Melbourne's favourite local newsagents and stationery shops

We’re all for progress, but there is still something special about leafing through a beautifully designed and curated print magazine. Here at Magnation, you’ll find more than 4,000 titles from Australia and beyond covering all sorts of niche topics, from architecture to fashion to film. The friendly, chatty staff are all avid mag fans and happy to assist with recommendations or even back orders. Plus, Mag nation offers coffee, free wi-fi and recliner chairs so you can really make yourself at home.

Il Papiro is a quaint and lovely little paper shop in the heart of Melbourne. With a range of high quality paper, wax seals, leather journals, glass pens, quills and more, iL Papiro’s shelves brim with the highest quality Italian stationery, handcrafted in their Florentine workshops in line with traditional techniques. If you’re looking for a leather bound notebook for that budding writer in your life, this is where you’ll find it.

Typo offers a mixed bag of gifts, stationery, arts and crafts, usually with a dose of good-natured cheekiness. They also stock a solid collection of diaries, calendars and pens – perfect for those who love to be organised, or those who really need up their game. Their selection of eccentric birthday cards and novelty knick-knacks makes it a perfect place to pick up a last-minute gift.

Kikki K is famous for its stylish, Scandinavian-inspired stationery and organizing tools, which bring together form and function in a super fashionable way. You’ll find diaries, notebooks, gift cards, stickers, pens and pencils at Kikki K complete with motivational quotes and wellbeing slogans.

Need a notebook and pencil to sketch strangers on the tram? Want to grab a new pen to write your memoirs? At Riot Art and Craft Supplies there’s no surcharge or minimum spend for using cards. So this means Melburnians are free to pop in and buy anything from a paintbrush to some glitter to wear at Meredith Music Festival.

Open since 1989, Zetta Florence is one of Melbourne’s most beautiful stationery stores. Stocking greeting cards and decorative wrap featuring Australian designs, the store is also home to a collection of notebooks, journals, pens and even wax for hardcore letter-writing enthusiasts. With no minimum spend required, this is the place to pick up a far-from-naff greeting card or some eye-catching gift wrap to take gift-giving to the next level.

Boring stationery is given the heave-ho at Smiggle where cute items like scented pom pom pens reign supreme. Stocking rainbow pencils, neon pencil cases, highlighters that look like ice blocks, pizza-shaped notepads and fluffy notebooks that look like animals, Smiggle’s range injects some fun back into the art of writing.

Print fans are taken care of here where customers are free to drop in to buy a newspaper or magazine for their tram ride, without having to have cash to pay for it. With no minimum spends, customers can tap or swipe to pay for even the smallest of stationery or media purchases.