\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
![\"Ruth](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4113807_web1_260401-Papiiro-.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
Ruth Bonneville \/ Free Press<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Papiiro owner Cay Iledan, with daughter Zoe, at the recently opened stationary store at 109 Osborne St.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s things that we don\u2019t often see in Winnipeg, we often see stationery shops that carry what we have in bigger cities like Toronto or Vancouver. It\u2019s just giving the people in Winnipeg a lot more options in terms of stationery, not just only from Staples or from (Canada-wide chain Japanese goods store) Oomomo or something like that,\u201d Iledan, 39, said Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re like your friendly neighbourhood stationery shop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Papiiro\u2019s brick-and-mortar shop is new, but Iledan and her 14-year-old daughter Zoe have been selling inventory at markets since 2024, after she said the pair caught the business bug after buying stationery stock for a craft school sale at Zoe\u2019s middle school.<\/p>\n
They had always bonded over their shared love of all things stationery and, eventually, Iledan was convinced to leave the corporate world of project management for a pharmaceutical company to open Papiiro, her first go at running a business.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Now, Zoe helps run the shop after school \u2014 and has a say in branding, marketing, inventory and all the other entrepreneurial decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s always involved, because I want her to use those skills when she\u2019s older,\u201d Iledan said.<\/p>\n
Papiiro joins several mother-and-daughter-owned businesses in the adjacent buildings: jewelry shop Silver Lotus, Small Mercies Caf\u00e9 and Hen boutique, according to the Osborne Village Business Improvement Zone. About 60 per cent of businesses in the Village are owned by women.<\/p>\n
The new shop has stayed steadily busy in the month since it opened. Iledan credits its success to the variability of journaling and stationery as an activity: window-shoppers and passers-by will wander in and find affordable starter stickers, while the hardcore journaling fanatics have a spot to purchase high-end, pricier products.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Ruth Bonneville \/ Free Press<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Papiiro focuses on unique journaling supplies and eco-friendly options, like pen refills.<\/p>\n For people on all ends of the stationery spectrum, the shop offers \u201ccommunity journaling tables\u201d \u2014 spaces for people to work on their own notebooks. Iledan said she wants the shop to host more events as time goes on.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to build a community around our shop, and we want people to feel welcome and safe,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people like to come here and just sit at our journaling table, and it\u2019s the best thing ever, and they also find new friends or new people to journal with, which is such a really cool part of the job.\u201d<\/p>\n Papiiro is the latest in a spurt of openings in high-value vacant spaces, said Osborne Village BIZ executive director Zohreh Gervais. The building was last filled with clothing store Shop Take Care, which closed in 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are super happy to have that spot filled. It hasn\u2019t been vacant for a lack of interest in the space,\u201d she said. \u201cThe landlord was just very particular about what he wanted to go in there, so he was holding out for the perfect tenant.\u201d<\/p>\n Its wares are reminiscent of a previous area art shop staple, Desart, which closed in 2015 after 47 years.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople come to Osborne because they\u2019re looking for something different, not the same things that they can go and get at the mall, right?\u201d Gervais said.<\/p>\n Last month, golf simulator club Joyhouse Golf had its grand opening at 120 Osborne St., another previously vacant space that has been filled after a lot of interest, Gervais said.<\/p>\n Both Papiiro and Joyhouse Golf reflect a growing trend in Osborne Village and beyond: young people moving away from nightlife and focusing on activity-based gatherings.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Ruth Bonneville \/ Free Press<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Japanese stationary store, Papiiro, has found success in its first weeks since opening.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople want these in-person experiences, doing things together, whether it\u2019s playing golf or journaling and doing really cool paper craft stuff \u2014 all of that speaks to that trend,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really interesting to see that shaking out in Osborne, which has always been kind of a trend-setting area.\u201d<\/p>\n While she didn\u2019t offer any names, Gervais said other new businesses are coming to the Village this summer.<\/p>\n \u201cIt speaks to the community\u2019s interest in investing and continuing to invest in Osborne village, and like with any area, things are cyclical,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like we\u2019re now into a cycle where we\u2019re seeing a lot of really great new spots opening up in Osborne.\u201d<\/p>\n malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Malak Abas Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg\u2019s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Reporter
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n