Name of business: Paper Moon Stationary and Art Supply

Type of business: Stationary and art shop

Specialty: Japanese stationary

Location: 693 E. Olive Ave. Suite #2, Turlock

Hours: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday

Contact: (209) 620-8079 or papermoonsas1@gmail.com 

History of business:

Community members no longer need to take a flight halfway across the globe or pay costly shipping prices to enjoy the quality and uniqueness of Japanese stationery thanks to a local teacher and her new business located near downtown Turlock.

Last week, Victoria Mires and her family opened the doors to Paper Moon Stationary and Art Supply at 693 E. Olive Ave., offering everything from notebooks, writing utensils, art supplies, trendy stickers, wall art and more. Each item is either locally sourced or directly from small businesses overseas.

As an art educator of over 20 years, Mires had always dreamt of owning her own business to share her love of painting and colorful, unique office supplies. Last year, she began selling at The Market, which took place every Sunday over the summer between First Street and Broadway.

“I noticed that there were a lot of people around here who loved stationery, and they had the same feelings that I had, which was that we all like stationery, but there's nowhere to shop for it here in Turlock. That’s when we decided to start selling at The Market,” Mires explained. “There, we always had new and repeat customers. We had excellent feedback from our customers and everybody was happy to see us every single time. 

“I always wanted to have a storefront, but I needed to test the waters and see if that was something that Turlock would actually be interested in, and sure enough, we did extremely well and were well received by the community. This is my passion. I love art. We're here to bring art to the community and to really encourage everybody to have something beautiful in their life and to be creative. We want to share our passion and love for art.”

Each item at Paper Moon was curated by Mires. And there’s a bit of everything for everyone.

There are water-coloring kits and coloring books for kids, wall art, and office supplies for those of all ages. The selection of notebooks and planners is particularly extensive. The shop carries popular Japanese brands like Maruman, Midori, MD Paper and Tombow.

“Japanese culture loves paper and (has) a high respect for paper, so their brands make super high quality paper that is thin, smooth, durable and just so pretty. These are not things you're going to find anywhere.”

And with all the unique paper comes unique writing utensils. The shop offers a wide variety of gel pens, ball-point pens, calligraphy brushes, markers, pencils and other tools.

Whether it’s been at The Market or in her new store, Mires shared that some of the most popular stationery items include transparent sticky notes, mechanical pencils of different sizes and colors and, of course, the notebooks and notepads. Mires shared that she has already had employees from nearby businesses stock up on office supplies, which she encourages others to do as well. She also encourages folks to share suggestions as to what products the store should carry.

“We have so many things, but if there is something or some brand that you really want that we don’t have, I have no problem ordering it. I want this to be a one-stop shop for amazing stationary and supplies. We want to have things here for everyday use and just for fun little activities,” she said.

Activities are something she hopes to bring to the store, too. In the future, Mires plans on hosting art classes for those of all ages. The thought goes back to her mission of sharing her love of art with the community.

Another way she is doing that is through the promotion of local artists. In some corners of the store, there are showcases with products for sale from local artists, whether it be prints, clay earrings or homemade candles. 

“We have such amazing artists in our region, I want to support them all, whether it’s offering a wide selection of supplies or promoting them here in the store,” Mires said.

“I want to offer really cool and beautiful stationary and art supplies for anyone who wants it,” she continued. “There’s a stigma that these items, because they are of such amazing quality, are unattainable for the average person or are too expensive. But there are things for children, for experienced artists from places around the world at really affordable prices.”

The store can be found on Instagram at @PaperMoonSAS and on Facebook at Paper Moon Stationary and Art Supply.