The Pleasure of Writing - A Must-Stop Shop in beautiful Carmel

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

One of the many things I love about living in California, and specifically the Bay Area, is the proximity to the beach. And while there are hundreds of miles of beaches up and down the California coast, one of my favorites happens to be at Carmel-by-the-Sea.

The GoodYear blimp was overhead for the nearby ProAm at the world famous Pebble Beach golf course.

Just 10 miles south of Monterey and about 100 miles south of San Francisco, Carmel is a cute little town that is a little bit Rodeo Drive meets beach town. It has a variety of local shops, restaurants, art galleries and more, all along 5-6 blocks of the main thoroughfare. And one of those shops is The Pleasure of Writing, IG: thepleasureofwriting

The Pleasure of Writing, formerly Bittner Pens, is a treasure trove of pens and all things stationery. The Pleasure of Writing was founded in 1991 by Detlef Bittner and recently celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2021. Detlef sold the business last year to Helmut Fritz, who originally wanted to retire and travel the world but then Covid hit and travel was off limits. Being a Carmel resident, Helmut had visited the store on many occasions and found out Detlef was looking to retire from the pen business and felt this was a good way to spend his time and energy.

The shop is tucked away in a little alcove at the corner of Ocean Avenue and San Carlos Street, and a yellow sign above the shop reads Bittner The Pleasure of Writing (though I’m sure they are working on getting a new sign made).

Silly me, I took a selfie and forgot to take a picture of the front of the shop without me in it, lol!

Inside, what greets you is a cozy space that’s filled with pen, ink and paper goodness! And in my case, I was lucky enough to be greeted by Helmut himself!

A friendly Helmut greeted me with a smile!

Maybe the first thing that catches your eye is the Montblanc display, I mean, that’s the first thing I saw before I saw Helmut! Or maybe it’s the walls of stunning, well-lit pen displays. Or the notebooks and stationery…

Some of these have me drooling, like that MB Aviator Doue…

Many things have stayed the same since the change of ownership. One thing that is new is that The Pleasure of Writing is now an authorized Montblanc retailer. Helmut told me that they are the only independent Montblanc shop on the west coast (that aren’t online only or Montblanc boutiques). Prior to this, the Montblancs that were sold here were from consignment or otherwise previously owned. Now, they have added Montblanc to their inventory which is great news; it is less great if you are an international shopper as Montblanc does not allow them to ship out of the US, and if you’re a US shopper but want to buy them online, per Montblanc’s regulations, they are not allowed to sell the pens online (though you can see pictures, read descriptions on the website and then reach out to them to place an order).

There are several displays of pens throughout the store and the staff are always happy to open them up to show them to you. Wendy, who has been working at the store for years, was also there when I stopped by. Here are some of the stunning pens she showed me during my visit.

Fancy Pelikan== Pelikan Seven Treasures and M1000 White Ray.

The new Ammiraglio pens in four US-exclusive colors from Montegrappa.

I’ve never seen a Dragon Phoenix Visconti before!

One of the urushi Lamy Dialog 3.

The Lingua Pacifica David Oscarson collection was exclusively made for The Pleasure of Writing.

The store has a decent selection of inks, but one of the things that really stand out is their variety of high quality paper products. From stunning Paperblanks notebooks to Italian stationery, to notecards by Crane and G. Lalo, as well as Leuchtturm, Nebula Notebooks, Clairefontaine and more, The Pleasure of Writing makes sure there is no shortage of great paper to write on!

Enough inks to tide you over, but it’s the paper that is the eye candy here!

These Italian letter sets are fountain pen friendly AND gorgeous!

Wall of notebooks, letter sets and note cards.

So if you’re ever in the area, or even a couple hours away, do yourself a favor and visit The Pleasure of Writing. And if you still have time after looking at all the wonderful stuff in the shop, make sure you walk down the hill and enjoy the dog-friendly beach too. Oh, and if you’re in the Los Angeles area this weekend, you can find them at the LA Pen Show too!

Gratuitous beach picture with our doggo...or is that a gratuitous dog picture at the beach?

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Atlas Stationers - So Many Aisles, So Little Time

Atlas Stationers is housed in the ground floor of a 140 year old building. (Image via Atlas Stationers)

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

After the Chicago Pen Show a couple months ago, I got a chance to pop into the Atlas Stationers store in downtown Chicago. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a lot of time to really do a proper visit but what little I managed to see gave me a reason to come back and spend at least half a day next time I’m in Chicago.

Atlas Stationers is located at 227 W Lake Street, Chicago, IL 60606 and their hours are Mon - Fri from 9:00am - 5:00pm and Saturday from 10:00am - 2:00pm (be sure to check their website for holiday hours).

Atlas Stationers was founded by Aloysius (pronounced al-oh-IH-shus) Schmidt in 1939 as an office supply store and the Schmidt family continues to run the business to this day. Don, Therese, Brian and Brendan Schmidt all have different roles at Atlas Stationers. Don (and grandson of Aloysius) is the President of Atlas and oversees all of the operations at Atlas Stationers. His wife, Therese, is the general manager of the retail store and also in charge of shipping and receiving; if you’ve ever received an order from Atlas, you’ve probably seen Therese’s handwritten notes in your package. Sons Brian and Brendan are the 4th generation of Schmidts to be a part of the family business, which I think is pretty cool. Brian is the VP at Atlas and handles accounting as well as purchasing for the fine writing department (aka non-office supplies). And last, but not least, Brendan manages the fine writing side of the retail store, along with customer service, vendor relations and social media. In fact, you’ve probably seen Brendan on Instagram doing IG Live sessions as well as hosting giveaways and brand takeovers. I love watching the rivalry between Brendan, the Chicago Bears fan, and Bryce Gillett of Luxury Brands of America, the Green Bay Packers fan – as a SF 49ers fan, I’m staying out of this one, lol.

In March 2020, Atlas Stationers did a major relaunch of their website, moving onto a Shopify platform. This made it easier for customers to buy pretty much everything you can buy from their retail store (except some office supplies).

Upon entering the store, you are greeted with well-lit displays of fine writing instruments from Pilot, Visconti, Lamy, Waldmann, Esterbrook, Leonardo, Narwhal and more.

Walk in, look right and bam, pens galore!

This is the view you’re likely to see in IG videos. This doesn’t even capture all of the displays in the store.

How many brands can you spot in this display? I see Leonardo, Waldmann, Narwhal, Sensa, TWSBI and some Benu too!

Loads of Lamys.

Visconti Ember (left) and Van Gogh Novel Reader (right) - Trust me, they are even more beautiful in person!

The Limited Edition Visconti QWERTY fountain pen - you don’t get to see that every day!

In addition to their wide selection of fountain pens and other fine writing instruments, I found aisles and aisles of paper and notebooks from Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Filofax, Leuchtturm and Hobonichi, as well as other stationery goods including greeting cards and office supplies like Post-it notes, pens, pencils, envelopes, etc.

The Filofax and Moleskine notebooks are just beyond the front register.

A satisfying display of fully-stocked, colorful Leuchtturm.

Down the aisle, you’ll find Rhodia and Clairefontaine notebooks and notepads

Everything you need to stock your office!

This picture doesn’t even capture half the store!

They also have a wide range of fountain pen inks (and other refills) along with a binder of swatches which I forgot to take photos of, oops. Brands include favorites like Diamine, Robert Oster and Colorverse as well as Anderilium and Laban and more!

Look at all those inks! This inkophile approves!

Another peek at part of the ink aisle, including gifts in the back and the black binder of swatches next to the Conklin/Monteverde pen display.

Sometimes you need a last-minute gift or need a distraction for your younger shopping companions (ok, maybe you needed to bribe them to go to the store), they also have tons of fun items for both kids and grownups including puzzles, candles, toys and books.

How cute are these stuffies from JellyCat?!?

The mushroom or the plants? Or maybe the pretzel? I can’t decide!

I mean, who doesn’t need a pair of these?

Candles, Chicago souvenirs and yes, more plushies!

Greeting cards and wrapping paper and gift bags (for those adorable JellyCat stuffies, of course).

As you can see, the Atlas Stationers store has a wide variety of stationery and gifts, but what you can’t photograph is their customer service. All of the staff (and not just the Schmidts) are helpful, courteous and really focus on making people feel at home and comfortable in their store. If you ever get a chance to visit Chicago, you should definitely plan to spend some time here and maybe you can help me pick out my next JellyCat plushy :-)

Anderson Pens Chicago - A Quick Walkthrough

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

A couple weeks ago after the Chicago show, I did a quick walkthrough of the Anderson Pens store in downtown Chicago. My last visit was when they were setting up the store for the first time in May of 2018. For most of last year and this year, they’ve had to shut down their store when the historic Palmer Hotel, in which they are located, closed for 15 months due to Covid. The hotel has since reopened, though not to full capacity as of this writing, but this allowed the Andersons (Brian and Lisa) to reopen their store as well.

Brian and the rest of the Anderson Pens staff work at their main location in Appleton, WI while Lisa runs this Chicago location. They officially reopened on September 20, 2021, a week before the Palmer Hotel’s 150th Anniversary. As of my visit in early October, masks are required to enter the Palmer Hotel and therefore, also required for the stores inside.

The historic Palmer House, located at 17 E. Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois where you can find Anderson Pens Chicago.

The Tiffany Peacock doors inside the Palmer House. Anderson Pens did a collaboration with Retro 51 to produce the exclusive Palmer rollerball which was inspired by these doors. I can’t believe I forgot to bring mine for a photo op!

The Anderson Pens shop greets you with its brightly lit and spacious interior.

As you enter, on the right, there is a wall of paper and notebooks from many different brands and countries.

Leuchtturm, Rhodia, and Clairefontaine, anyone? -more paper-Itoya Profolio, Life notebooks and those adorable pen cases!!

On the opposite side of the shop is another wall, this time filled with inks from Sailor, Aurora, Lamy, Iroshizuku, Jacques Herbin, Colorverse and more!

Sailor? Iroshizuku? Kobe? Yeah, they got those.

Jacques Herbin? Colorverse? Esterbrook? Caran d’Ache? That and more!

And if you need to see what those inks look like, they have binders with ink swatches (that you’ve probably seen on their website) as well as an ink testing station for the Iroshizuku inks too.

Ink swatch binders are so helpful when making ink buying decisions.

Paper and inks are great, of course, but let’s not forget the pens! Pens from all the major brands are represented here, from Pilot and Sailor to Esterbrooks, Lamy, Retro51 and more!

Esterbrook Esties, JRs, Camdens (can you spot Patience the pen rest and Honey the book holder?)

Pilot Metropolitans in a rainbow of colors (top) and along with Y-Studio, including the Classic Fountain Pen in five new colors!

Colorful Retro51s and Lamy Studios, Aions and L2Ks galore!

During my brief visit, John Lane from Coles of London was there to show off their beautiful Visconti and S.T. Duponts. I was so busy chatting it up with John and Lisa that I forgot to take pictures of the pens! I hate it when I do that, lol! Brian was busy helping a customer which is why he and some of the other pen displays are not pictured.

You can tell John Lane and Lisa Anderson are smiling underneath their masks because their eyes are smiing!! And if you zoom in, you’ll see a couple of Duponts that will be coming later this fall! (Permission was given to include the pens in this picture.)

So, if you’re in the Chicago area and want to see a smiling face who can help you with your pen and stationery needs, definitely go check out the Anderson Pens store in Chicago. Store hours are Monday-Saturday from 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM and Sunday from 12:00 PM to 4:00pm. Most of the time, you’ll see Lisa but occasionally, you might catch Brian too. They plan on looking for part-time help as the holidays get closer, so if you’re local and would love to share your passion for pens and stationery, you should definitely reach out. And if you go, tell them I said hi!

(Neither this article nor my brief visit was paid for, nor sponsored, in any way by Anderson Pens. I’m just a shopaholic with a stationery affliction and LOVE pen stores!)