As a child, Sofie Rombouts dreamed of having a shop full of paper, so it’s no wonder that she started up this web shop alongside her full-time job.
Can you tell us a bit more about yourself?
“I’m originally from Antwerp, but have been living in Brussels with my husband for several years now. I’m still discovering new places and really enjoy the city’s beautiful and diverse architecture. We travel a lot, and were in Japan last summer where I found a lot of inspiration for my shop. I’m actually a translator, but I found it hard to drum up the enthusiasm to sit quietly on my own all day translating dry texts. I sort of fell into the book sector, and am currently working for a major American publisher for which I regularly travel.”
Why a paper shop?
“As a child, I was fascinated with everything to do with paper and I was constantly writing cards. My passion also goes as far as office stationery: paper clips, staplers, the whole shebang. I always secretly dreamed of having my own stationery shop. In February 2014, I was in bed, day dreaming about it for the umpteenth time and I suddenly thought to myself: ‘Why not just run a web shop alongside my full-time job! So I didn’t have to invest in an expensive property and I could just see how things go. The next day, I signed up for a course in business management and the following week I was sitting in class. I started searching for suppliers, established good contacts, sought out a graphic designer and photographer, and went live in November.”
What are your dreams for the future?
“That the shop will strengthen so that I can offer more and more brands. Furthermore, I’d love to open a physical store in Brussels! The kind of shop where you want to linger for as long as possible because there is so many beautiful things to look at.”
