Encouraging Corporate News

[Jerome Tarshis]

Why Yahoo News classified this under "Sports" is beyond my understanding, but:

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/cross-pen-maker-seeks-revival-flagship-store-160855071.html

 

So Clarion is trying to do something more with the brand, and we can look forward to an attempt to get Sheaffer going again, too.

[tamiya]

Does Cross even have enough products to justify a retail store? they've barely got enough SKUs downunder to decently populate a retail swivel stand, even when they've displayed every single colour combination and refills & inks

[gammada]

Does Cross even have enough products to justify a retail store? they've barely got enough SKUs downunder to decently populate a retail swivel stand, even when they've displayed every single colour combination and refills & inks

Quite the opposite, IMHO, one of Cross biggest issues as a brand is the myriad lines with little or no differentiation between them, and then you've got the endless colors and trim variations. All of which makes for pens with no clear market aim.

 

Just consider the Century pen, you've got versions ranging from less than a hundred dollars to $8k for a gold one!!!

[Jerome Tarshis]

+1. If you look at the product line offered at www.cross.com, you will find a myriad of different pens. And in a retail shop based on pens, there will also be notebooks, which need not be Cross products. They might confine themselves to the (small) range of Cross inks, but then again they might not.

 

I'll assume they avoid watches, cuff links, leather portfolios, etc., etc. But in the past there actually were Cross-branded watches, IIRC.

[NosmoKing]

Does Cross even have enough products to justify a retail store? they've barely got enough SKUs downunder to decently populate a retail swivel stand, even when they've displayed every single colour combination and refills & inks

They do offer a wide range of pens, but, they have been discontinuing less expensive lines . Maybe to make room

for some of Sheaffer's offerings perhaps ?

[Dragonmaster Lou]

I visited the retail store the other day as I live close by and happened to be in the area. It's not the biggest shop. I'd say it was about the size of a boutique. It's located in the same building as their corporate offices, so it's not like they're renting out major space just for the store.

 

As for the selection, it was pretty good with a decent selection of pens, inks, and stationery products along with a "sale wall" of lower price items like Baileys for $20 or so.