My two favorite posts that I write every year are the intentions posts: the one where I revisit and recap my intentions from the prior year, and another where I look forward to the next. Since this year turned out to be particularly eventful, with somewhat odd timing, I’ve combined these into one long post that looks back on what changed here in 2024, how things are going, and what to expect in 2025. Settle in, because I’m going to walk you through the saga that was T.G.S. in 2024!
I started 2024 with three main intentions: (1) continue to organize and optimize the back catalog of T.G.S. content and take better advantage of the knowledge acquired over 10 years of writing this blog; (2) minimize personal acquisitions; and (3) build more of a presence in my local community and become more deliberate with things like pen show travel. I can probably declare the first two intentions successful. This year balanced new blog reviews and content with material that drew on existing reviews and features, with the goal of bringing some of this content to the attention of a large influx of new readers, many of whom have had very little prior experience with fountain pens and stationary. I've also continued to thin out older posts that no longer serve a purpose (i.e., older links and deals posts, reviews of bad products by companies that are no longer in business, etc.). And while I do plan to write a stand-alone "favorite acquisitions of 2024" post, I know for a fact that I bought far less in 2024 than prior years, and more pens, inks, and paper went out the door than came in.
You all will get a pictorial history of the new T.G.S. shop, from how I found it to what it looks like now!
Sometime in July, intention number three became the focus of nearly all my efforts for the second half of the year. In an abrupt turn of fortune, I managed to find a physical location to house The Gentleman Stationer - both the online content/webshop side of the business and a new in-person retail operation. I started 2024 quite down on the possibility of ever being able to do this, as the Nashville-area real estate market continues to be (in my opinion) absurdly inflated, and the nature of my particular business doesn't lend itself to the types of commercial spaces that were available. In late 2023, I had actually leased a temporary office for six months in order to give myself a studio-like space to work outside of my home. This idea didn't work out - half co-working space, half-private office, this place was loud, poorly ventilated, and expensive for what it was. (It also had bad coffee.) When my lease expired in April, and I found myself outgrowing my current inventory warehouse, I started touring spaces once again with a growing sense of desperation that I might have to start scaling back T.G.S. simply because I didn't have a place to put it.
It’s amazing what new carpet and fresh paint can do.
The location I stumbled upon is “unique”. :) Those of you who have visited our shop know that we are tucked away in a non-traditional commercial/warehouse complex that houses a wide range of different businesses, most of which operate both in-person and online. Other business include a home alarm company, a custom closet company, and even a film photography store and darkroom facility. Below my shop is a space that bands can rent to rehearse at night, a mobile florist, and even a sculptor who maintains a studio in a refurbished storage unit. It's an interesting bunch. Based on my own internet research, my particular unit has housed anything from a picture frame shop to an art studio. While native Nashvillians and long-term residents know exactly where we are - my street has a number of what I would call "classic Nashville" businesses that have existed for decades - it's not a place where people are going to find you by accident. Some people who visit us for the first time ask how the business exists without traditional "foot traffic", by which they mean potential customers walking in off the street. The answer is that it’s not necessary for our business, and I love the flexibility of a business model that doesn’t have the increased cost associated with staffing a store 6 days a week and having to worry about security, shoplifting, etc.
Bonus skill development: I got really good at assembling hex-key fixtures, finding wall studs, and mounting shelves to drywall!
In May of this past year, I actually almost signed a lease on a "traditional" retail shop in a strip mall. It's what everyone was encouraging me to do, and by "everyone," I'm referring to real estate brokers, family members who know absolutely nothing about pens or this industry, friends (including some pen friends) telling me to open a shop because it's-such-a-great-idea-and-our-city/community-industry-needs-this but who still haven’t visited the shop or bought anything online in the six months it's been open, and those random people on the internet who offer unsolicited advice when the word gets out that you're considering a certain business move. My advice to YOU if you're considering making a similar move, or any business decision: politely acknowledge those people and then make YOUR OWN decision, informed by your understanding of your business and, yes, your gut. At the last minute, I walked away from the first location I seriously considered because it didn’t feel right, and it was the single best decision I've made in the past ten years.
I don't believe that brick-and-mortar retail is dead. Far from it. I actually think it's necessary for businesses to have a physical location to interact with customers - a place for customers to go with their questions, to view products in person, and for businesses to host events where they can engage with and become part of their local communities. That said, retail spaces should be carefully considered and closely tailored to the nature of the business they house. In my particular situation, not having a space suitable for operating online would have ignored the reality of my customer base, and the way in which many people get their information and research potential purchases in niche industries such as high-end stationery.
So why wouldn't the first location have worked? It was (1) too expensive, both in terms of rent and staffing/insurance costs for the 6 days a week the lease would have required me to be open; (2) too small, in that it would likely have required me to rent additional warehouse space for online inventory and yet another office or studio to create content, if not give up that aspect of the business entirely; and (3) lacking in flexibility to host community events and to match my operating hours to the realities of when people tend to shop in person. I walked away from this location, depressed once again at the prospects of moving the business back into my house and, quite probably, beginning the process of "right-sizing" it for a home-based operation. I decided to do one last sweep of commercial listings, and came across a location that we had missed due to the fact that it was a "flex" space that didn't fall neatly into the retail/office/warehouse/industrial categories. Three weeks later I had a signed lease, and in late July I took possession.
Why our current location works, and what it means for T.G.S. in 2025
By now many of you are probably wondering where I'm going with today's post, which has turned into a long one. Bear with me for just a bit longer.
My current space had been vacant for a while and likely fits no business other than mine. It’s relatively small (small enough to comfortably staff by myself or with a single helper), yet it’s set up with a showroom area, two offices, and a warehouse. I can do everything I need to get done in one location, and it sits directly between my house and my other job, where I’m now fully remote and don’t need to go in as often. Most of all, I enjoy spending time here.
TGS Back-office Tour. “Organization” is still a work in progress.
For 2025 I have one intention: focus on building out this new presence in my local community, while continuing to expand online and create new and helpful Gentleman Stationer content. I honestly never thought I'd be able to say that I'm now an "established" retailer with a legitimate physical shop, but that is my new reality, and it probably - no, definitely - means that traveling and pen show attendance will take a back seat to being present here in my own shop to grow my local business. I feel deeply that one of the things holding the stationery industry back is it's tendency to focus on catering to very vocal enthusiast communities while neglecting the much larger body of potential customers who enjoy stationery but don't necessarily attend pen shows and spend hours online. It's not stationery as something to collect or a niche hobby - it's part of their everyday lives. My experience running a physical store over the past six months has born out this belief. My customer base, both online and in-store, tends to mirror the general T.G.S. readership, comprised of those who love stationery because they use it and it helps them think, express themselves, and do whatever else they need it to do to get them where they want to be. It's been beyond gratifying to have new people walk into the shop every week and tell me that they're glad I'm here, and that they were tired of living in a city without a dedicated stationery store - something I’m happy to provide. But all of this comes at a cost, and takes a lot of work.
This never gets old. And I find myself saying that every day.
Our business is thriving - doing better than I ever expected - and I wouldn't have opened the shop if I wasn't confident that there was a long-term path forward with my specific business model. That said, it's important for people to realize how difficult it is for physical spaces to exist in today's economy and any small business's existence is precarious. If you like a business, and value it's presence in your community, support it. Whether it's a stationery store or a favorite bookshop, a restaurant or a coffeehouse, spaces like these don't survive off their intangible contributions to the community - everything is monetized, and those of us responsible for creating and operating them have to take this into account when doing everything from selecting a location to determining operating hours to deciding what brands to carry. In other words, you have to balance what you would want your "ideal" shop to look like with what's economically feasible and what will allow the business to not just survive but grow.
I'm looking forward to 2025, and for the first time in a while, feel a renewed sense of direction and purpose. I do still plan to attend a few pen shows in 2025. Currently, I'm slated for the Arkansas Pen Show in March, and plan to be at the D.C. Pen Show and possibly the San Francisco Pen Shows in August. Stay tuned, and if you are in the Nashville area, drop in for a visit! You can find directions to our shop and current operating hours here.
The Gentleman Stationer is supported by the T.G.S. Curated Shop and Patreon. I’d like to give a HUGE thanks to all of my supporters on Patreon. Even more so than your monetary support, your encouragement and personal input has been invaluable, and I look forward to the monthly meetups (including tonight) more than you know.