SHOP WATCH

PAPERCHASE

WHAT'S NEW?

A recently opened branch of the superlative stationery chain, Paperchase.

Spread out over two levels, this is a fineliner fancier's paradise.

And it's also just the place to head to for sugaring the autumnal pill of returning to school/college/ work/reality with the purchase of candy-coloured stationery and pens covered in spots and swirls.

WHEN DID IT OPEN?

At the beginning of this month. It marks Paperchase's return to its original base - its very first shop started around the corner on the Fulham Road in the 1960s.

THE LOOK Restrained pale blue and lilac walls with wooden floors along with aluminium shelving that lets the products do the talking. Pens, paper, notebooks and squishy Mandarina Duck briefcases (Pounds 122) can all be found on the ground floor, while the basement is given over to a cornucopia of cards, giftwrap and photo frames (Romeo frame, Pounds 6.50).

THE CUSTOMERS Anyone who believes that the right notebook can give them that organisational edge: working mums, students and spiky- haired Japanese tourists, as well as desperate men hunting for a last- minute birthday card.

THE STAFF Quiet and unassuming, but they know their stationery facts.

GO THERE FOR Things that you can't pick up at your local branch of Rymans, such as the silk-covered Agenzio "memory book" (Pounds 7.50) complete with a compartment for storing receipts, business cards etc. There's a veritable rainbow of writing paper for any special correspondence (set of handmade cards and envelopes, Pounds 3); storage problems can be solved with a box file in clear plastic or utilitarian grey, Pounds 4; miserable children (and adults) can be cheered up with a jazzy pen, Pounds 1 (above), and where else can you get a duck-egg blue leather-bound notebook decorated with a panel of Murano glass (Pounds 30)?

Paperchase, 289 King's Road, SW3, 020 7376 5117.

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