What a treat it was to be joined by Anabelle Hiller this week on the podcast! Her story fascinates me, and I feel like we are just at the beginning. You definitely want to check this one out.
This episode of The Pen Addict is sponsored by:
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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!
Loads of Lamys.
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 :-)
(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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