At the counter
Feel the sheet, have it cut to size on the mat, and take it home wrapped in kraft paper.
1. Feel
Feel is the first step, and it happens at the window. Aya Mensah works the counter. She will hand you the sheet, or two sheets, and ask you to hold them up to the glass the way a customer holds envelopes there. Daylight through the paper tells you more than a description. Airmail Bank shows how translucent the light sheet is.
Laid Writing shows its chain lines. Soft Wove shows a faintly warm white. Cotton Rag shows the deckle. You do not have to buy the sheet you held. Sample sets are cut through the morning after the door opens at 10:00. There is no fee for looking, and no second range behind the counter. The six papers are the whole choice.
2. Cut
Cut is the second step, on the pale grey mat with a steel rule. Joris Van Acker does the cutting and the sample sets. You can buy any pack at the size printed on it, or ask for another size. Airmail Bank, Everyday Bond, Laid Writing and Soft Wove are stocked at A4. Grey Card is stocked at A5. Cotton Rag is stocked at A3.
Cutting to size is free. Say the finished size while you are at the mat, before the wrap. A sheet that has been cut is yours. It cannot be returned. If you are unsure of the size, take a sample first and come back. The mat is in use through the morning, and orders that are ready as parcels leave at 16:30.
3. Wrap
Wrap is the third step. Tomás Rivera wraps parcels. The sheet or the pack goes into plain kraft paper and is tied with pale cotton tape. The wrap is free, including when you only came in for a pack at its stock size. A parcel that is being posted follows the delivery rules: free over €60, otherwise €7 in the EU and €16 elsewhere, dispatched in two working days.
A parcel you carry out yourself does not need an address. Notebooks that Hanna Kowalczyk has stitched are wrapped the same way if they are leaving by post. Nothing is printed on the kraft. Your name is not lettered on the tape.
How do I bring a sample?
Bring the sheet, the envelope or the page you are trying to match. It can be something you already write on, a card you want to back, or an invitation size you need to repeat. Joris lays it on the mat and cuts a sample from the paper that fits the job, not from a paper we do not stock. If the job is a long letter abroad, the sample is Airmail Bank. If it is a fountain pen, the sample is Soft Wove. If it is a card, the sample is Grey Card. You can also come with nothing and point at the drawer. Samples are cut in the morning. The shop is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 to 18:00, at 17 Papierstraat, 9000 Ghent.
What happens at the Thursday paper clinic?
On Thursday the paper clinic runs from 16:00 to 18:00, inside ordinary opening hours. Greta Lindholm holds it. Bring a sample or a plain question about which of the six papers to use. The clinic does not add a new sheet and it does not replace the counter. Feel, cut and wrap still apply if you decide to buy. Leila Benali buys the papers from the mills. Greta’s hour is for the choice in front of you, not for a lecture and not for a measured test. We still will not quote thickness or opacity. If you cannot come on Thursday, the counter is open the rest of Tuesday to Saturday, and you can write to hello@ayapaper.example.
Tuesday to Saturday
10:00–18:00
Thursday paper clinic
16:00–18:00