Montblanc at the Fountain Pen Hospital

[Charles Rice]

I just saw the new web page for the Fountain Pen Hospital.  No Montblanc!  What's Up?

[Doug1426]

Sad, in many ways, not just absence of MB

[kazoolaw]

Result of its sale to The Pen Family?

[Seney724]

1 hour ago, kazoolaw said:

Result of its sale to The Pen Family?

"Another one bites the dust!"

Freddie Mercury / Queen

[dbs]

11 hours ago, Charles Rice said:

I just saw the new web page for the Fountain Pen Hospital.  No Montblanc!  What's Up?

They were sold, and might move to Greenwich Village sometime this year.

 

Older generation is getting older and finally retired. But the younger generation shows no interesting of running a pen shop. With this amount of money in the pocket, they can run a bagel shop and earn more money. Same thing happened before when Blockbuster run out of business. I think fountain pen as a writing tool, reaches its end of life.

 

You will soon see Montblanc quit its pen business.

 

 

[torstar]

the long war of attrition between MB and sellers continues... 

[kazoolaw]

5 hours ago, dbs said:

You will soon see Montblanc quit its pen business.

 

 

“Soon” - how soon is soon?

[marlinspike]

This would make the 3rd well-known dealer I have heard of losing their Montblanc partnership. I think they only want to sell through their boutiques ultimately.

[pix]

Appelboom in the Netherlands does not carry Montblanc anymore, as well.

[Seney724]

3 hours ago, marlinspike said:

This would make the 3rd well-known dealer I have heard of losing their Montblanc partnership. I think they only want to sell through their boutiques ultimately.

My guess is this one  is not so straight forward.  There are lots of factors which might have played into it.

[marlinspike]

4 hours ago, pix said:

Appelboom in the Netherlands does not carry Montblanc anymore, as well.

 

 

2 hours ago, Seney724 said:

My guess is this one  is not so straight forward.  There are lots of factors which might have played into it.

Well, one thing we know is in recent months Casa della Stilografica, FPH, and Appelboom are no longer Montblanc ADs. I also know when Casa della Stilografica lost their partnership I wrote to voice my displeasure that it looked like they closed a long-standing dealer just for being close to their own boutique and got back basically a reply that was basically "meh, not my problem"

[VulcanVulcanVulcan]

6 hours ago, pix said:

Appelboom in the Netherlands does not carry Montblanc anymore, as well.

I still see a lot of Montblancs on their website: https://appelboom.com/index.php?route=product/manufacturer/info&manufacturer_id=9. Would that just be the remaining stock they have?

[JCC123]

If I were Appelboom and Montblanc did this to me I would buy a boatload of stock before the end and then proceed to dump it into the market at a low markup to cost afterwards. 😈

[JungleJim]

5 hours ago, VulcanVulcanVulcan said:

I still see a lot of Montblancs on their website: https://appelboom.com/index.php?route=product/manufacturer/info&manufacturer_id=9. Would that just be the remaining stock they have?

If you look at Appelbooms's brand list page you see :

" Please note that we only sell Montblanc items within Europe. You can also purchase Montblanc items from our store in Boston (physical and phone orders only(.

We are not allowed to ship in the United States until our online business account with Montblanc USA is approved. "

 

Unfortunately, Appelboom closed their Boston store recently.

[fpupulin]

On 4/12/2024 at 3:34 PM, dbs said:

I think fountain pen as a writing tool, reaches its end of life.

 

You will soon see Montblanc quit its pen business.

 

When, in the US, you have single companies making a yearly business higher than 10 million dollars just selling pens, I do not think this market should be described as dead. I remember reading the first time that Montblanc would have abandoned the pen business in 2000, 24 years ago.

 

For many years Montblanc has followed a policy of reducing sales points, probably with the aim of maintaining tighter control of its retail pricing system. Other companies, in other areas, have followed similar strategies, Rolex to name one, with some success.

 

I imagine that there are many reasons for ceasing to be Montblanc dealers, but it is certain that the Hamburg company "prefers" that dealers offer the entire Montblanc range, not just that of writing instruments. For some, this may not be a feasible option.

 

Without a doubt, "leaving" Montblanc represents a difficult choice for shops specializing in pens. I remember that Mr. Brunori, owner of one of the most important pen shops in Milan, commented to me about fifteen years ago that Montblanc represented almost 70 percent of his shop's entire turnover.

[rickap]

17 hours ago, pix said:

Appelboom in the Netherlands does not carry Montblanc anymore, as well.

What proof do you have of this?

 

[Misfit]

The Pen Place in KC still shows Montblanc on their website, with pens in stock. 

[Penguincollector]

  Fahrney’s also has them on their website still. Also, check your local airport or any you fly into. MontBlanc seems to opening a ton of airport shops. It’s a shame that old established pen stores are being dropped. Going to my family jeweler’s shop and selecting my graduation pen and getting to try all the nibs was a rite of passage. 

[marlinspike]

3 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

  Fahrney’s also has them on their website still. Also, check your local airport or any you fly into. MontBlanc seems to opening a ton of airport shops. It’s a shame that old established pen stores are being dropped. Going to my family jeweler’s shop and selecting my graduation pen and getting to try all the nibs was a rite of passage. 

The airport stores are a bit unusual. They aren't owned by Montblanc and used for more or less wholesaling, despite looking like Montblanc boutiques.

[marlinspike]

4 hours ago, rickap said:

What proof do you have of this?

 

 

I'm not one to repeat a conversation, but I'll just say I know it to be true.