Mr. Evangelidis Retiring

[vkisvkis1]

Last weekend I was in Athens and paid a visit to Mr. Evangelidis's pen shop. There are several topics in this forum describing how magnificent is his shop and I saw that they were all true. The sad news is that Mr. Evangelidis will retire in January or February and he could not find someone to sell the shop, mostly due to economic situation of the country. So these are the last months to visit his shop.

[Tas]

[fplover01]

This is really sad news. A special shop and a true gentleman.

 

This has been coming a long time. The recession surely has its role in it however the truth is that there is no real fountain pen culture in greece, and those people interested have lots of opportunities to purchase online these days. Trade in central athens has been dwindling over the years. anyway sad news.

[jdllizard]

While I do not know this gentleman or his shop, this news is saddening. To many of the great old time fountain pen retailers, restorers, and nibmeisters are retiring, and while there are a few youngsters learning the craft, are there enough young people willing to take over for the ones who are retiring?

 

 

I sure hope so, cuz while I don't mind repairing my own pens, I wouldn't want to subject anyone else's pens to my methods as they could be considered "unsound". And don't get me started on nibs, I despise having to work on nibs.... though mainly because I don't know what I'm doing and probably do more harm than good.

 

Maybe I need to find a nibmeister to apprentice under?

[liberto077]

Mr Evangelidis is a true gentleman and a serious collector.I think his collection at the shop is one of the best, not in Europe but in the world.He loves his job and he knows a lot of things about fountain pens.It is very nice to hear from his stories about fountain pens.Yes he will be retired sometime (I hope not so soon ) .In my opinion, it is not easy to sell the shop, not only of the situation in Greece but he wants the person who will take the shop to be someone that loves fountain pens and continue his legasy.I know that all the fountain pens users in Greece will be sad when he will retired, not only it will be difficult to find fp in Greece but because we will miss him as a person. Actually I saw hin last Friday at pelikan hub in Athens and discussed about the new pelikan.I like very much to discuss with him about fp.

[Bklyn]

I have not heard of him but it is a sad state of affairs to see a good person retire like this.

 

I wish him well.

[sansenri]

Despite the title of this thread I am in Athens now, June 2017 and the shop still seems to be there. Not sure if it has been taken over but still seems to be active.

I am here on business, arrived early afternoon on a wednesday, I have work tomorrow so I decided to take a walk downtown. The shop in not far from Sygnanta square inside a small lateral square hidden by a bar with outdoor tables. Unfortunately I could not make it within opening hours as the shop closes at 5 pm... opening hours are really limited, most days from 10.30 to 17.00. My business appointment is late morning not far from here, so possibly I will try to be at the shop by opening tomorrow. The shop window, although in the dark, looked nonetheless interesting I spotted a Visconti LE, a Delta, a Montblanc. I will confirm if I manage to visit.

[sansenri]

Despite the title of this thread I am in Athens now, June 2017 and the shop still seems to be there. Not sure if it has been taken over but still seems to be active.

I am here on business, arrived early afternoon on a wednesday, I have work tomorrow so I decided to take a walk downtown. The shop in not far from Sygnanta square inside a small lateral square hidden by a bar with outdoor tables. Unfortunately I could not make it within opening hours as the shop closes at 5 pm... opening hours are really limited, most days from 10.30 to 17.00. My business appointment is late morning not far from here, so possibly I will try to be at the shop by opening tomorrow. The shop window, although in the dark, looked nonetheless interesting I spotted a Visconti LE, a Delta, a Montblanc. I will confirm if I manage to visit.

[sansenri]

Despite the title of this thread I am in Athens now, June 2017 and the shop still seems to be there. Not sure if it has been taken over but still seems to be active.

I am here on business, arrived early afternoon on a wednesday, I have work tomorrow so I decided to take a walk downtown. The shop in not far from Sygnanta square inside a small lateral square hidden by a bar with outdoor tables. Unfortunately I could not make it within opening hours as the shop closes at 5 pm... opening hours are really limited, most days from 10.30 to 17.00. My business appointment is late morning not far from here, so possibly I will try to be at the shop by opening tomorrow. The shop window, although in the dark, looked nonetheless interesting I spotted a Visconti LE, a Delta, a Montblanc. I will confirm if I manage to visit.

[sansenri]

Despite the title of this thread I am in Athens now, June 2017 and the shop still seems to be there. Not sure if it has been taken over but still seems to be active.

I am here on business, arrived early afternoon on a wednesday, I have work tomorrow so I decided to take a walk downtown. The shop in not far from Sygnanta square inside a small lateral square hidden by a bar with outdoor tables. Unfortunately I could not make it within opening hours as the shop closes at 5 pm... opening hours are really limited, most days from 10.30 to 17.00. My business appointment is late morning not far from here, so possibly I will try to be at the shop by opening tomorrow. The shop window, although in the dark, looked nonetheless interesting I spotted a Visconti LE, a Delta, a Montblanc. I will confirm if I manage to visit.

[oregano]

I had a chance to go to his shop for the first time when I was in Athens a few weeks ago. It is a treasure trove of all the major brands, and some hard to find Pelikans from the City series, Auroras, Faber-Castell POTY and Maki-e Pelikans. He also showed me his collection (for sale) of mint Parker Duofolds and vacumaatics, for anyone interested, which leads me to believe he may have more vintage pens of other brands not on display. I didn't ask about them though. I took some pictures which you can find on Instagram. For some reason I can't post photos on Fpn anymore since I reached the limit. I also found his prices to be reasonable, which was a nice change from some other brick and mortar retailers.

Edited June 7, 2017 by oregano

[sansenri]

Sorry for the double post above, due to use of a tablet while travelling...

I did manage to go to Mr. Evangelidis shop! and spent a full hour inside chatting with the very friendly gentleman.

The pens are on show in lit windows all around the shop internal walls and it's almost impossible to decide what to buy.

I also spotted a lot of Pelikans, some rolled gold vintage ones, but also some celluloid Omas and some Stipula (a very nice Duetto which was very tempting as I had never see one "live") and yes a large collection of Duofolds. I recall also some Delta, Cross and Aurora.

One pen caught my attention almost immediately when I had a first quick glance at all the windows, a jade green Duofold Centennial.

I have a set of the blu/red/green marbled, a red jade, but no green jade.

I asked Mr Evangelidis about the Duofolds and yes, he did have others tucked away in drawers!

In the end however the Jade Centennial was the one I decided to purchase. Not cheap, but no regret, it's a wonderful pen, in mint condition.

I also stepped out with a bottle of Caran d'ache blue sky.

A very satisfying experience.

[Donald2]

Did the shop close? Or is it still in business? I will be going to Greece during the summer to meet with my good friend and copatriot Mr. Elias Kasidiaris of the Golden Dawn political party and while there, I would love to visit Mr. Evangelidis' store.

Edited April 8, 2018 by FountainPenGuru

[ASoultos]

Picking up on a long lost thread here, but Mr. Evangelidis' store is still open actually, and so it will remain!

 

I am proud to announce that I have taken over Mr. Evangelidis store and he will be staying on as a mentor/tutor for as long a while.

 

The great collection the gentleman has gathered over the years remains on offer, and we are currently working on updating it and further enriching it!

 

We will be more than happy to see you in the same spot in Athens, and are planning on launching an online presence very soon.

 

Our social media channels are already up, you can find us on instagram @evangelidispens • Instagram photos and videos and facebook (2) EvangelidisPens | Facebook and soon on our own website as well!

 

Best regards,

Alexandros Soultos

 

[sansenri]

That is very nice to know Alexandros,

I remember my visit to Mr. Evangelidis store as one of my clue moments during my last visit to Athens now a few years ago.

So much that I recommended the shop to a Greek friend in Athens, who actually then went to shop at Evangelidis!

It is nice to hear the shop will be there still in future and look forward to next opportunity to visit!

Best of luck in the new activity,

and most of all, best personal regards and wishes of good health to Mr. Evangelidis!

[ASoultos]

Many Thanks!

 

Hope to eventually meet you and to live up to expectations as well!

[MarcoA63]

Hurray!!! A shop that stays open is a huge achievement these day! Congratulations and good luck in you endeavour!!

Marco

[ASoultos]

Just to update the thread, Evangelidis Pens is now entering the 21st century, we officially have an e-shop that works, although progress on uploading stock is rather slow (approximately at 5% now) but we are happy to receive reviews and of course respond to any requests!

 

Visit us at www.fountainpen.gr !