Posts filed under Pen Store Visits

Anderson Pens Grand Re-Opening!

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

The Andersons are, as usual, moving and shaking, but more literally this time. They've closed their Chicago store and, after nearly a decade in downtown Appleton Wisconsin, moved their main store across a vast mile to a different location. The new shop is bigger, brighter, has spacious and FREE parking--and last weekend, they decided to party about it.

The grand re-opening event took place July 21-23 and it was hopping! It was essentially a mini pen show, with visiting reps from Pilot, ST Dupont, LAMY, Visconti, Kenro, and Mike and Linda of Indy-Pen-Dance there to do repair and nib work. And just like a pen show, there were times when the space was standing room only, and when you'd have to wait a while for your turn to browse a table. People came from all over for the event, and one visitor even drove over four hours to be the first person through the door at 10am on Friday. The Anderson fans turned out and it was a wonderful reunion.

Those who made the trek were treated to some amazing sales and deals, and there were some great treasures to be found (yes, I found some). And every hour there were two giveaways for those visitors who'd put their name in for the drawing. One memorable moment occurred when a husband and wife both won during the same hour. And the giveaways were shockingly good, with items like rare Retro 51s and a Visconti pen worth $1500. There were obviously some ecstatic winners, sadly not yours truly.

But I didn't leave empty handed. That would have been silly. Friday I picked up a pack of the Monster Encounter (unofficial D&D) Field Notes books (for my teen, who will provide feedback for a future review), some Exacompta grid notecards (an essential), and a LAMY leather pen case. No pens? Are you surprised? Don't be, because I went back Saturday, too--for the vibes, the camaraderie, a few more photos, and a LAMY 2000 4-color multipen, and an irresistible Paperblanks notebook I hadn't noticed there before. And another shot at the giveaways, of course (no dice).

The event was just the dose of pen family I needed. I found a few of my old Appleton Pen Club friends (watch for news regarding a rebirth of the club now that there's so much more room for activities), made some new pen friends, and I got to sit back and watch the pen community celebrate a special moment for some special people.

Brian, Lisa, Dave, and Lindsay, along with all the visiting reps, stayed busy all weekend. Between customers, I got to chat with them, and Lisa said that this amazing event is going to become an annual party. Everyone who came wants to come back, and we all hope you'll join us next year. Mark mid-July off your calendars and stay tuned for updates!

Congratulations to Anderson Pens and their hard-working staff. I'll be haunting the new location just like I did the old one. Probably more, because parking!

(PS: That new girl Lindsay deserves a raise.)

(PPS: I was not paid, bribed, or threatened to say that. Although I was under the influence of cookies.)

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Posted on July 27, 2023 by Sarah Read and filed under Pen Store Visits.

Meininger Art Material (Denver, Colorado) - A Quick Walkthrough

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

I was recently on vacation in Colorado at my in-laws up in the mountains (you really should visit Summit County if you get the chance) and whenever I’m in Colorado, I try to finagle a pen meetup while I’m there. Huge thanks to the Colorado Pen Posse for organizing a great meetup! It was so much fun that I barely had time to check out the Meininger Art Material store in Denver on my way to the airport! I’m not positive if the shop is “Meininger Art Material” or “Meininger Art Supply” as their website makes reference to both, so I’m just going to call it “Meininger”.

Meininger has been a family-owned business since 1881 (wow!) and have two locations in Colorado: Denver and Colorado Springs. I visited the Denver location at 499 Broadway; their store hours are Monday-Saturday from 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM and closed on Sunday. I believe they recently moved their other location to 814 S Tejon Street in Colorado Springs and may be opening up soon if they haven’t already - please call or check their website for more information if you plan to visit their other location.

First and foremost, Meininger is an art supply store. And a huge one at that! As soon as I walked in, I could see that this would be a fun place to spend lots of time (and money). There are two floors of art supply goodness here - which I didn’t have time to explore - from paper, to canvas, to paints, brushes and more, they have pretty much anything you need to unleash your inner artist.

I didn’t have much time to explore, but let’s be real, I came here for the fountain pens and inks and things! So as soon as I snapped up some pictures, I headed straight for the stationery section.

Meininger has really started developing their stationery section in the last few years with the help and input from the Colorado Pen Posse. They are open to adding new brands or products and it’s pretty common for folks to make their way to the shop after a pen meetup (we ran into several others while we were there even though the meetup was 20 minutes away). They have a variety of pen brands including Esterbook, Kaweco, Pilot, Retro 51, Sailor and TWSBI . They have a lot of different paper and accessories brands too, including Endless Recorder, Rhodia, Fabriano, Midori, Nebula, Lochby and Rickshaw Bagworks.

Due to my limited time as well as the impending spending at upcoming shows, I showed some restraint and left empty-handed, but not before experiencing the friendly customer service from one of the folks behind the counter (for the locals reading this, it wasn’t Patty because she had already left for the day). They checked in with you, answered any questions and let you look around without stalking you for a sale. Their online section is somewhat limited (at least for fountain pen-related items), so don’t judge the store based on what you see (or don’t see) online. For example, they only list the Colorverse 50 States ink on their website and only 10 colors, but they actually had 15 in the store along with some from the Project series, Joy in the Ordinary series, etc.

So, if you’re in the Denver area and want to shop for pens, inks, paper and more, definitely go check out the Meininger store in Denver or check out their Colorado Springs location and let us know what you think!

(Neither this article nor my brief visit was paid for nor sponsored by Meininger. I’m just a shopaholic with a stationery affliction and LOVE pen stores!)

Posted on July 22, 2022 by Kimberly Lau and filed under Travel, Pen Store Visits.

The Pleasure of Writing - A Must-Stop Shop in beautiful Carmel

One of the many things I love about living in California, and specifically the Bay Area, is the proximity to the beach. And while there are hundreds of miles of beaches up and down the California coast, one of my favorites happens to be at Carmel-by-the-Sea.

*The GoodYear blimp was overhead for the nearby ProAm at the world famous Pebble Beach golf course.*

Just 10 miles south of Monterey and about 100 miles south of San Francisco, Carmel is a cute little town that is a little bit Rodeo Drive meets beach town. It has a variety of local shops, restaurants, art galleries and more, all along 5-6 blocks of the main thoroughfare. And one of those shops is The Pleasure of Writing, IG: thepleasureofwriting

The Pleasure of Writing, formerly Bittner Pens, is a treasure trove of pens and all things stationery. The Pleasure of Writing was founded in 1991 by Detlef Bittner and recently celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2021. Detlef sold the business last year to Helmut Fritz, who originally wanted to retire and travel the world but then Covid hit and travel was off limits. Being a Carmel resident, Helmut had visited the store on many occasions and found out Detlef was looking to retire from the pen business and felt this was a good way to spend his time and energy.

The shop is tucked away in a little alcove at the corner of Ocean Avenue and San Carlos Street, and a yellow sign above the shop reads Bittner The Pleasure of Writing (though I’m sure they are working on getting a new sign made).

*Silly me, I took a selfie and forgot to take a picture of the front of the shop without me in it, lol!*

Inside, what greets you is a cozy space that’s filled with pen, ink and paper goodness! And in my case, I was lucky enough to be greeted by Helmut himself!

*A friendly Helmut greeted me with a smile!*

Maybe the first thing that catches your eye is the Montblanc display, I mean, that’s the first thing I saw before I saw Helmut! Or maybe it’s the walls of stunning, well-lit pen displays. Or the notebooks and stationery…

Many things have stayed the same since the change of ownership. One thing that is new is that The Pleasure of Writing is now an authorized Montblanc retailer. Helmut told me that they are the only independent Montblanc shop on the west coast (that aren’t online only or Montblanc boutiques). Prior to this, the Montblancs that were sold here were from consignment or otherwise previously owned. Now, they have added Montblanc to their inventory which is great news; it is less great if you are an international shopper as Montblanc does not allow them to ship out of the US, and if you’re a US shopper but want to buy them online, per Montblanc’s regulations, they are not allowed to sell the pens online (though you can see pictures, read descriptions on the website and then reach out to them to place an order).

There are several displays of pens throughout the store and the staff are always happy to open them up to show them to you. Wendy, who has been working at the store for years, was also there when I stopped by. Here are some of the stunning pens she showed me during my visit.

*Fancy Pelikan== Pelikan Seven Treasures and M1000 White Ray.*

*The new Ammiraglio pens in four US-exclusive colors from Montegrappa.*

Visconti Dragon Phoenix — *I’ve never seen a Dragon Phoenix Visconti before!*

Lamy Dialog Urushi — *One of the urushi Lamy Dialog 3.*

*The Lingua Pacifica David Oscarson collection was exclusively made for The Pleasure of Writing.*

The store has a decent selection of inks, but one of the things that really stand out is their variety of high quality paper products. From stunning Paperblanks notebooks to Italian stationery, to notecards by Crane and G. Lalo, as well as Leuchtturm, Nebula Notebooks, Clairefontaine and more, The Pleasure of Writing makes sure there is no shortage of great paper to write on!

Fountain Pen Ink — *Enough inks to tide you over, but it’s the paper that is the eye candy here!*

Italian Paper — *These Italian letter sets are fountain pen friendly AND gorgeous!*

Notebooks — *Wall of notebooks, letter sets and note cards.*

So if you’re ever in the area, or even a couple hours away, do yourself a favor and visit The Pleasure of Writing. And if you still have time after looking at all the wonderful stuff in the shop, make sure you walk down the hill and enjoy the dog-friendly beach too. Oh, and if you’re in the Los Angeles area this weekend, you can find them at the LA Pen Show too!

Bungee — *Gratuitous beach picture with our doggo...or is that a gratuitous dog picture at the beach?*

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Posted on February 18, 2022 by Kimberly Lau and filed under Pen Store Visits, Travel.

Anderson Pens Grand Re-Opening!

Meininger Art Material (Denver, Colorado) - A Quick Walkthrough

The Pleasure of Writing - A Must-Stop Shop in beautiful Carmel

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