Buying stationery supplies in the Bloomsbury area?

[gordonsq]

DC starting at UCL this week. With such a high concentration of students in one place, many of whom are international students, I'm wondering whether the local stationery suppliers cash in on the demand with high prices, or whether there is a steady local supply of cheap paper, folders and everything else they might need, so they don't have to order online. Any tips for where to buy?

There's a LIDl and Sainsburys on Tottenham Court Road which is cheapest for general supplies but I can't think of anywhere else around there .. we got a bit from Amazon .. London Review of Books is lovely and also has a nice cafe but not particularly cheap .. generally though I think they're heading down to TCR to get supplies.. good luck to your DC at UCL.. such a beautiful area .. and a lovely atmosphere . If you're dropping off and the weather is kind the cafe in Tavistock Square is lovely ..

Flying Tiger and Muji on Tottenham Court Road! (There used to be a Hema there too - it was stationary paradise!)

The SU shop on Bloomsbury campus also has some bits

There are a couple of Rymans nearby, one near the British Museum and the other on Southampton row. The prices are no more inflated than Ryman generally is compared to eg Wilkos.

Do students use a lot of stationery nowadays? I thought they mostly used laptops.

As PPs have said, the SU shop on campus has some stationery. And there's a Ryman in the basement of Waterstones at the bottom of Mallet Street.

Definitely check out Muji on Tottenham Court Road. The branch of Paperchase in the top end of St Pancras station is quite good (by current standards after they've closed a lot of branches).

Supermarkets tend to be cheaper but I'm not sure if the central London branches are big enough to stock stationery. The Sainsburys at the bottom of Tottenham Court Road might. And the Tesco Express on Caledonian Road (near Kings Cross) is a fair size too.

Not what you asked but there's an excellent new coffee shop just opened on the quad!

There are lots of Rymans near there (I used to work near there) and they are mostly serving office workers in Central London of whom there are far more than students even since covid so I doubt they completely run out of stocks at this time of year. It should be fine.

@soundsystem ohh sounds worth a visit next time I'm there ... do you know what's it called ?

It's rather imaginatively called The Cafe on the Quad. It's inside one of the old observatories, serving Caravan coffee ;)

Thank you @soundsystem

sounds lovely ! Thank you ! Sorry @gordonsq for the digression.. perhaps we also need a thread for all the colleges around there I think there's a fair few !

Muji, Flying Tiger, Paperchase, Waterstones and the supermarkets will all have stationery at normal high street prices. Flying Tiger or one of the SU shops will probably be the cheapest. There are also an Aldi, Lidl, The Works and Poundland in Camden (and a big Sainsburys), where some of the halls are.