Reid’s

True enough, when it comes to fountain pens Reid’s is on the pricey side, but when you shop there, you get quality products and service, every time. To date, I have bought a stainless steel Parker Sonnet for myself (to replace one I had lost), as well as two more expensive gold-​nibbed Sonnets (for two retiring professors of mine). Each time, the price was fair and the performance impeccable.
Obviously, aside from my personal interest (which is fountain pens), Reid’s is a treasure trove of very affordable stationery, cards, gifts, wrapping paper, and more (it’s a large place!). I would, however, not recommend Reid’s for fountain pen refills, because they are quite expensive there (about a dollar a pop, whereas you can find them for about 30 cents each online).
Most important of all, however, is the service. Even if it turns out that the staff at Reid’s don’t have exactly what I need, they are always full of ideas and suggestions, and they always go above and beyond to leave the customer smiling and satisfied. To wit: today, I walked in looking for a box for a rare Montblanc pen I had bought for my father (it did not come with one). The staff not only found one for me, but also gave it to me for free. Now that’s service!

Neat giftware, stationary and paper shop.
The front area of the store is more gift/​party related, but the back is a classic paper shop, and clearly has an outstanding selection. Worth a look for specific items or just a few greeting cards.

The first time I went in here, I asked a friend about it and he gave me a brief description. I found out later, that he had basically paraphrased Wendy’s review about Reid’s. HDU. It’s like when you ask someone about a book you never read before, and they try to slyly give you the Wiki synopsis. You’ve been Wiki’d! Unilocaliki’d?
Reid’s is your standard party store, with plenty of things to make your simple get-​together look like you watched at least one episode of Martha Stewart Living (don’t get photography tips from her, though). You’ve also got an array of ribald greeting cards, fake moustaches, animal masks and costumes. Staff is pretty friendly and well-​versed in their wares. Not just Unilocal-​versed ;).

Reid’s — it’s like a reverse engineered mullet. It’s a party in the front and business in the back.
Do you need a collapsable beer pint? How about a statue of the Eiffel Tower? Ooo, I know what you’re really looking for-​a pecker tray. You guessed it! Penis shaped cake/​muffin tin. Or maybe you’ve been looking for some animé glasses? Or old man squinty glasses? They have those too!
Wander into the back and there’s every kind of pen you could possibly want to buy. They all looked so shiny. If I ever pen a novel (like, really pen one), I’d buy a fancy fountain pen from here.
Next time you’re in the neighbourhood, take a gander on it… maybe you can bake us some peckcakes.

The confident sense of quality service they have nurtured was undermined by their handling of a return. Suddenly it’s «attitude time,» replete with entitlement and elitism.
I’m sorry you were so inconvenienced for a few dollars. Now hear THIS: my partner and I have spent well over a thousand dollars, probably closer to $ 2k in your store over the last few years — such is our fondness for fountain pens and the like. Great selection, by the way!
We won’t be back.

Truly great place with wonderful service. Parking is a bit dodgy, but nevertheless Reid’s is definitely worth a visit if you’re looking for party supplies or fine writing instruments aka cool pens or really great and unique stationery (there’s linnen paper, parchment paper, etc)
I recently bought a fountain pen there and the person I spoke to was one of the most helpful people I ran across in a retail environment. Seeing as this is turning out to be bit of an obsession (fountain pens are for some reason… addictive), I will be going back again and would recommend this store.

This is one of those ‘go-​to’ places when you’re looking for something unique! It’s a great place to find cool gifts — something for all types and personalities. Such an impressive array of… stuff!

It’s hard to say what they sell, it’s too all over the map. The first part of the store is all party favors and goods, with cheap toys and fun things and then the second part is all stationary and pens. They have cards, scrapbooking supplies, facepaints, candy and a whole wackdoodle of things. It’s fun to go look around.
My problem is their staff. I’ve been there many times over my lifetime of living in south Calgary, and I’ve never had an employee there that was decent. Whenever I go in there, I’m usually ignored and I can’t get help even when I go asking for it. I don’t even get a nice hello when I walk in. I get rolled eyes and crossed arms.
I only go in when I need to. For birthdays and Christmas, it’s a pretty useful all in one store for decorating, throwing parties and presents. But expect staff that think they are better than you, it is 17^th ave after all.

I love Reid’s for a number of things, but I do a lot of ordering of envelopes from them. I find the email address for th estore is n-​o-​w-​h-​e-​r-​e to be found. So here it is:
TO GET IN TOUCH WITH REID’S BY EMAIL, YOU CAN EMAIL

Relationships, as we all know, require compromise.
One such compromise being shopping for Knick Knacks.
Strolling down 17^th Avenue often results in us stopping to look at the Reid’s window dressing, which is often following by a «I’m just going to pop in for a second…»
Reid’s is a great place for buying gifts, because they have a variety of novelty gifts as well as serious gifts like crystal and leather-​bound journals. I’ve purchased gag gifts from Reid’s before, like football key covers for my brother-​in-​law, and some over-​the-​hill gag gifts for my dad’s birthday.
Reid’s has the best selection of cards in the city in my opinion, including serious and funny cards. It would be a great place to stop by on your way to someone’s house for Christmas if you forgot to get them a gift, because it’s all under one roof, even wrapping paper.
They also have a big selection of party supplies like themed napkins and plates.
It would take forever to see everything in Reid’s, plus they always have a seasonal section, so the store changes everytime you go.
You are charged a premium for these one-​of-​a-​kind gifts, though, but sometimes it’s not about the money, it’s about getting the gift-​buying over with in one stop!

The windows of Reid’s were all fogged up and my honey and I were commenting that there must have been some «action» going on in there. I half expected an erotic or adult store but what I saw instead was a store that had customer action happening.
Reid’s is a mishmash of everything, office, stationary, paper items, Xmas and journals but what I really got a kick out of the most was the gag area and the corner of toy novelty items.
This is a large store; upon entering you are welcomed by some very entertaining gag gifts. How about «The Ex» knife holder which has knives stabbed through a human figure at five different angles, or a rubber like bowl with edges that looked like spilt milk.
There is a huge aisle dedicated to hundreds of journals and diaries; this is fantastic, all in different shapes and different colours.
But my favourite area which appeals to the inner child in me is the toy novelty area; I was toying between «The Giant Pipe Cleaner Party Kit» or the «Penis Cleaner» which is basically a large ring. Yes I have a warped sense of humour and yes it is just way too funny.
With all these novelty items is the juxtaposition of these glass encased cabinets, under lock and key for the more upscale designer items. Four shelves devoted to solely Allesi designs and another cabinet just solely for crystal glassware.
Reid’s is mind boggling, it is quite an unusual store, but does not lack in entertaining you. There is more room to shop here than Steeling Home and Kricket which makes for more enjoyable shopping and I was definitely finding things that I didn’t find in other stores.
Definitely a place I will return to if I need a unique gift for a friend.

In places like NYC, window displays are an art form. Reid’s is Calgary’s version of those very stores — they definitely get my gold stars for Best Window Display! Every time I drive by, I always check out what they have creativity splashed all over the front (usually it’s seasonal).
Inside is one giant PERUSE waiting to happen. I mean, what is this store about? It’s so jam-​packed full of weird lil things that you couldn’t possibly catch it all. I mean, primarily, if you’re after a great card, you’ll find it here. But maybe you need a gag gift? A novelty sensored lil figure that says obscenities (the things you wish you could sometimes say like ‘wow, you’re a _​_​_​_​_​bag’). Weird pens. Princessy things for lil girls. A costume for Halloween. Seasonal décor. Pinatas. Birthday/​party/​wedding invites, decorations, etc. Yeah, weirdness. Randomness. No rhyme or reason. But that’s kinda fun and definitely worth a look.

Reid’s is a cute little novelty shop with many party favours and odd little gifts, as well as a bunch of office supplies. Whether you’re looking for a giant card, or a rubber chicken, Reid’s has got what you need.
I find it entertaining to stroll through Reid’s. It’s a pretty large store, but doesn’t have much room to move around. If you meet someone halfway down an aisle, more likely than not you’ll have to turn back and try a different one. I think it’s amusing, being a tiny person myself.
Another reason I like walking through Reid’s is because they have funny things to look at. Even if I’m not buying anything I’m sure to find a way to entertain myself for a few minutes… or half an hour.
They’ve got so much crap (I say crap because stuff and things just don’t seem summarize what they offer as well as crap does), you could be looking for hours. The problem is the salespeople aren’t that ambitious to help you find what you’re looking for. You may very well have to spend 15 minutes in the place just to locate what you need.
Another negative is that some of the items can be a little pricey. I went in to find a giant balloon for a birthday, but was disappointed at how much it would cost me. I ended up using a regular sized balloon that I already had at home instead.
Reid’s seems like it’s better suited to entertain people walking down the street than it is for actually buying stuff. Stop in and goof around for a while, but don’t waste your money on some over-​priced item.

i love reid’s for the stationary, ribbons, wrapping paper, and moleskines (what? you don’t have to buy them at chapters? who knew).
this store is also an excellent place to find gifts or sarcastic/​inappropriate greeting cards.

This Reid’s is obviously run by tiny people as demonstrated by their Christmas decoration display that I had to dodge at every turn. What kind of place tries to strangle its customers?
Anyway, the girls working the front end didn’t have time for those kinds of questions. They were too busy discussing the necessity of obtaining more «squirrel stuff» for a new display. I have no goddamn idea what that meant, but they seemed quite passionate about the whole thing…
Reid’s is confusing in a way. At the back is a very serious office supply shop with paper, nice pens, stationary, etc. At the front is a bunch of female junk (ornaments and figurines that possess no immediate use), mixed in with silly stuff like a «grow-​your-​own prostitute» and do-​it-​yourself drug test gum. This place is also crammed with as much stuff as could possibly fit in the place. Which means they have a decent selection of useful things and stuff that doesn’t matter…
The back end offers high quality office items at slightly higher prices than some places, but it is quality.