BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT:Follow the paper trail

Shelly Franco, a self-proclaimed “connoisseur of paper goods,” was blown away when she walked into one of South Coast Plaza’s newest stores, Paper Source, with her son, Anthony.

On their way to another store, ducking the crowds, the pair stopped in, and Franco was ecstatic to find her new paper mecca.

“This is a dream come true,” she said, while looking over a merchandise table.

The store has everything paper — invitations and cards and scrap-booking supplies.

“People really come in for inspiration and to do something creative,” Paper Source manager Carolina Araoz said.

In recent years, scrap booking and similar do-it-yourself projects have become increasingly popular, as shown by specialized stores, clubs and parties popping up.

But Paper Source was apparently at the forefront of the trend. In 1982, founder Sue Lindstrom traveled to Japan to attend a paper convention and visit a village that specialized in paper making.

She opened her first store a year later, and Paper Source now has 21 stores around the country.

“It’s popular because I think there was a revolution of paper,” Araoz said. “Fifteen years ago, there were only a few paper places, and this was one of them, we just started carrying papers in a different way.”

The papers, invitations, cards, stamps, pens and other complementary items sold at the store come from all over the world.

“It’s really wonderful — we have a lot of things you can mix and match from,” Araoz said.

Franco and her son had already found a few items Saturday morning when she came upon a leather journal, something she usually pays top-dollar for at Hermes.

“It’s one-tenth of the price I’d pay at Hermes, it already has a leather case, the paper is excellent quality, and it’s a well-known manufacturer,” she said.

She wasn’t the only one enjoying the shopping experience. Anthony had found stamps he liked too.

“This would be the one-stop-shopping place: You come in here and you’re done,” Franco said. “You can get a child’s gift, excellent journals, excellent office planners — I will definitely be back here.”

The store is colorful and bright, with papers with ornate patterns and primary colors. Store employees also thrive on helping people create their invitations, cards or other projects. The store also features a custom department for special projects customers need help with.

“That’s what we’re here for,” Araoz said. “We love to find out what the project is the client is working on, and we love helping in many ways.”

The store is in the Crate & Barrel Wing of South Coast Plaza.