Updated Fountain Pen Review Archive and a February Flash Sale (Online Only!)

Sometimes you have to take a day to do some housekeeping! I spent most of yesterday and this morning updating the Gentleman Stationer Fountain Pen Review Archive, which if you haven’t yet visited, is an organized archive of all the fountain pen reviews on the blog dating back to 2014. (There is also an Ink Review Archive, organized by color, though it’s still a work in progress and the most recent ink reviews may not yet appear.) Even though a large amount of effort and most resources went into opening the shop over the past six months, we remain committed to offering as much information as possible to users and enthusiasts. In addition to the review archive, we offer a general resources page as well as guides on our recommended “Best Pens” at certain price points and a reference on fountain pen friendly paper. Speaking of paper….

View fullsize

Pencil products are restocked, including the beloved Viarco pencil caps! Read on for details on this weekend’s flash sale and pencil promotion.

February Flash Paper Sale, Travel Schedule and Trade Shows This Weekend

We just received a TON of paper, and will have more on the way shortly because it’s trade show season. How about a flash sale to kick off the month of February? Through tomorrow (Sunday, 2/3) at 11:59pm US Central Time, use the coupon code “FLASH10” to take 10% off most online paper purchases (excluding Roterfaden and Blackwing). Also, any purchases that include a pencil product will include a special gift that will make you laugh. I promise. And I’m not giving you any details on what it is. Let’s just say it was one of my many “mistake buys”. :) While supplies last, but I think I will have enough for anyone who wants one. [NOTE: Apologies but we ran out of these very quickly. For those who wondered, it was a gag “Dummy” pencil that looks real but when you go to sharpen it, there is no graphite. If you placed a pencil order but got a sticker instead of a pencil, and still want one, please e-mail us and I will place you on a list to get one if I receive another box.]

Through this weekend, keep an eye on the Instagram, because I’ll be posting pictures from New York City as we visit the NY Now and Shoppe Object Stationery Trade Shows in New York. The brick-and-mortar shop will be closing early today at 2pm because I will be on my way to the airport. It’s a short trip so online orders will continue to ship in the usual timeframe.

Scenes from a Trade Show in 2024: It's All About the Paper

This past weekend marked my third trip to NY Now and Shoppe Object, which taken together are the largest stationery trade show in the U.S. A bit of history: These two events are the successors to what was formerly known as the National Stationery Show. I don’t know the full story, but NSS was absorbed into NY Now, and I understand that Shoppe Object began when smaller, more boutique brands became frustrated with the cost of exhibiting at the Javitz Center in NYC. While held as separate events, both take place simultaneously (Sunday-Tuesday), with shuttles running between the different venues.

View fullsize

Object Index, a Japanese curated brand that seems similar to Mark’s Tokyo, displayed at Shoppe Object.

NY Now and Shoppe Object Are Pure Trade Shows, Not Pen Shows

The “Pen Shows” we typically write about and regularly attend are hybrid events. There’s certainly a convention/trade show aspect, with retailers attending shows to not only meet with their customers, but also to engage directly with distributors and makers. NY Now and Shoppe Object, however, are “trade shows” in the truest sense of the word, meaning that the shows themselves are “to the trade” (retailers, distributors, manufacturers, and press), with the show closed to the general public and on-site sales prohibited. To be honest, it’s a refreshing experience to be able to browse samples of goods without feeling pressured to purchase on the spot. As a retailer, you’re able to have more extended conversations with suppliers about current trends and the products consumers currently gravitate towards.

View fullsize

The emphasis on analog extended beyond pens. This display featured a huge selection of retro-style Braun alarm clocks.

What’s Driving Growth in the Stationery Industry? Right Now I Don’t Think It’s Fountain Pens.

My main observation from the weekend is that most of the stationery brands have moved to Shoppe Object. NY Now used to be the largest of the two shows, but of the brands I regularly carry, only the largest remain there (i.e. Lamy, Kaweco, Midori, etc.). Smaller makers, and even some of the more well-known manufacturers such as Leuchtturm, have moved, so I spent nearly a full day on Monday exploring Shoppe Object and discovered several new brands that I would consider bringing into the T.G.S. Curated Shop at some point in the future. I also had some excellent conversations with others in the industry about current stationery trends. A few observations from the weekend:

• Fountain pens are a very small segment of the stationery world. Enthusiast-focused pen shows like those held annually in D.C. and San Francisco place much of the focus on fountain pens, but outside of online pen circles, writing instruments that can be used with the full spectrum of paper products - ballpoints, rollerballs, and pencils - get the most attention. This product category continues to grow rapidly. There’s a LOT of attention being paid to pencils and the ballpoint pen, especially low-viscosity ballpoint pens that use a Jetstream-style ink.

• Journals, planners, and paper in general are driving the analog resurgence. Quality paper in practical formats and rulings has driven the growth of our own shop, and based on the volume of new products being developed and introduced, this trend appears global and doesn’t seem ready to slow down. In addition to more innovative takes on journaling, including several new “notebook systems”, I also noticed a focus on other “retro” products such as clipboards (LOTS of clipboards and portfolios) and even analog alarm clocks and, yes, more sandglasses.

• Digital/tech fatigue is a real thing, and it will continue to fuel the market for analog tools. People feel distracted and overwhelmed by alerts, notifications, e-mails, and an entire industry that’s evolved to steal their attention span. Personally, I use paper notebooks at work - and always have - because they force me to work on one thing at a time and offer a respite from constant distraction. Based on what I heard from others in the industry regarding conversations they’ve had with their customers, the sale of “analog” products like planners and paper notebooks continue to soar specifically for this reason. Unsurprisingly, nobody was talking about the Apple face computer this weekend.

Stay tuned for more updates as items I’ve ordered begin to trickle in over the next few months. Even if I didn’t order everything for the shop, there’s plenty I saw that I want to review because I found the product intriguing. I may even return for the Summer market!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

View fullsize

And of course, there will be more pens from Anterique Stationers, including miniature versions of their brass ballpoint and new colors of the full-size brass pen.

Travel Update: Upcoming T.G.S. Show Dates and More!

This weekend I’m once again on the road to NY NOW and Shoppe Object, two of the larger stationery trade shows in the U.S. While not as large as Paper World (probably the biggest international stationery trade show that’s held every year in Frankfurt), NY Now is the place to go if you’re a retailer and want to a preview of the year’s new releases from brands like Kaweco, Lamy, and Blackwing, while Shoppe Object tends to showcase smaller boutique manufacturers and distributors. Both shows are a great venue to discover new brands - in fact, this is where I met representatives from Anterique, Nakabayashi, Laconic, HMM, and Craighill. I don’t believe I ever would have brought some of the more unusual brands into the shop or discovered their wares at all had I not taken a flier and visited these two shows, both of which are outside the typical “fountain pen show circuit”.

I’ll be periodically posting from the weekend (as I’m allowed, since some announcements on new products, etc. may be subject to blackouts). I’ve attended these shows twice before, so if you’re curious about exactly how they work be sure to check out last year’s recap.

View fullsize

2024 Pen Show Updates - Where We’ll Be This Spring

Also, T.G.S. will be attending the 2024 California Pen Show in the Los Angeles area from February 16-18. And guess what? I’m teaching a seminar and semi-responsible (with Vanness Pens) for hosting the Pen Shows after Dark event! After that, we will have a table at the Arkansas Pen Show in Little Rock. I hope to see you at one of these events!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. We greatly appreciate all your support!

A Trade Show vs. a Pen Show: My Trip to NY Now and Shoppe Object

I promise I won’t geek out too much about this past weekend, because it may or may not be of interest to the general readership, but in case you missed it, I spent a couple days at two of the largest stationery and gift trade shows: NY Now (held at the Javitz Center) and Shoppe Object (held across town at Pier 36). Both of these shows are “to the trade” only, meaning they are essentially giant showrooms for retailers and distributors to view new products, as opposed to direct-to-consumer retail events like pen shows. No actual goods change hands, though samples are sometimes available and retailers can place orders for future delivery, It’s somewhat refreshing to be able to browse a nearly overwhelming number of products without the pressure to buy immediately.

View fullsize

YES. More reading accessories please.

Here are my main takeaways from this year’s events:

• Stationery is more popular than ever. While I’m not sure I’d say that pens, pencils, and paper are going “mainstream” in a culture that continues to fetishize tech, there’s definitely more attention being paid by brands to people’s desire to keep a portion of their life firmly analog. The fine writing and stationery booths were quite popular and well-attended, though you sometimes had to hunt for them among the cooking and fashion accessories.

• Distributors and Manufacturers are catching on to the idea of overlapping interests. One thing that caught my eye this time around was the extent to which several booths paired stationery items for display alongside things like reading accessories (somewhat intuitive - who would’ve thought?) and coffee accessories (somewhat less intuitive, but which makes sense).

• I find these trips to be a good investment as both an enthusiast and a retailer. While I love attending the “traditional” pen shows, they focus on a very narrow segment of stationery users: mainly fountain pen enthusiasts, collectors, and those looking for the unique and unusual. Trade shows, on the other hand, are more “mass market,” and I don’t mean that in the pejorative way that term is often used. A large trade show focuses on displaying those products that manufacturers and distributors believe will appeal to as many people as possible, and there’s something refreshing about that, especially as someone who uses their stationery on a daily basis as part of their work life and not just as a hobby.

View fullsize

Anterique pens combine the style of a vintage click pen with an exceptionally good .5mm low-viscosity ballpoint refill.

Both times I’ve attended NY Now and Shoppe Object I’ve discovered new products that previously have received little-to-no attention in the stationery circles I run in, and I can’t wait to share this week’s discoveries with you! I’ll definitely be posting more as new items arrive, though some are pre-orders and will be showing up throughout the year. In the meantime, you can visit our shop, which is constantly being updated. If you’d like to read about my last trip back in 2020, which is the first time I’ve attended any trade show, check out this post here!

View fullsize

I mean, how do you all think that I found these stamps? Not at a pen show.

View fullsize

New York City has a wealth of independent stationery stores that stock a wide range of products, and I think it’s extremely important for me to try paper in person before I make a decision to either recommend it on the blog or sell it myself. Internet recommendations as to what is or is not “fountain pen friendly” can vary wildly, and certain papers that were recommended to me ended up being terrible, while others that are popularly panned as “low quality” sometimes surprise me.

View fullsize

These Maruman note-sized looseleaf binders were a popular item, and something I’m testing out.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not contain third-party affiliate links or paid advertising.