Art Browns Closing For Good Friday...

[welch]

It was sad to see them go. I visit the store pretty often because I work right down the block from them. I love going there when I am stress out from work. It's just so nice to get an pen therapy from all those fountain pens they carry. I heard about the bad news from Ms, Brown on Wed when i was telling her that i am thinking about ordering Namiki Maki-e pen in November through them. She reply " My dear we wont be here anymore..." First i thought she was joking but she insisted that she was not and that friday will be their last day. It's hard for B&M to survive in Manhattan and 2nd to Steve's comment it was the rent that drove them out of business. It's hard but I understand that they don't want to loose all their nest eggs just to keep the store open.

 

I have been going to Art Brown these pass three days to load up on notebooks, inks and pens. In total I brought about 40 Rhodia notebooks vary in size and 6 bottles of inks.

 

I went today again for my final purchase and say my fare well to Dave... "It has been a good run... just another few month we would have made 90 years" Dave said to me.

 

Art Brown had treated me well these past two years and its really hard for me to see them go... I wish Dave, Ms. Brown and Bob the best of luck... I will miss all the pen stories that Mr. Brown used to tells me...

 

 

Oh, so that was you entering or leaving the store every time I visited???

 

I worked at 51st and Lex, then in the MetLife Building, and finally at 7 Times Square. Like you, I would walk over to Art Browns just to unwind, to see the folks, show Marilyn whatever pen I was using that day, keep an eye on who had a broken back and how well they were recovering, or to check on Marilyn's broken foot.

 

I will miss them, and so will many, many people.

[regid99]

What a pity. Sad news. I went there last year during a stay in NYC. Staff was very friendly

[kaisede]

 

 

Oh, so that was you entering or leaving the store every time I visited???

 

I worked at 51st and Lex, then in the MetLife Building, and finally at 7 Times Square. Like you, I would walk over to Art Browns just to unwind, to see the folks, show Marilyn whatever pen I was using that day, keep an eye on who had a broken back and how well they were recovering, or to check on Marilyn's broken foot.

 

I will miss them, and so will many, many people.

 

 

Yup that was me... I think i go there more often than Ms. Brown does.....

[Jerome Tarshis]

Nobody who has posted to this thread so far has given an informed opinion about whether the Browns will try to continue their pen and stationery business on the Web. The Browns are old enough to retire, and I wouldn't be astonished if they chose to do that. But although the artbrown.com Web site is down, their other Web site isn't.

 

Granted, it is not set up for Web retailing with online payment, and simply suggests that we email about what we might want, but it is still up. Possibly because the Browns have absentmindedly omitted to take it down, possibly because the business is going to continue.

 

Here is the URL, which was working a few moments ago:

 

www.nycpensandpencilsstationery.com/

[welch]

Nobody who has posted to this thread so far has given an informed opinion about whether the Browns will try to continue their pen and stationery business on the Web. The Browns are old enough to retire, and I wouldn't be astonished if they chose to do that. But although the artbrown.com Web site is down, their other Web site isn't.

 

Granted, it is not set up for Web retailing with online payment, and simply suggests that we email about what we might want, but it is still up. Possibly because the Browns have absentmindedly omitted to take it down, possibly because the business is going to continue.

 

Here is the URL, which was working a few moments ago:

 

www.nycpensandpencilsstationery.com/

 

I don't think we can guess if the Browns will revive as an on-line business. Terry W. could not say anything definite, and the Wiederlight and Brown families are close. Almost anything else would be a wish, and, most of all, I wish Warren and Marlyn, the kids and the grand-children, happiness in whatever they do next. (Yep, a couple of summers back I was looking at inks when a tall teenager said, "Granma, what's the price on...")

[kaisede]

I asked if they are going to do web business and the answer was no. Both Dave and Ms. Brown said the same. I guess there will never be definite answers.

[CaptainDan]

The closure of such a venerable business is disheartening - even more so because it served a very specific, even pleasantly arcane, clientele, among whose ranks I proudly count myself. History may remember them, but history cannot properly replicate the multifarious products and unparalleled service the Browns offered.

 

Perhaps, if their landlord relayed the need to increase in rent earlier, they would have been able to dispense with some of their stock in a firesale and relocate their core business to a cheaper part of Manhattan or even the outer boroughs. Of course, despite being from Long Island, I am not at all knowledgeable about NYC real estate, so even that "lifeboat maneuver" may have not even been an option to begin with.

 

What I do know, however, is that I bought my first two bottles of ink from Art Brown - Noodler's Polar Black and Noodler's Manhattan Blue, the latter of which I still have the majority of and will probably lock in a deposit box in Switzerland.

[wallylynn]

They moved once before just a few years ago. I doubt they would have moved yet again at their age. I'm torn about my bottle of Manhattan Blue. After all, ink is supposed to be used...

[CaptainDan]

They moved once before just a few years ago. I doubt they would have moved yet again at their age. I'm torn about my bottle of Manhattan Blue. After all, ink is supposed to be used...

 

 

A few people, including the Goulets, have been contacting Noodler's/Luxury Brands and asking/imploring/begging them to continue production in some form. I happen to have some Manhattan Blue loaded in a Cross Aventura, and I can think of no better use than in a fan letter!

[raging.dragon]

No clue. It's definitely a very strange closing, like you said. I was thinking that they'd try to sell off the stock by advertising their closing and putting things on sale, but they just offered a small increase in the discount they give over MSRP. Are they planning to sell off the stock in bulk or at pen shows? I have no clue. I wanted to pick up Subway Sepia, but they were out. It's really very odd. I'd like to pass by on another day and see what's become of the place.

 

Joon disappeared almost exactly a year ago, and there still hasn't been any clear statement that they went of business. The only thing that ever showed up at clearance prices were the Visconti Joon LE pens that Bryant sold off. I guess that the unsold inventory was returned to the distributors and (over time) sold off to other retailers? Or perhaps the inventory will get sold directly to other local retailers?

[Garageboy]

FPH is last man standing, no paper though

 

I do suggest hitting up Stevedan/University Stationers and Janoffs, the have lots of mid 90s NOS pens

[lightless]

FPH is last man standing, no paper though

 

I do suggest hitting up Stevedan/University Stationers and Janoffs, the have lots of mid 90s NOS pens

Woah, I gotta check that out. Thanks!

[rockydoggy]

Thanks so much for the suggestions. I may be making a trip to NYC within the next few months & I'll see if I can visit these 3 places--along with FPH, of course, and Oriental Culture Enterprises in Chinatown (a good place to get Hero ink cheap).

[CaptainDan]

I hope FPH or some other NYC retailer can at least get the remaining stock of Art Brown's unsold inks, especially their Noodler's exclusives.

[pen_addict]

NOOOO ... marks the end of an era...

keeping my fingers crossed that the online business will keep going although nothing beats being able to walk into a store and try something out in person... *sigh*

[AlejoPlay]

I am so sad about this.

 

I loved this place so much and had I known I would have gone and gotten some ink just for old time's sake.

[DrHansNoodleman]

There was a fairly thick legal brief taped to the front door of the store today. I just read the first page - I'm not a lawyer but it seemed to indicate some kind of unfulfilled financial obligation in the range of $120k to $140k (I don't recall specifically). So presumably they got a judgment against them. I don't know if that implies someone has a lien on the inventory or not. In any case, very unfortunate.

[inkstainedruth]

Just heard about this in another post earlier today (about an hour ago), since I haven't had internet access in nearly a week.

I'm so broken up about this. I was there on Christmas Eve, 2012 (pilgrimage to FPH and there while visiting my sister-in-law and her husband, while doing the family holiday circuit). I had been looking for the blue-black of my dreams, or at least a close match in both color and shading to what had come out of my first Estie when I went to clean and test it in the fall. I looked through the swab book but couldn't tell what would be best, and showed the sales guy that I talked to the journal page of the first writing (before the ink got diluted beyond recognition).

"Oh," he said. "YOU want to talk to Mrs. Brown. Oh, Marian...." So across the store I went to the other counter. And Mrs. Brown took a look at the journal page and said "Oh, you want Noodler's Manhattan Blue, because it's replicating the old Carter's Blue-Black from the Thirties and Forties...." (I also picked up a bottle of Diamine Denim, which was a good color match but didn't give me the shading, plus a couple of other inks I had wanted -- Noodler's Army Green and De Atramentis Tchaikowsky -- and one of the mini Rhodia pads -- the No. 10 size -- because they had a box of them at the checkout.)

Ranked up there pretty close to the top of the "Best. Day. Ever." list.

Today, not so much....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[majorworks]

I was just there a few weeks ago and left with bottles of Noodler's Zhivago and Diamine Registrar's ink. Man, what a treat it was to stand in that little ink aisle and see so many brands and colors in one place! What a shame to see an institution like that close down.

[CaptainDan]

Just heard about this in another post earlier today (about an hour ago), since I haven't had internet access in nearly a week.

I'm so broken up about this. I was there on Christmas Eve, 2012 (pilgrimage to FPH and there while visiting my sister-in-law and her husband, while doing the family holiday circuit). I had been looking for the blue-black of my dreams, or at least a close match in both color and shading to what had come out of my first Estie when I went to clean and test it in the fall. I looked through the swab book but couldn't tell what would be best, and showed the sales guy that I talked to the journal page of the first writing (before the ink got diluted beyond recognition).

"Oh," he said. "YOU want to talk to Mrs. Brown. Oh, Marian...." So across the store I went to the other counter. And Mrs. Brown took a look at the journal page and said "Oh, you want Noodler's Manhattan Blue, because it's replicating the old Carter's Blue-Black from the Thirties and Forties...." (I also picked up a bottle of Diamine Denim, which was a good color match but didn't give me the shading, plus a couple of other inks I had wanted -- Noodler's Army Green and De Atramentis Tchaikowsky -- and one of the mini Rhodia pads -- the No. 10 size -- because they had a box of them at the checkout.)

Ranked up there pretty close to the top of the "Best. Day. Ever." list.

Today, not so much....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

 

I remember paying them a visit for the first time last June after reading about Noodler's on here and resolving to buy a couple of bottles. When I first saw the ink section, I was absolutely overwhelmed - if the term "ink overload" ever could apply to a particular situation, it was then. I absolutely loved it. The best part was that I felt the same feeling every single time I went back.

 

I was last there last August to get a converter and ink for the Cross Aventura I had bought for my brother as a graduation present. My lone regret is that I didn't befriend the Browns like so many on here have - I ascribe that to my lifelong awkwardness. I do, however, recall talking for a bit to a rather petite woman about the superior comfort afforded by fountain pens, and she remarked how polite I was! I do hope this was Miriam, so I could legitimately claim to have had a meeting, however brief, with one of the potentates of pens and penmanship.

 

If they really did get a judgement against them, it is rather lamentable. Does anyone know about the current condition of the interior of the store - i.e., is it "in limbo" or has the inventory, fixtures, and assorted odds and ends been boxed up and removed?