Birch

Very nice store with unique, attractive gifts and stationary. I do not go anywhere else for cards. The store is well laid out so it’s easy to find what you are looking for if you’re in a hurry. I love the seasonal items they sell.

This review is actually for Gfdg Studio which is the studio just back of birch, you can use the same enterance. I found these talented people by a write up from Martha Stewart in one of her wedding related publications. I met Christina who managed my many wedding paper needs. They worked with artwork I had done for our wedding invitations and they used everything in such inventive ways. My honey and I are so pleased with how everything turned out and our guests can’t stop raving about how fun, playful and unique everything is. Exactly what I hoped for. I am over the moon for Gfdg studio and it’s professional and fun staff. If you want to know that your going to be well taken care of and have the best possible product given to you on time and thoughtfully cared for, use Gfdg studio for all your custom paper! I will be seeing them again soon for my next project! I give a thumbs up to birch as well. The shop is cute, sweet and has a very nice selection.

Wow! Find the perfect card, wrapping paper, ribbon, or box of thank you cards… and get your own custom stationary, wedding invitation or next party invitation made with their in-​house design team. Birch is the arm of Gwen Francis Design Group which does corporate design work for companies like nVidia and XL Construction, so you know you are get professional work. They have so many great lines and their own greeting card line with really funny quotes! Love it!

Great store with a unique selection of cards. Don’t let the size and modest exterior fool you. I went downtown to Los Altos Card & Party to buy Christmas cards thinking that since they were larger, they would have a better selection. I was completely wrong. I didn’t find one set of cards that I liked. A quick trip to Birch, and I walked away with 3 different sets of cards that I love. It’s a bit more expensive, but well worth it for the great selection. A true gem in downtown LA.

Birch is a lovely and well-​edited store filled with cards and paper goods to delight and amuse! This isn’t your run-​of-​the-​mill Hallmark store … with it’s spare white interior and modern shelving to display cards.
There are many local card designs available — with Birch’s own in-​house designs as a favorite. It is called GFDG Studio and their website is:
I bought a few cards from their line «Deep Thoughts» that have silly questions and inspirational quotes mixed with illustrative type on the front:
— Do jellyfish get gas from eating jelly beans?
— Why don’t sheep shrink when it rains?
— Friends are like melons. Shall I tell you why? To find a good one, you must a hundred try.
— I fear the man who drinks water and remembers what the rest of us said last night.
All of their in-​house cards are designed in shades of blue, gray and white and are perfect for the humorous philosopher or friend in your life. There are also letterpress wedding invitation designs and kids custom stationery available. Look underneath the coffee table for their sample books.

I LOVE this place. So many beautiful cards and notebooks… mostly letterpressed locally.

My temporary stint in the 650 has some pros and cons.
Pro — places like Birch exist for me to fuel my fetish. What fetish you ask? I have this thing. I need to buy books (which I never intend to read) and stationary (which I never intend to use).
Con — The average age in Los Altos looks like it’s around 65. Unless I plan on doing some EXTREME cougar hunting, I am in deep shit.
Papier.

This is such a quaint little shop that carries upscale cards, gift bags and tissue paper. You can find little planners, calendars, organizers, and notebooks as well. The prices are reasonable and the owner is very sweet and helpful. They also carry some Hable Construction items which I absolutely love! They do not carry their bags, but they do have little pouches and notebooks by Hable Construction. (You can see some of those items at
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I think people need to bring back writing personal letters instead of IMing or texting people on their birthday or holidays. Stop by this shop, find a few cute cards and write to your friend, aunt or grandmother! They’ll definitely appreciate it!

Was looking for the final wrapping piece and card for a friend’s wedding present, last minute of course, and Birch saved the day. Didn’t think that the Hallmark store near where I lived had any classy enough and thanks to Unilocal we found this place. One of the two ladies here were very helpful in helping us getting the right paper and ribbon, while I found a great custom card. Highly recommended if you want to find a nice custom boutique style stationary shop.

Cards are more creative and inspiring, yet cheaper than hallmark.

Such a great alternative to the traditional stationary store. Fun, youthful designs with an appreciation of the artist in all of us.

I was in Birch today, and left 3 minutes later. I only lasted that long because a girl with short brown hair was basically yelling at another co-​worker in the middle of the store. When I first walked in, she was talking to her while the lady was assisting a customer. Then, once the customer left… she was on it! This and that about a fax number? Give me a break. I’ve spent almost $ 500 at this store total, and now… they may have lost my business simply for being extremely unprofessional. Take your fax madness to the backroom.
I grew up in family ran retail store, and this lack of curteousy towards your customer loses big dollars. And guess what? Now it’s on Unilocal.
~.~.~.~.
Original Post (5 Stars)
I moved further away from Birch than I used to live, and still drive up to downtown Los Altos just to stop in. Handmade cards. Artisan cards. Heartfelt, unique.
Great customer service. Love it.

I love all the unique stationary from this store! It reminds me of Egg Mercantile in the SF.

Modern paper goods in a modern setting. They don’t carry anything you haven’t seen before, although they have thoughtfully chosen these items and they all go together beautifully. There are certain people on my card lists for whom this shop specifically comes to mind and I know I’ll find something suitable for them here because Birch is so true to it’s modern aesthetic.

Kendra at Birch helped me choose the most beautiful wedding invitations ever… unique and lovely and perfectly suited for me and my wedding at Hakone Gardens. I had many, many compliments on the invitation… it was called Obi and captured the golden golds and burnt reds of autumn with hints of black and ivory. Birch also did my thank you cards and I am having them put together some bridal shower favors this month for my stepdaughter (felt goody bags with an animal flair.) All and all my favorite paper and stationery store.

I have shopped at Birch since they opened. The owner, Kendra is smart, energetic and personable. She is also very, very creative. The merchandise in the store caters to all occasions and for all ages. I have a 4 ½ year old son and I always find something for him there. The greeting cards are unique, they are contemporary and the quality adds to the beauty of the cards. The wrapping paper is gorgeous and unusual. The wrapping paper is so beautiful, it looks like wallpaper!
They do have seasonal sales as well as a «Friends of Birch» card that gives you a discount after you buy a certain dollar amount of merchandise.
It is a very classy store that has added class to downtown Los Altos.

This is a great little store I first discovered upon my downtown addiction. I always get the cutest journals, cards and organizers from them. The wrapping is also unique, although very expensive.
I don’t buy cards there unless it is for someone very special but if you are looking for unique office stationary. this is the place. They carry my faves: WHOMI planners, knock-​knock pads and misc. journals that you can’t find anywhere else. It’s terrible that I live 5 minutes away from this place… I am a sucker for cute stationary. Oh, and don’t forget your friends of birch reward cards!

This upscale stationery and card store in downtown Los Altos carries gorgeous stationery and cards and does custom print work, all for a price, of course. They’re not aiming to compete with your local Hallmark store though, and the products they carry are all high-​quality and really quite lovely.
The feel of the store seemed a bit cold though, and I felt like I was in an art museum, where you shouldn’t touch the pieces on display. The employees seemed to be more interesting in helping another customer who wanted custom invitations printed, so I just wandered around and left without buying something.
That said, I might go back again when I’m feeling like spending $ 5 – 8 on a card though, since they had some really nice things.

For unique and modern stationary, Birch is your store. Beautiful modern space in quaint downtown Los Altos. If you are looking for beautifully designed custom invitations, make an appointment to view their big collection of sample books in the design studio in the back of the store. You’ll get a private one-​on-​one session to view the samples and receive price quotes.

Birch is a wonderful stationary and card store. The selection of cards is limited, but the quality and artisty of the products is hands down one of the best in the area. The store is studio where they make a large selection of the cards. The people who work their are extremely nice and welcoming – even if you are browsing. If you are stolling in Los Altos, I highly recommend getting a cup of coffee from Pete’s around the corner and go to Birch and spend time taking in all of the cards. It really is like going to a small gallery.