Atlas Stationers - So Many Aisles, So Little Time

*Atlas Stationers is housed in the ground floor of a 140 year old building. (Image via Atlas Stationers)*

(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!.)

After the Chicago Pen Show a couple months ago, I got a chance to pop into the Atlas Stationers store in downtown Chicago. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a lot of time to really do a proper visit but what little I managed to see gave me a reason to come back and spend at least half a day next time I’m in Chicago.

Atlas Stationers is located at 227 W Lake Street, Chicago, IL 60606 and their hours are Mon - Fri from 9:00am - 5:00pm and Saturday from 10:00am - 2:00pm (be sure to check their website for holiday hours).

Atlas Stationers was founded by Aloysius (pronounced al-oh-IH-shus) Schmidt in 1939 as an office supply store and the Schmidt family continues to run the business to this day. Don, Therese, Brian and Brendan Schmidt all have different roles at Atlas Stationers. Don (and grandson of Aloysius) is the President of Atlas and oversees all of the operations at Atlas Stationers. His wife, Therese, is the general manager of the retail store and also in charge of shipping and receiving; if you’ve ever received an order from Atlas, you’ve probably seen Therese’s handwritten notes in your package. Sons Brian and Brendan are the 4th generation of Schmidts to be a part of the family business, which I think is pretty cool. Brian is the VP at Atlas and handles accounting as well as purchasing for the fine writing department (aka non-office supplies). And last, but not least, Brendan manages the fine writing side of the retail store, along with customer service, vendor relations and social media. In fact, you’ve probably seen Brendan on Instagram doing IG Live sessions as well as hosting giveaways and brand takeovers. I love watching the rivalry between Brendan, the Chicago Bears fan, and Bryce Gillett of Luxury Brands of America, the Green Bay Packers fan – as a SF 49ers fan, I’m staying out of this one, lol.

In March 2020, Atlas Stationers did a major relaunch of their website, moving onto a Shopify platform. This made it easier for customers to buy pretty much everything you can buy from their retail store (except some office supplies).

Upon entering the store, you are greeted with well-lit displays of fine writing instruments from Pilot, Visconti, Lamy, Waldmann, Esterbrook, Leonardo, Narwhal and more.

*Walk in, look right and bam, pens galore!*

*This is the view you’re likely to see in IG videos. This doesn’t even capture all of the displays in the store.*

*How many brands can you spot in this display? I see Leonardo, Waldmann, Narwhal, Sensa, TWSBI and some Benu too!*

*Visconti Ember (left) and Van Gogh Novel Reader (right) - Trust me, they are even more beautiful in person!*

*The Limited Edition Visconti QWERTY fountain pen - you don’t get to see that every day!*

In addition to their wide selection of fountain pens and other fine writing instruments, I found aisles and aisles of paper and notebooks from Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Filofax, Leuchtturm and Hobonichi, as well as other stationery goods including greeting cards and office supplies like Post-it notes, pens, pencils, envelopes, etc.

*The Filofax and Moleskine notebooks are just beyond the front register.*

*A satisfying display of fully-stocked, colorful Leuchtturm.*

*Down the aisle, you’ll find Rhodia and Clairefontaine notebooks and notepads*

*Everything you need to stock your office!*

*This picture doesn’t even capture half the store!*

They also have a wide range of fountain pen inks (and other refills) along with a binder of swatches which I forgot to take photos of, oops. Brands include favorites like Diamine, Robert Oster and Colorverse as well as Anderilium and Laban and more!

*Look at all those inks! This inkophile approves!*

*Another peek at part of the ink aisle, including gifts in the back and the black binder of swatches next to the Conklin/Monteverde pen display.*

Sometimes you need a last-minute gift or need a distraction for your younger shopping companions (ok, maybe you needed to bribe them to go to the store), they also have tons of fun items for both kids and grownups including puzzles, candles, toys and books.

*How cute are these stuffies from JellyCat?!?*

*The mushroom or the plants? Or maybe the pretzel? I can’t decide!*

*I mean, who doesn’t need a pair of these?*

*Candles, Chicago souvenirs and yes, more plushies!*

*Greeting cards and wrapping paper and gift bags (for those adorable JellyCat stuffies, of course).*

As you can see, the Atlas Stationers store has a wide variety of stationery and gifts, but what you can’t photograph is their customer service. All of the staff (and not just the Schmidts) are helpful, courteous and really focus on making people feel at home and comfortable in their store. If you ever get a chance to visit Chicago, you should definitely plan to spend some time here and maybe you can help me pick out my next JellyCat plushy :-)

Posted on December 10, 2021 by Kimberly Lau and filed under Travel, Pen Store Visits.

Pebble Stationery Cosmo Air Light x Liberty London Notebook Review

(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!)

I'm not sure I've ever called 'dibs' on a review item as quickly as I did for the Pebble Stationery Cosmo Air Light x Liberty London Notebook. Aesthetically, this notebook was a win for me even though I'd not yet tried Cosmo Air Light paper, of which I've heard mixed things. I was very excited to try it for myself.

Liberty London William Morris designs get me every time and this design is completely gorgeous. Pebble Stationery has several other Liberty London designs as well, but they are fairly limited, so if you're as stricken as I was, act quickly!

This notebook is an A5 hardcover wrapped in fabric. It is entirely handmade, so each one is slightly unique. The binding is sewn stitch and it includes a satin ribbon bookmark that coordinates with the fabric color. The binding does allow the notebook to lie open flat, with some training. Between those stunning covers are 160 pages of blank, 75 gsm Cosmo Air Light paper. Which I now know I like very much.

I have been told I would love CAL paper, but I've also been told I would hate it, so I really wasn't sure what to expect. It definitely has a unique texture to it, somehow both smooth and grippy at the same time, which makes no sense unless you've used it. It's smooth, but has drag. I found it pleasant to write on. I saw beautiful shading, lovely sheening, and no feathering or bleeding. Even the Sharpie did not bleed through, which shocked me. So I got a bigger Sharpie and tried that, and it still did not bleed through. The only bleeding I got at all was when I poured ink onto the page and let it dry. Impressive.

The only negative issue I had with the paper at all was that it has a very long dry time, similar to most coated papers. It's not an issue that bothers me much, but I know it can be a problem for some, especially lefties.

Overall, I think this is a very nice notebook. It's well constructed with that special handmade feel, with top-notch materials. And somehow, even with all that considered, it's only $28. I was genuinely shocked by that price, but in a good way. It could easily have been half again as much and still reasonable, especially for a limited run. You should probably get one or three before they read this and come to their senses.

(Pebble Stationery provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on December 9, 2021 by Sarah Read and filed under Pebble Stationery Co., Cosmo Air Light, Notebook Reviews.

Birmingham Pen Co. Pincushion Moss Ink Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

A few weeks ago, I reviewed my first ink from the Birmingham Pen Company — Pennsylvania Slate. I was really happy with that ink and surprised by the color. I've been enjoying it ever since. Later, I broke out the other ink I currently have Birmingham Pen Co.: Pincushion Moss. This ink is quite different than the previous one for one main reason (aside from the color!) — Pincushion Moss uses their Everlasting ink formula, which means it is a pigmented ink that is highly water-resistant.

In my day to day usage of pens and ink, I never use archival or water-resistant inks on purpose. I really don't have any requirements for using these types of ink in my daily routines, but I still enjoy using them. These types of ink can tend toward the dull side of the color spectrum due to the necessary ingredients that make an ink resistant to washing away. There really aren't many examples of bright or poppy archival inks for this reason. This is why Pincushion Moss really caught my eye. It's an organic green color that really reminds of my soft moss that you find in the forest. It's not bright, but it definitely draws my eye. It's light enough in color to stand apart from the typical dark office colors, but not bright enough to cause any problems. Plus, it's not a typical blue, black, or red which means you can use it alongside those colors if you need some kind of color coding system.

There's a fair bit of shading that makes the ink even more interesting to look at once it's dried on the page. It varies between a dark medium green to a lighter thin green. In a lot of lighting situations, it also looks gray and brown. This just makes the moss connection even stronger for me because those are the same colors you'll find around moss in the wild when it's on the forest floor or up against some gray tree bark. The color isn't exciting in a pop-off-the-page way, but it's certainly an eye-catching and interesting color.

The archival quality of the ink is stellar. In my rudimentary tests, there's only a slight decrease in saturation after the paper sample is totally submerged in water for a bit. I couldn't get the ink to smudge either, proving that the chemical bond took place and the ink is now one with the paper. If archival ink is your thing, this one certainly does the trick.

The most astonishing think about this ink that I discovered is the dry time. This is seriously impressive. In most cases, the ink was dry in as little as five seconds. I couldn't do any tests that resulted in smears at the ten-second mark. This ink dries incredibly fast. I'm not a left-handed writer, but I'm pretty sure this dry time should catch the attention of the lefty crowd. I haven't been this surprised by a dry time for quite a while. Seriously impressive!

The only downside I've noticed with this ink is the tendency for it to feather a bit at the edges when it's drying. It's nothing major, but you can see it when you look closely. It feels like a fairly wet ink, and I assume this has something to do with the water content that allows the pigments to suspend properly until they come in contact with paper. It feels great while writing — not scratchy at all — but the feathering does show up here and there, unfortunately.

I love that Birmingham Pen Co. prints some guidance on the ink bottle packaging that explains how to use the Everlasting ink. Tips like, "don't allow the ink to dry inside the pen," and "do not use in demonstrator pens" may sound scary, but it's just part of the territory when using pigmented inks. I appreciate that they've printed some clear and concise tips for the uninitiated. Even with those warnings, you shouldn't be scared to try out this ink! Just make sure you use the pen regularly to avoid any drying/clogging issues, and wash it out when you're done! If your pen does get a little clogged, a thorough cleaning will restore it in no time. But you shouldn't use this ink in a clear pen as it might stain the plastic.

Overall, I've been really pleased by this organic-looking ink! The color is exactly what I'd want in an ink that has "moss" in the name, and the super fast dry time is such an unexpected treat. Throw the everlasting nature of the ink on top and you've got a winner.

Pincushion Moss is available in three size: 30ml, 60ml, and 120ml for $19, $29, and $39 respectively. This is a little more expensive than their normal inks, but the Everlasting formula comes at a (well-owed) premium. If you're looking for a lovely green, a quick drying ink, or an archival ink for your collection, add this one to your list!

(Birmingham Pen Co. provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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