, but a sad heart having recently lost my go-​to pen of 4 years. I described that I alternate between working in a warehouse to the boardroom, and the staff at Laywine’s pulled out 6 choices that fit my price range and usage. They even told me where I may find difficulty with each one, which is an art that is often lost in retailing.
Overall, such a great experience. My new pen has lived up to and beyond expectation, and it is refreshing to find such a down to earth, helpful staff and store in Yorkville. I look forward to exploring more of the stationary items on offer, as there was a whole lot of selection to choose from!

The staff is very kind, pleasant and well mannered. And their product brands are diverse with many of the high-​end top brand names in the stationery field. But nonetheless I found them to be over-​priced. Most of their items were a $ 10 more than the average market price.
It’s a very nice store, but only for things that no one else provides.

A very neat and cozy place to find paper artifacts, pens and inks. I just love the visiting experience. The location is convenient, just steps from Bloor St. Definitely my go-​to place for writing artifacts.
Highly recommended!

They have a good range of papers, pads, organizes, pens, portfolios. you really can’t go wrong if you want stationery. Their prices are also very good, a pen I was looking at here was $ 41 CAD but at Midoco was selling for $ 62!
Just because it’s in Yorkville it doesn’t mean it has jacked up prices.
I am only taking ONE star off because while I find the staff knowledgeable, I find them a bit brusque on the phone (but not in person). I am asking questions over the phone because I either can’t make it in easily (it’s out of my way), or I want to be sure I am not wasting my time, so they should really think about that when they answer the phone.
I get that you can’t really understand a ton about pens or papers over the phone, but I wasn’t on the phone for more than 2 minutes before I was told to come in-​person to see the pens and the paper… albeit rather brusquely.
Still it is a great place to find pens of all kinds, notepads, papers and things of quality that are NOT made in China.

I have been dealing with Laywines for years back in the day when I used a paper based system with the excellent Filofax product (Then I got the Palm Pilot and that was it for paper). Then Moleskine created the 2.0 version of a notepad and then meant we needed better pens beyond a BIC pen.
Somewhere down the line the Hipsters realized that having the right diary or notepad with the right pen became cool again.
I have been trying to track down the discontinued Moleskine City Guide for Tokyo. These guides are perfect for extended trips to major cities with maps and areas to put planning details, jot notes, tourist details and restaurant info.
I called and left a voice mail and they returned it with a follow up to let me know they were out of stock and although they had other city guides, I was out of luck.
I called 3 other sellers of Moleskine and they never called back.
Success in business is more about retaining your existing customers and having them buy more stuff from you and it is all about customer service.
Drop by and get a new pen, a new notepad and maybe some analog pencils and erasers
Highly recommended

i bought a Lamy Safari pen from Laywine a few weeks back. Excellent service. Encourage you to try out things before you buy, and do their best to accommodate your request. On my trip, I tried all the nib sizes for Lamy that they have. They patiently followed me, provided paper and dipping the inks. I didn’t buy from that day. I looked at my writing samples, narrow my options, then came back another day, and tried 3 different nibs. Same excellent service both times.
Even though I know their prices are higher (but not by a whole lot) compared to online stores, I decided to give them my business, since the service is so good, and I don’t want to treat them as showrooms for online merchants.
Other than everyday pens (like the Lamy), they also have high end and bespoke pen. And paper, and organizer. Most are made in Europe, only some of the Japanese pencils are made in China.
All in all, a nice escape from big box retail store with excellent service, knowledgeable staffs and cozy settings. Highly recommended.

My boyfriend has an obsession with pens. Every time he talks about pens, my eyes glaze over, I play on my phone/​check the weather/​check instagram/​think about what I want to eat/​pick at my nail polish/​etc, and I answer «uh huh, that’s nice» to pretty much everything he says. So imagine my delight when he wanted to visit *drum roll, please* a PEN SHOP. During our vacation to Toronto.
However, I KNEW, after my visit to Laywines, that it was so worthy of a 5-​star Unilocal review. Why?
1. There’s enough stuff for me to browse… bc even though I’m not into pens, I looooooove organizing. Enough organization toys to last me a good 30 mins!!!
2. They have an ink book. So you can look at all the pretty little ink colors they carry.
3. The workers here are nice.
4. They know what they’re talking about.
5. The owner.
Yes, the owner. I’ve never met anybody before who was SO PASSIONATE about what he does and sells. He was so knowledgeable and well-​versed in everything, answered our questions in full detail, and even started talking about the history of certain pens and his shop. It was the first time EVER that I was actually really interested in looking at pens and hearing about the subtle (to me… maybe not so subtle to pen aficiandos) differences between pens.
FOR EXAMPLE!!! Did you know that German nibs are generally wider than Japanese nibs? Yea, I didn’t. But now I do, thanks to Mr. Laywines!
I seriously am so impressed with Laywines and now know why Janet S. claims that «a visit to Laywine’s…is an experience».
ps: tip to all my girls — feed your bf espresso (Zaza and Lettieri are conveniently located on the same block), give him 90 mins to explore Laywines and buy a pen & notebook, and explore Bloor Street to your heart’s content as he waits patiently in every single store and plays with his new pen. Works like a charm! ;)

Laywine’s is my ultimate go-​to for stationery. Not only are the products unique and top-​notch quality, their staff treat the customers like friends and family.
A visit to Laywine’s is not a shopping trip, it’s an experience. The staff won’t rush you, and will encourage you to try many of their pens. They only sell products that they are proud to stand behind, and are constantly updating and culling their inventory to meet demand and quality standards.
Their items aren’t all super expensive, you can get (disposable) fountain pens for as little as $ 4. They also have a lot of other cool «doo-​dads» in the less-​than-​$ 10 range. Funky silicone wallets, paper clips, paper soap (so you can take it in your carry-​on!), a cool ceramic envelope opener, and lots of other stuff. Don’t be intimidated by the $$$ designation. They don’t pressure us to buy.
If they don’t have quite what you need, Peter (proprietor) will even disassemble pens and reassemble them with different refills to create what you need.
They also provide a repair service; it takes about one week.
LOVE. THIS. STORE.

Laywine’s is more expensive than a Grand and Toy or an Office Depot, but it’s a pleasure to come here for stationery, (notebooks, agendas) because of the selection, and because everyone who works here has a strong knowledge of the product. And they’re quite friendly. Both of these qualities are such a rarity in retailing nowadays, along with staff that takes pride in what they sell. For these reasons, buying stationery products from this store is well worth it.

Laywines has an excellent selection of pens, organizers, agenda inserts and other related items. Once you hit the register you immediately know you are subsidizing the expensive Yorkville rent. Prices seem to be higher than expected for simple things like paper or agenda inserts. I suspect if you purchased similar items down the street at Grand & Toy they would be noticeably less.