By Saurav Mehra If a Chennai family is planning a wedding, chances are a trip to Anderson Street is somewhere on the checklist. This one street in George Town has built its reputation over generations as the city’s go-to destination for paper products and wedding invitations — a genuinely specific trade that’s grown so dense that over 1,000 wedding card printers alone operate along this single lane.
A Street Built on Paper and Special Occasions
Anderson Street sits within George Town, one of Chennai’s oldest and most historically significant commercial regions, close to Broadway and Parry’s Corner. The locality forms part of a trading district that draws merchants and buyers from across Tamil Nadu, and Anderson Street has carved out its own genuinely specific niche within that broader ecosystem: paper wholesale, stationery products, printing materials, and — most prominently — wedding invitation cards.
The street’s connection to this trade runs deep enough that established names have operated here for years, printing everything from Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh wedding cards to Tamil-language invitations, birthday cards, and save-the-dates. Businesses like Designo Cards, cited for having printed roughly 15,000 traditional invitations, 3,456 special occasional cards, and 1,400 birthday cards, reflect just how much volume passes through this one street’s shops during any given wedding season.
Anderson Street Overview
| Category | Details |
| Location | George Town, Chennai — 600001 |
| Landmark reference | Opposite Broadway Bus Stand, near Olympic Race |
| Neighbourhood | George Town/Parry’s Corner trading district |
| Best known for | Wedding invitation cards, paper products, printing materials, stationery |
| Wedding card printer count (Justdial) | Over 1,000 listed businesses |
| Wedding card dealer ratings | 4.0–4.8, hundreds of customer reviews |
| Notable businesses | Supreme Wedding & Special Cards, Designo Cards |
| Purchase style | Wholesale for most items; retail available for smaller quantities |
| Sample pricing | Wedding cards starting around ₹32–₹45 |
| Neighbouring specialty streets | Bunder Street (stationery), Nainiappa Naicken Street (surgical goods), Audiappa Naicken Street (dry fruits/spices) |
| Nearest metro | High Court, Mannadi (Blue Line) — serving wider Parry’s Corner |
| Character | Crowded, wholesale-first, traditional trading culture |
Where Anderson Street Sits
Anderson Street runs through George Town, near Broadway and Parry’s Corner in North Chennai — a neighbourhood named after Thomas Parry, a Welsh merchant, and long recognised as one of Chennai’s most important hubs for commercial banking, trading, and inner-city bus service. The street sits within walking distance of the Broadway Bus Stand, making it genuinely well positioned within the wider George Town commercial network.
Getting to Anderson Street
Given its location within the Parry’s Corner/George Town cluster, the same broad connectivity applies here as across the surrounding streets. High Court and Mannadi metro stations, both on the Blue Line, serve this part of North Chennai.
Beyond the metro:
- Bus: The Broadway Bus Stand sits right opposite Anderson Street, functioning as one of the main inner-city bus hubs for this part of Chennai and offering genuinely convenient access.
- Auto/cab: Widely available, though the area’s narrow, crowded lanes mean vehicles can’t practically navigate all the way in.
- On foot: Essential once you’re in the immediate vicinity — like most of Parry’s Corner, walking between shops is the realistic way to browse.
Given how congested this part of George Town gets, particularly during wedding season when the street sees heavy footfall, arriving by metro or bus and walking the final stretch remains the most practical approach.
Shops and What the Street Is Known For
Wedding invitations are Anderson Street’s defining trade, and the scale is genuinely impressive — over 1,000 wedding card printers, invitation card dealers, and printing services businesses operate along this one stretch, according to Justdial listings. Shops here cover the full spectrum of Indian wedding traditions: Hindu wedding cards, Muslim wedding invitations, Sikh and Punjabi wedding invitation cards, and Tamil-language wedding cards, with pricing for basic cards starting in the ₹30–₹45 range depending on the design and quantity. Established names like Supreme Wedding & Special Cards specifically emphasise colour-coordinating paper with boxes to create an elegant, cohesive invitation experience, reflecting how competitive and craft-focused this trade has become over the years.
Beyond wedding cards specifically, Anderson Street is described as a bustling hub for all things paper-related — printing paper, boards, diaries, notebooks, book binders, and files are all available here, making it a genuine one-stop destination whether you’re planning a wedding or simply need bulk office supplies. As with most of Parry’s Corner’s specialty streets, this is fundamentally a wholesale market, so most items — stationery, wedding invitations, paper products — typically require bulk purchase, though certain retail-friendly categories can be bought in smaller quantities depending on the shop.
It’s worth noting the street faces the same urban pressures common to old George Town commercial roads: rapid business activity and increasing vehicle movement have added real strain on the locality over the years. Despite this, Anderson Street continues preserving an important part of Chennai’s traditional trading culture, remaining a genuine destination for anyone specifically hunting wedding stationery rather than a passing browse.
Nearby Areas Worth Visiting Together
Bunder Street, close by, is George Town’s dedicated wholesale hub for books and general stationery, complementing Anderson Street’s paper and invitation focus.
Broadway, right opposite the street via the bus stand, is one of George Town’s most historic thoroughfares and a natural extension of any visit here.
Nainiappa Naicken Street, nearby, specialises in surgical and medical equipment, a genuinely different trade within the same broader Parry’s Corner cluster.
Parry’s Corner, the wider commercial hub the street connects into, ties together dozens of specialty wholesale streets across George Town.
FAQs
Q1. Which metro station is closest to Anderson Street?
High Court and Mannadi metro stations, both on the Blue Line, serve the wider Parry’s Corner and George Town area, with the Broadway Bus Stand — directly opposite Anderson Street — providing genuinely convenient bus access as well.
Q2. Is Anderson Street purely for wedding invitations, or does it sell other paper products too?
Both — while it’s most famous for wedding invitation cards, the street is also a genuine hub for general paper products including printing paper, notebooks, diaries, book binders, and office files.
Q3. Do I need to buy in bulk on Anderson Street, or can I order a small quantity of wedding cards?
Most shops here operate on a wholesale basis, so bulk purchase is typical, though several dealers do accommodate smaller retail orders — it’s worth checking with individual shops if you need a modest quantity rather than a full wedding order.
Q4. What’s a realistic budget for wedding cards from Anderson Street?
Basic wedding cards start around ₹30–₹45 per piece depending on the design and community-specific style (Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, or Tamil), with pricing scaling up for more elaborate, custom-designed invitations.