After moving to Winston-Salem in 2022 to work as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Wake Forest, I was disappointed to learn we didn’t have a stationery store in town (Office Depot doesn’t count). I’ve always joked that every academic harbors a dream of opening a bookstore and cafe, but Winston-Salem already has some amazing indie bookstores so I decided to take the leap and open a stationery store myself (complete with a cafe)!

Our vision and mission at Athena Stationery & Cafe is rooted in love, community, and an unwavering determination to establish a space for creatives, activists, and stationery lovers alike. Whether to discover your new favorite pen, discover the benefits that come from longhand journaling, or join a community organizing group, we hope you stop by.

ABOUT ATHENA STATIONERY & CAFE

BECCA - Stationery Sorceress

Hello there! I’m Becca and I moved to Winston-Salem in the summer of 2022 after wrapping up my PhD at the University of Kansas. I’m originally from Burke, VA (on the Virginia side of the DMV area) and like many people here in WSNC, I was missing my stationery stores (and honestly, was a bit shocked to find we didn’t have one here). I envisioned Athena Stationery & Cafe to be a stationery store primarily (and soon to be print shop as well), but wanted to incorporate a small cafe element to give people a space to come together and take some time to journal, write letters, or simply sit and catch up with friends over a cup of coffee!

My favorite products in Athena Stationery are: the fountain pens (especially Sheaffer and soon, Kaweco), and allll the ink (I’m building my own little ink library now).

ATHENA - The Boss

Hey y’all! I’m Athena, the perpetual employee-of-the-month! I loveeeee people and appreciate it when I get to smell their breath. I might try to hug sometimes, but you can just push me down, it won’t bother me. If I’m not greeting you as soon as you walk in the door, I’m most likely sleeping in the sunny window, or snoozing behind the counter. Please pet me, I love attention! Hope to see you soon (unless I see a fly first, then no one else exists).

My favorite products in my store are: the protest posters from Ladyfinger Letterpress and their postcards!

ZACK - Print Artificer

Hi, I’m Zack. I’m a printmaker that loves to make a good impression. I was born in Pennsylvania but raised in Clemmons, NC. I earned a BFA for graphic design from App State.

Since graduating, I’ve worked many different print production jobs like wide format vinyl for truck sidings, offset carton packaging, digital printing for the people of UNC, and letterpress and foil stamping at Pinecrest Printery here in Winston-Salem. Now I’m running the Riso print shop at Athena!

CAT - The Oracle

Hello! My name is Cat (no it is NOT short for Catherine, I promise), and until very recently, I was a bookseller at an indie! I moved to Winston-Salem to attend Salem College in 2016 and after I received my Bachelor’s of History in 2018, I decided to stay! Winston-Salem had captured my heart.

I stuck my hand into the waters of stationery at the beginning of the year, and by the time I was fully submerged, Athena’s Stationery had come along! Becca put out a trap for me like I was a stray cat, and now here I am- managing our socials, helping manage the event space in the back, and supporting Becca with inventory help. But besides work, I’m a writer, a creative, and I am always down to yap about history, video games, books… I’m a big yapper in general. One might even say, I’m professionally certified in it.