Elam’s Hallmark Shop

I’m just wondering why the Internet says Elam Hallmark in Encinitas closes at 8 but when I came down here they closed at 7:30! Really somebody can’t update the Internet with the correct hours of operation? Or are they just lazy and need to leave that extra half an hour. Guess they rather give their business to somebody else that sales cards… Barnes and Noble, Paper Source, the grocery store. Lame!

The card selection here is wonderful, as expected. I came in for Mother’s Day cards after visiting Walgreens and not being able to find a single grandma card. Elam’s Hallmark had so many great Mother’s Day cards it was hard to pick one!
The store is pretty large, but surprisingly only about 30% of it is cards. The staff seemed nice although I didn’t have much interaction with them outside of the checkout process. The prices are the same as what you would pay anywhere else for a Hallmark card and you just can’t beat their great selection. With that being said, I will be back to Elam’s Hallmark for all of my greeting card needs.

They are the only place in town that sells Crabtree & Evelyn, which is the only reason I went there. The women aren’t the friendliest and they charge about $ 7 more for the lotion the. The actual store or Nordstrom, I’ll be sure to buy online from now on. Even with shipping it’s cheaper to go online.

I just came from the following store and had the following experience:
I bought two of the itty bittys (teeny cute stuffed animals of popular characters) there for my son and daughter and as I was paying my son realized there was a small rip in the seam on the back of his doll and so I handed it to the cashier and pointed it out and had my son go back and get another, undamaged, one. The first thing the cashier did was to blame my son, saying «It probably happened when he ripped the tag off.» even though the tag had been on the toy’s hand and the rip was on the back waist of the toy. I pointed that out to her and she seemed very flustered and said she would need to fill out some kind of damage form and said I would need to wait while she went to the back room to retrieve this form. ??? I worked in retail for many, many years — in management most of that time — and can’t for the life of me imagine why she thinks the customer needs to be there to participate in the filling out of a damage form. I hadn’t damaged the item and nor had my son. I wasn’t returning the damaged item — I merely noticed the damage as I stood at the register to pay for it. Her reaction should have been, «Oh sure — just go grab another!» and that’s it. I did not wait for her to return from the back room with the form — I left with my children. This was the first we’d ever seen the itty bittys and my kids thought they were adorable and I probably would have gone back to buy others — for their Easter baskets or for other gifts — but I can tell you now I will not be setting foot in that store again. It was really a ridiculous situation, very poorly and unprofessionally handled and frankly rude.

I love this store! When I’m searching for a special gift I go here first. I like the variety of choices and the staff is amazing. I’d have to imagine that not a single person ever leaves Elam’s unhappy. The ladies that work there are super sweet and make you feel good. Great store with the best customer service.

The store seemed well laid out and had the usual Hallmark trinkets, ornaments and cards. My only real comment about this store is the nick-​nack section which seemed to be the focus as the cards were shoved into the back corner and were not even a ¼ of the store’s shelves. While I understand that cards themselves are probably not a big source of revenue, isn’t that what «Hallmark» is all about?
The staff were very friendly and ensured good customer service, even though they were busy! The store was clean and the shelves seemed to be in order!

I had to give this 5 stars because I’ve been going to the La Costa Hallmark
for the past few years and every time I go there, I always walk out of there swearing off the place. The employees are unfriendly, the inventory is sparse and the store is much smaller. It looks as if they’re going out of business. Really, it does.
So when I was in need of a few birthday cards, I decided to give this Hallmark store a try. It was immediately obvious that this is NOT the same case with this Hallmark. Polar opposite!
As we immediately walked in, we knew this was superior to Patti’s Hallmark in La Costa. For one, we were actually greeted when we walked in even though there were folks swarming around everywhere.
We went in for a few birthday and anniversary cards so we didn’t think that we would need a basket. It turns out, we ended up having more in our hands than we expected. A sales associate came by after she noticed we were struggling to shop and keep all of our items in our hand. She kindly asked if we wanted to leave the items at the counter while I shopped which I happily accepted.
When we were finished, the cashier remembered that we had items put aside and went to immediately grab them. All cashiers and sales associates were just so friendly and helpful. It was an overall pleasant shopping experience where you were not lost in all the chaos — great service still a priority.
Hats off to this Hallmark store. You guys rock and you will now our go-​to Hallmark moving forward.

«What is it about the card? They don’t represent real life… A big sunset, with the two deer drinking out of a pond, creating the ripples of water. That’s not our life! It should say ‘I’m fat, you’re fat, see you in the kitchen in 10 minutes.’» Thank you, Kevin James.
Comedians weigh in a lot on greeting cards, because they’re a funky little social phenomenon. Seinfeld summed it up with «I don’t know what my feelings are, so I’ll just pay some total stranger a buck… to do the job for me. So I can go, ‘Here, I didn’t write this, but uh, whatever they wrote, I think the same thing.’»
Nonetheless, people love to get cards. So whether you need to keep up relations with your girlfriend on her birthday, you don’t know where in Encinitas to pick up some hilarious Kwanzaa cards, or you just want a card that plays MMMBop, you’re in luck over here. Though, during the holidays, checkout ladies grapple with the stress of peddling a lifetime of kind sentiments, the store remains appropriately staffed to allow for quick transactions among the shell shock. I’m looking at you, Costco!