Retail Specialist, Part-Time
Paper Plus Cloth | Parkdale, Toronto | 3 to 4 days a week, including weekends
Paper Plus Cloth is a specialty stationery and analogue lifestyle shop on Queen Street West. We carry stationery from Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Malaysia, and we're proud to be a Traveler's Company and Midori Partner Shop. Our customers range from lifelong journalers to people buying their first fountain pen, and we love helping every one of them find something they'll treasure.
We're looking for a Retail Specialist to join our small team. If you already know your way around a Japanese stationery aisle and light up when someone asks which ink to pair with their new notebook, we'd love to meet you.
About the role
As a small business, we need team members who can do a bit of everything. You'll help customers in the shop and online, so one hour you might be swatching inks with a customer at the counter, and the next you'll be carefully packing an order headed across the country. You'll report to our Team Lead and Store Manager.
Your day might include
- Welcoming customers, answering questions, demonstrating products and helping people find exactly what they're looking for
- Processing sales, refunds and exchanges
- Packing and processing online orders with care and accuracy
- Responding to customer emails and keeping order statuses up to date
- Receiving shipments, checking them against packing lists and entering new stock into our inventory system
- Stocking shelves, maintaining displays and keeping the shop clean, safe and inviting
- Helping keep the shop and our products secure
- Helping prepare for and work our in-store and off-site events
- Creating product samples and demos
- Sharing ideas for displays, social media content and how we present our products
- Learning about new arrivals and the brands we carry
Who you are
- You love stationery, pens and journaling, and you know Japanese stationery well.
- You have favourite brands and opinions about paper.
- You're creative and bring positive, upbeat energy to the shop
- You enjoy helping people and have a good sense of humour
- You're detail oriented, whether you're counting inventory or wrapping an order
- You learn quickly and enjoy discovering new products
- You take pride in your work and enjoy solving problemsÂ
- You bring curiosity and fresh ideas to the team
- You stay calm and friendly when the shop gets busy
- You're reliable and on time, because a small team depends on everyone showing up
- You have retail experience, ideally with a small business
- You're available to work weekends, with flexibility for busy seasons and events
Bonus points
- You speak Japanese, Korean or Mandarin
- You're active in the online stationery or journaling community
- You're comfortable on camera and enjoy creating content for social media
What we offer
- A fun, creative team that works together on exciting events
- Early access to the newest in Asian stationery
- Generous discounts on products and workshops
- Flexible scheduling
- A stationery allowance after your first year with us
- Products to test (and some to keep)
-
Hands-on training with exciting products and supplies
Shifts are usually in blocks between 6-8 hours, with breaks, and involve standing and moving for much of the day, reaching, and lifting boxes of stock and packaging. Accommodations are available on request for applicants with disabilities throughout the hiring process.
How to apply
Send your resume and a cover letter to info@paperpluscloth.com. In your cover letter, tell us about a Japanese stationery item you love and why it's earned a place on your desk.
If you share your stationery or creative life anywhere, like Instagram, journal spreads or artwork, feel free to include a link. We'd love to see it.
Applications close October 15, 2026. We read every application but only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.
