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Looks Like Paradise Pen Is Done...


Otter1

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dragon. Join pdxpen on yahoo groups and see pens and pen people every couple months. Can buy pens too.

 

Edited to add

Went by store last week. Sign says 'Inventory & Remodeling,' but the cases are bare.

Edited by cattar
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Yeah. That sign, I suspect, has an older origin than the current problem. A dear friend of mine worked there and I can assure you they are sadly no longer in business.

 

PDXPen on Yahoo!, you say? Is Yahoo! still a thing people use? (I recognize the irony of a fountain pen enthusiast saying that about anything, but still....)

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Lol. Yes.

Go to yahoo

Then to groups

Then search for pdxpen

Then click to send a note to join

Michael usually adds people within a few days.

 

We meet every couple months. Generous people, vintage & modern pens, inks...

Our pro pen restorers host the NW pen show in July.

Our primary ink enabler hosts Pelikan hub in September.

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So my local Montblanc boutique closed here in Charlotte, which is not totally surprising, as recently Porsche Design closed and Burberry and Hermes are closing.

 

A friend texted the ex-manager and she said that since it was a franchise store and part of Paradise Pen. Had no idea that it wasn't a corporate store.

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  • 1 month later...

It does not surprise me that Paradise Pen closed. The closet one to me which was at the Mall of America had a staff that except for one did not know a thing about what they were selling. Beyond the price anyway. My wife and I would go in there and try to spark some conversation about a pen or ink we were interested in and it was like talking to a wall. Sometimes some of the employees were just outright rude. One of the main reasons I didn't care to go there is because I began seeing some of their pens go for over $300 to even $400 over MSRP. Nothing about that is right in my opinion. I do agree that being a brick and mortar pen dealer can be tough but look at Anderson Pens among others. They are just tearing it up. Anderson is nearly 12 hours away and I have gone out of my way to visit and give them business nearly six times in the last two years. I think that a fountain pen retailer in an area with a half decent population and a business model such as Anderson's or Goulet's just to name a couple can do very well. It really boils down to the customer service. Even in small towns I find a lot of people who are fountain pen users just by busting out one of mine.They are out there but it is treated a lot like a secret society.

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Check out http://coloradopen.com

as it was the name used by the "defunct" Paradise Pen company. They have a "Bay" presence. It may just be a way of selling off some leftover stock... OR not.

“Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today, because if you do it today and like it, you can do again tomorrow!”

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AFAIK the only B&M pen store in a city the size of Austin. They were HIGH (full retail at least) but they were THERE.

I may not have been much help, but I DID bump your thread up to the top.

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  • 1 month later...

AFAIK the only B&M pen store in a city the size of Austin. They were HIGH (full retail at least) but they were THERE.

Hello! We want to let y'all know that we carry a variety of fine pens at Paper Place, here in Austin. We're locally-owned since 1979 and our staff can help you special order many pens if we don't have it in stock. Please give us a call at 512.451.6531 or email sales@paperplaceaustin.com!

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Is your website not yet ready for prime time, or is it just me?

I may not have been much help, but I DID bump your thread up to the top.

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  • 2 months later...

Ok.. it goes to show I visit my Paradise Pens every six months.. went to look up if they had a pen and can't find the website and see they have closed. It was favorite store but I did not live too close .

 

Really no place to try a pen in person now...very hard choosing pens on the internet. Kind of sad.

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  • 6 months later...

I was just in the Burlington Mall in Mass looking for the shop. I used to go there to oogle over the latest Montblanc pen. I never bought anything from the store. The overhead was enormous! I'm guessing the shop was a labor of love by someone. I wonder if they had a sale before they packed up? There was a jewelry store in the Boston area that closed up a while ago. They had a 50% off sale on Montblanc. I tried to find a Fitz-Gerald but they were sold out.

 

To whom ever ran the Paradise Pen Co. I send my thanks to you for running the store for as long as you did....

Edited by Dave_g
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It's been gone for quite a while now. I used to work there about 15 years ago. Labor of love it was not.. It made a nice profit for the company. I

think it was the second or third most profitable store of the 12-15 (once there were 20 or 22 I think) that they had.

 

There was no going out of business sale or any notice. What I heard was - Suddenly the store was closed and empty. That was it!

 

Two areas that I think they missed the boat big time was they never really developed their "online" business (personally I thought their website left much to be desired for ease of use AND content) and they were a full price shop. The only exception was that they would match Fountain Pen Hospital prices but they had to call and check to make sure.

 

Still, I was sorry to see them go.

 

We still have "Bromfield Pens" in Boston so you may want to visit them with your "checking out" and any buying activities. Fred is a good guy and he has a good staff and selection of stuff - IMHO!

 

If you live in the area you might want to come to the regular meets of the "Boston Pen People". We are a good bunch of people and welcome all those who are interested.

“Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today, because if you do it today and like it, you can do again tomorrow!”

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Shame that another one has bitten the dust.

''You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes''. A A Milne

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  • 2 weeks later...

What a shame. It looks like their completely "off" as well. I was going to make a swan song purchase, but cannot... even their facebook page is gone. Oh, well. :(

 

I think the only way a pen "store" can survive today is to be completely on-line like Goulet, Jet and Chalet. B&M's just have way too much overhead to be feasible in the pen game today. (With very few exceptions, like FPH in the heart of Manhattan, where you still have the clientele that can support a B&M).

 

- Anthony

We got a couple here in Vancouver. Staples slowly no longer selling anything pen related except bics, papermate/rubbermaid branded pens and Pentel in store helps them somewhat. As now I would now venture downtown to buy from them instead of buying from staples. Staples is only for sugarcane paper now

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I live in North-Central Texas, just a bit closer to Ft. Worth than to Dallas. We now have NO pen retailers in this large, and generally affluent, market. I have a lot of respect for the Paradise family, and I'll miss them. The Dallas (Galleria Mall) store was victimized by bad management most recently, but I think their closings are part of the reversal of the boom. Brick and mortar stores closing are very much part of the current culture, and indicative of a changing of the guard.

 

I, personally, have been collecting pens since the introduction of the ballpoint, sixty-plus years ago. Like me, too many collectors are old white men. I see occasional flashes of interest among younger consumers, but I think that, properly, in rejecting fountain pens, especially, they are choosing not to deal with products which require too much attention. And far too many manufacturers are charging far too much money for too-fancy plastic tubes.

 

At this point, my collection is primarily made up of hand-made pens, generally costing less than $50 apiece. I very much enjoy dealing, albeit electronically, with pen turners. They are anxious to talk about what and how they produce their works, and I have made it my business to learn as much about it as I can. I would suggest that others look at their more modest, but more real, offerings, as well.

 

As to my collectibles, they will all be disposed of, I hope, at the next pen show I attend. I am thinking BOGO may be necessary, and, as usual, I will give pens to little people and to the occasional senior or veteran.

 

The times, they are changing. And not a bad thing.

 

Paul

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Disposing of my pens before all interest in pens wanes might be a good idea. I have been collecting since graduating college in 1970, and my interest is waning. No pen stores here in tinytown, can't even find a ballpoint refill.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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I live in North-Central Texas, just a bit closer to Ft. Worth than to Dallas. We now have NO pen retailers in this large, and generally affluent, market. I have a lot of respect for the Paradise family, and I'll miss them. The Dallas (Galleria Mall) store was victimized by bad management most recently, but I think their closings are part of the reversal of the boom. Brick and mortar stores closing are very much part of the current culture, and indicative of a changing of the guard.

 

I, personally, have been collecting pens since the introduction of the ballpoint, sixty-plus years ago. Like me, too many collectors are old white men. I see occasional flashes of interest among younger consumers, but I think that, properly, in rejecting fountain pens, especially, they are choosing not to deal with products which require too much attention. And far too many manufacturers are charging far too much money for too-fancy plastic tubes.

 

At this point, my collection is primarily made up of hand-made pens, generally costing less than $50 apiece. I very much enjoy dealing, albeit electronically, with pen turners. They are anxious to talk about what and how they produce their works, and I have made it my business to learn as much about it as I can. I would suggest that others look at their more modest, but more real, offerings, as well.

 

As to my collectibles, they will all be disposed of, I hope, at the next pen show I attend. I am thinking BOGO may be necessary, and, as usual, I will give pens to little people and to the occasional senior or veteran.

 

The times, they are changing. And not a bad thing.

 

Paul

I've been using fountain pens exclusively (except when I forgot to take one on my way out of the house) since high school (early 2000s). I've always been the only person I knew to use them other than occasionally running into someone who went to high school before the 1960s who still used them. Just in this last year though, there are now 2 fresh out of school new hires in my office who write with a fountain pen and another coworker who is older has started using them for the first time. It's enough to make me wonder if this was just a long lull.

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Our local pen club (Columbus) has a significant young portion of members. We are however a rather large "college" town with a lot of arty people. The combination of affordable housing, close proximity to most of the Continental U.S., plentiful jobs and a very vibrant art and maker scene causes our demographics to be a bit unusual.

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