Another Store Closes: Lee's Art, Manhattan

[welch]

Another Manhattan store will close: Lee's Art Supply, on 57th Street near Carnegie Hall and across from the Art Student's League. Lee's Art mainly offered everything for artists, but had a small fountain pen counter, and, of course, a great collection of paper and notebooks.

 

Why? In the last few years, developers have built several "pencil" buildings nearby: high-rise luxury condo / co-op buildings with a small "footprint".

 

http://ny.curbed.com/2016/5/24/11760800/lee-art-shop-closure-billionares-row-midtown-manhattan

 

[Buzz_130]

I'm said to hear another loss in a place where you would imagine you could find the right store and purchase whatever you needed. We still have a few options around DC, but I wonder how many the market can support.

 

Buzz

[pararis]

The "market" is supporting companies like Goulet -- barely existed five years ago, today has 40 employees.

 

I'd guess 80% or more of buyers of fountain pen stuff have no easy access to a physical retailer.

[ink-syringe]

I worked on 57th for years. Went to Lee's at lunch to buy many a pen/stationary item. My last blister pack Sheaffer Cartridge pens were bought there. I loved that store. Sad. R.I.P. Lee's so many lunch hours spent there looking at neat stuff.

[PS104]

The reason(s) that Lee's is following in the footsteps of Art Brown and more to come, is that the people who own the land have raised the rent exorbitantly and the developers have paid off the appropriate authorities. To paraphrase the movie ​Chinatown "Forget it Welch. It's New York City"

[amberleadavis]

Oh, that's sad. I'm sorry it's gone.

[jchch1950]

Sad news. Many years back I walked by every night and usually stop at the windows to see the different art materials.

[fabri00]

Physical shops are closing everywhere also here in Europe.

Regardless to the cost for renting the shop, they have no more enough margin to survive on market today.

Also here webshops like Goulet are replacing them.

[pajaro]

Changing markets and money talks. Most of the world I was born into is gone.

 

My wife and I moved to her home town in rural Michigan twelve years ago from Pensacola, Florida. Just in time to miss hurricane Ivan. Without all the internet sellers I would have been left with my box of Parker 51s and my few Montblancs. Luckily I was able to buy a whole lot of inferior modern pens for fun and sell off a lot of the 51s. Anyway without the internet we would have nothing in this mosquito haven. We needed refrigerator water filters and no one in miles had them. Internet.

 

Times are changing. When my liked and respected art supplies and pen dealer in Pensacola died, his store was sold to a high end kitchen pots and pans seller. I am sure this is happening all over. When the people running the stores get older, they might retire or die and then the store goes away. It's sad, but life moves on and markets are changing. I can look back on a lot of enjoyable times shopping for pens in brick and mortar stores, and I am sure many of you can also. This personal element is being replaced by convenience.

[Runnin_Ute]

A few years ago - I bought my first bottle of Pelikan 4001 Blue Black there. Prior to that a Stadtler Mars 700 technical pen. Reuel's Art and Frame. At one point they had at least three locations, maybe four. Not sure if the family who owned the business retired/passed away or just got a great offer for the property where the original store stood downtown. It was razed, and the business closed. The last time I visited was fall of 2012. It was gone not long afterwards. Probably within a year.

[pararis]

Changing markets and money talks. Most of the world I was born into is gone.

 

My wife and I moved to her home town in rural Michigan twelve years ago from Pensacola, Florida. Just in time to miss hurricane Ivan. Without all the internet sellers I would have been left with my box of Parker 51s and my few Montblancs. Luckily I was able to buy a whole lot of inferior modern pens for fun and sell off a lot of the 51s. Anyway without the internet we would have nothing in this mosquito haven. We needed refrigerator water filters and no one in miles had them. Internet.

 

Times are changing. When my liked and respected art supplies and pen dealer in Pensacola died, his store was sold to a high end kitchen pots and pans seller. I am sure this is happening all over. When the people running the stores get older, they might retire or die and then the store goes away. It's sad, but life moves on and markets are changing. I can look back on a lot of enjoyable times shopping for pens in brick and mortar stores, and I am sure many of you can also. This personal element is being replaced by convenience.

Can't tell you how many times I've said, "This isn't the country where I grew up."

 

You might try a visit 30 miles or so north to Dexter. The iPenstore (dot com) is located there. While they don't have a retail store per se, Jim Evers would welcome you to drop by, visit and buy whatever you need. He's a great guy. He was born into the same world we were -- and knows the truth!