I say “Fountain Pen Day Weekend”, because the celebration always starts early and keeps going through Sunday night. Today’s post might be relatively brief, because we’ve seen a steady stream of customers in the shop on Thursday and Friday, and I’m looking forward to a busy Saturday, which is always our busiest day anyway! It’s always fun to go to work with this particular business, but here are five reasons why I feel Fountain Pen Day is important and why I continue to support the annual event:
Building a Greater Sense of Community. I truly do hope that Fountain Pen Day remains something more than just an early “Black Friday,” because it’s important to take a day to remember that there’s a large community of enthusiasts around the world that values writing by hand and what it represents. While those of us who are able to visit a pen show or two (or seven) annually get this fix in person, for many that’s not possible, and Fountain Pen Day might be the next best thing.
A Reason to “Go Shopping” in Your Own Collection or Stash. I personally choose three or four pen and ink pairings from my personal collection that I haven’t used in far too long, and rediscover why I enjoy them. It’s a bit of an annual tradition during the week leading up to Fountain Pen Day to clean out everything I currently have inked and choose a fresh set that will close out the year. Do you have any Fountain Pen Day traditions?
An Excuse to Try New Writing Styles. Another “tradition” is that I choose a new-to-me writing instrument, ink, paper, or other writing-related accessory to broaden my horizons. This year it’s been the fine fibre-tipped brush pen. While I’ve spent most of the year getting deep into the refillable fineliner category, I recently inked up the Kuretake Karappo fine brush pen and really enjoyed it. It’s slightly firmer than a traditional brush pen, so you can use it for actual writing while still maintaining a touch of line variation.
Save Some Money. Yes, sometimes it’s nice to get a price break, especially if you’re trying a new brand or style of pen. While I always offer as much of a discount as I can for Fountain Pen Day, this year I wanted to do something to help beginners find their way in the increasingly crowded and confusing paper segment. Customers have asked for a fountain pen friendly paper “sampler” that allows them to try out various brands without having to purchase full notebooks or writing pads, so I assembled a limited number of them containing some of our more popular paper offerings. If this product gets a good reception, I’ll try to expand the selection and add it as a regular item.
An Opportunity to Support Your Local Artisans and Retailers, and Smaller Manufacturers. While it may seem self-interested since I’m a retailer and business owner in this space, I feel an obligation to remind everyone that this is a hard business. Margins are low and smaller retailers and makers face competition every day from bulk sellers, discounters, and the online giants of the world that encourage indiscriminate buying of “all the things” as opposed to more considered purchases of items that are both useful and well-made, and will serve you well for a long-time. I’ve always tried to focus both the site (and later, my shop) on this latter category. Every holiday season, whether it’s Fountain Pen Day or Black Friday, remember that where you spend your dollars matters, and if there’s a brand or maker that you love and want to remain in business, be sure to support them when it counts.
While our supply of Fountain Pen Day Swag is running very low, we do have a few buttons and bookmarks remaining. I will continue to add these to orders placed through the weekend. Be sure to check out this post for all of our Fountain Pen Day specials.
Our brick-and-mortar location is open today from 10am - 6pm, and we’re continuing our 10%-off promotion on most brands through Sunday night at 11:59pm, U.S. Central Time. Keep your eye on this page here for updated hours and details on our location. Our door is along the walkway behind the “Flex Alarms” office!