I've been to this shop and it's sad to see another one gone.

http://www.sptimes.com/2008/01/05/Hillsbor...nd_farewe.shtml

--Roy

Sad.But i bet Bill is looking forward to the new free time.

Jim

I was there a couple of times this past year, the last being in September.
Bill mentioned that times were tough.
Man, what a shame. I would've loved to have had the opportunity just to go through the old boxes he had lying around everywhere.
He did show me an old Eversharp catalog that was just lying on a shelf gathering dust. He wouldn't sell it though. Don't you wish the shelves could talk and you could listen to the stories.
Sad day,
Robert

customer was... U.S. Magistrate Mary Scriven

Scriven? In a pen shop?

How cool is that?

Shame about the shop. The internet (and the looming Major Recession) are hurting good stores.

d

Very Sad indeed. I was talking to the owner of Pen Boutique, here in Montgomery Mall store in Washington DC and I asked her about the Pen business. She was telling me that internet is actually making this wonderful segment a mess because of hidden competition. Some dealers go upto 35% off just to get business for a margin of 10% -15%. Imagine that, with 10% margin, how they will survive. Even affiliates in Amazon who link from their site get around 10-15%. Shame on them.

According to her, fountain pens are coming back trend. Lots of young people are getting fascinated by the fountain pens and she says it gives her a pleasure to see them buy. I hope young enterpreneurs like her will turn around this industry.

It also makes onus on our part to buy from B&M. If you see a better deal, let them know and if I know from past experience, they will gladly match it. This small contribution, I think will help in long run.

Ralph

The other part of the report was parking trouble due to construction nearby, that would kill any store. I know retailers in Downtown Oakville are up in arms over proposed road re-construction being planned.

Pen retailers in Toronto are healthy (for now), we don't have quite the same economic uncertainty as you guys have in the US.

I am sad to hear that pen stores are closing, yet I am not sure where some of them were heading in the first place...

Recently, I was in Portland, Oregon, looking to buy a new pen. I went to two different pen shops. One is mostly a paper shop (can't remember the name but it's in the Pearl district). I saw the Pura and fell in love, but they only had a M nib. Interestingly they had a demonstrator pen (was it the Pelikan 200?) in the case. I asked to see "the demonstrator" Pelikan and the lady argued that it was not a demo at all, but really the pen that was for sale. Oh well. The saleslady suggested I go online or visit Paradise Pen in Pioneer Square for the Pura. I did the latter. They only had M nibs in their Pelikans there as well, and the salesman suggested I go... online.

I have tried to buy from B&M pen stores in the past, when I was buying more pens. My experiences were unfortunately never very good, especially when I was younger. I remember that a salesman, which I believe to be the owner, at a supposedly very reputable Montreal pen shop argued with me, and strongly, that the Waterman Phileas pen DID NOT EXIST and that it was complete nonsense for me to say that a Waterman pen could be selling for under $40. (That was about a year after the Phileas hit the market and I had one in my pockets.) I was so mad I left the store and never returned. That is only one example of the poor treatment I have had in pen shops - and not really elsewhere - obviously because I was a young person. It seemed that all they were interested in was selling MBs as status symbols to people who wouldn't ask too many questions. I sure do hope that teenagers do get into fountain pens but I also hope that the salespeople adjust to the new clientele.

Anyone got a bushel basket of investment financing? I'd love to open a store, and know three locations that it should thrive in....