Jump to content

Appelboom shop in Boston (formerly Bromfield Pen Shop)

Paul-in-SF

By Paul-in-SF
in Market Watch

 Share

Recommended Posts

Paul-in-SF Collectors Item

Paul-in-SF

Posted
Posted

This was announced today via YouTube (and possibly in other ways) here: 

 

 

Note: Joost's voice is hard to hear over the background music. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 30
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • inkstainedruth

    6

  • Gloucesterman

    5

  • Intensity

    3

  • Paul-in-SF

    3

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Otter1 Mint

Otter1

Posted
Posted

Yeah, I watched the video too. I'm in nh and will visit them as soon as Covid becomes less of an issue. Hope it is a successful venture for them, as I have bought from them in the past.

 

Otter1

Link to comment
Share on other sites
gerigo Vintage

gerigo

Posted
Posted

Welcome to the US of A. So happy to have another pen shop in our midst. I hope to visit you one day very soon!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JohnUphill Near Mint

JohnUphill

Posted
Posted

My first thought was, “How will this affect their Pelikan pricing?”

I wish them great success in this new venture.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Linger Extremely Rare

Linger

Posted
Posted

I thought the same thing. The EU/US price arbitrage due to different VAT/sales tax regulations will no longer apply. No doubt their customer service will be as good in Boston as it is in Laren, but the leverage to compete on price is gone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
stevesurf Vintage

stevesurf

Posted
Posted

Please tell me they kept their personnel.  I enjoyed my visits there - Mary was always so helpful!

Best regards,
Steve Surfaro
Fountain Pen Fun
Cities of the world (please visit my Facebook page for more albums)
Paris | Venezia

Link to comment
Share on other sites
inkstainedruth Ancient Artifact

inkstainedruth

Posted
Posted

So does this mean that they're buying Bromfield's?  Or just that they'll be a partner?  

I was just in Bromfield's about 6 months ago (we drove my mother-in-law's live-in caregiver back up to the Boston Metrowest area from central PA, so she wouldn't have to deal with travel issues), and one of the days we were in Massachusetts, I took the train into Boston and went to Bromfield's and then on into Harvard Square to Bob Slate Stationers....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Linger Extremely Rare

Linger

Posted
Posted

Hmm, if you click bromfieldpenshop.com you are redirected to the appelboom homesite...no specific information on the boston store anymore/yet...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Maloney New

Maloney

Posted
Posted

The Bromfield shop is located on one of those old Boston side streets. The location has charm( close to Boston Common , the historic churches and graveyards, Beacon Hill) much more than the high rise Berlin Walls that continue to erase the sky on Boston.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Paul-in-SF Collectors Item

Paul-in-SF

Posted
  • Author
Posted
7 hours ago, Linger said:

Hmm, if you click bromfieldpenshop.com you are redirected to the appelboom homesite...no specific information on the boston store anymore/yet...

If you scroll all the way to the bottom, in the contacts area they have the Boston address and phone number, but that seems to be it. The Appelboom site doesn't seem to have anything particularly about their Laren store either, except the address and telehone. 

 

  

15 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

So does this mean that they're buying Bromfield's?  Or just that they'll be a partner?  

I was just in Bromfield's about 6 months ago...

It sure looks like they bought Bromfield's. Next time you go, I'd be interested to hear what, if anything, has changed in the store. 

 

Which all reminds me that it's long past time for me to go visit our only little pen shop, Maido, and drop a few dollars. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pengrump Extremely Rare

Pengrump

Posted
Posted

Bromfield was/is my local pen shop. Haven't been in for a while because of lockdown (I'm old so I don't go into stores if I can help it.) This acquisition by Appelboom is actually kid of exciting since I have dealt with Appelboom via the internet and enjoyed my purchases and interactions with them. I was wondering how long the owner of Bromfield could keep the store going. I hope  he has a happy and healthy retirement.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
inkstainedruth Ancient Artifact

inkstainedruth

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

If you scroll all the way to the bottom, in the contacts area they have the Boston address and phone number, but that seems to be it. The Appelboom site doesn't seem to have anything particularly about their Laren store either, except the address and telehone. 

 

  

It sure looks like they bought Bromfield's. Next time you go, I'd be interested to hear what, if anything, has changed in the store. 

 

Which all reminds me that it's long past time for me to go visit our only little pen shop, Maido, and drop a few dollars. 

 

Not sure when or if that's going to be.  Since my mother-in-law died in February, there's not a lot of reason to go to Massachusetts now (my one brother-in-law still lives near the Cape, but unless one of his daughters gets married anytime soon, I don't have much reason to go up there).  Even the two times I attended the Commonwealth Pen Show was wrapped into family trips, as well as the two times I got to Bromfield's.  

But I'm sort of nostalgic, all the same -- I got my first Pilot Metropolitan there, and was able to try pens, which meant that I picked the M nib instead of the F nib (the stub nib Metropolitans weren't on the market yet, I don't think).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Intensity Collectors Item

Intensity

Posted
Posted

Whoah!  This is one of my local pen shops, though I haven't visited since the pandemic started early last year.  Interesting!

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
penotaku New

penotaku

Posted
Posted

I have been going to this shop since the 80s. It was bought by Appelboom but as far as I can tell hasn't changed in any other way. Same folks. Great inventory. Same eclectic vibe. Same knowledgable and helpful people. I was happy to see this change, because I figured they had to be struggling a bit (and also getting older) even before Covid, and I'd hate to see them go. So looks like they are going to be here for a good while yet. I actually have gone recently and while parking still is pain, Covid didn't seem to be too much of a factor. Everyone wore masks and customer traffic is light. Bromfield Street is pretty funky though. It used to be even more funky with coin shops, and a joke shop (magic tricks and novelties) and a 3 person bar around the corner. But that's all gone now. Glad the been shop survives. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gloucesterman Antique

Gloucesterman

Posted
Posted

Probably going to end up making a special trip to revisit.

 

Also, around the corner is the BEST deli sandwiches in Boston and, according to one friend (a former New York "Cityer") the best anywhere...!

 

It's less than a block away and called Sam Lagrassas . Very limited hours and only Monday - Friday. Sandwiches are expensive AND worth the cost -IMHO.

“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!”

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 4 months later...
inkstainedruth Ancient Artifact

inkstainedruth

Posted
Posted

They had a table at the Commonwealth Pen Show with flyers giving their new address.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Intensity Collectors Item

Intensity

Posted
Posted

I have placed my first order at Appelboom with pick-up option at the Boston store.

 

Note: the store pick-up option only becomes available during check-out after creating an account at Appelboom and logging in.  Store pick up might be limited to nearby zip codes, I haven’t tested.

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33554
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26728
    5. jar
      jar
      26101

  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      Links to web pages or articles about Chinese typesetting, signwriting, etc.

      By Shanghai Knife Dude · Posted

      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By A Smug Dill · Posted

      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By adamselene · Posted

      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By A Smug Dill · Posted

      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By adamselene · Posted

      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o

  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More

  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...