Moving Update – Delays…

I’m sorry to say that there have been some unexpected delays. We had been keeping our fingers crossed, but I think that only works in the movies. I’m pretty disappointed with this, but we’re hoping it will all be worth it in the end.

We don’t have any firm dates yet, but the gist is we’re hoping to open the new store in late May, so we’re hoping to close May 16th, and plans to get up and running as soon as possible. The operative word here is “hope”, so everyone please do a rain dance for us. And if you come into the shop and you see Jon looking all mopey, you’ll know why.

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The good-ish news is that the renovations on our apartment are moving along! The way things are going, it looks like we might move into the new space, and we’ll be doing a bit of back and forth across the city to keep 906 open while we work on the shop space.

This is the door from our apartment into the packing area and office. I had thought I wanted a larger double door, but Jon opted for a single door. Now that I think about it, that is probably a good idea: as a small business owner, the lines between work and home are pretty blurry, but we’ve been making it a priority to be home when we’re home, if you know what I mean.

Caleb is a water baby, he could spend forever splashing around in his baby tub and floating in the water. He even loves just watching the dishes being washed in the sink, although I have a feeling that will end once he is the one who has to do the washing. 

The new apartment was originally a warehouse or industrial unit, so it’s been pretty insane trying to work out the plumbing and electrical to make it a live apartment. When we were working out the plans with the contractor, I had to work a bit of my magic to convince Jon that we needed to put in a tub in the new apartment for the baby. He rubbed his temples and said “fine.”

This is Jon pointing, and saying “This is where all the money is going: renovating the bathroom so Caleb can have a bathtub.”

Electrical wires hanging from the ceiling! Safety first, Jon!

Jon going to check out more electrical wires from the ceiling. Just kidding, he’s checking out the drywall or something.

Jon looking around scary bathroom number 2. As we have no basement, I’ve offered this to Jon as his man cave.

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We’ve been holding back on changing the date “just in case” a series of miracles all happened at once, but with contractors and subcontractors and building management and materials and delivery, it just doesn’t look like it’s going to happen on our original timeline. They say with renovations you should always add 10% to the cost and the timeframe, but man, those contractors are so convincing when they say, “oh yeah, everything will be fine…”

Thanks for sticking around with us. We’ll be sharing more news as soon as we can!

 

Leuchtturm Notebooks Price Increases

We got some bad news from our distributor this week – Leuctturm1917 is another product line that is seeing price increases.

As a pretty small Canadian business, we are certainly not trying to “lose touch” with our customers, and because we’re so small, we’ve gotten to know some of you pretty well. We do want to be transparent about why and how our prices are changing. It would be easy enough for us as a bricks & mortar shop to just raise prices in the store, but we do want to be open with you with how we do business.

These price changes are a reflection of the changing dollar and increased costs of doing business, for us when we import, but our Canadian distributors also feel the impact of a weak Canadian dollar.

We’ve been asked us to increase our prices up to MSRP. You may recall that in the last two months there was a big changeover in the distribution of Leuchtturm in North America – previously distributed by Kikkerland, Leuchtturm has now opened up its own distribution based out of the US, with Hornblower handling things here in Canada.

While these prices should not be much higher than you will see elsewhere – in the US, but also especially in Canada – I know price increases are not popular.

Our prices are going to rise as of next Friday, April 24th, 2015.

A5 Hardcover – $18 – $21.20
A5 Softcover – $15 – $17.85
A6 Softcover – $10 – $14.50
Master Slim – $27 – $31.30
Pen Loop – $4.75 – $5.55

Please take advantage of these prices while we have them! Remember that if you’d like to pick them up in store, but may not make it before the price increase, you can purchase them online and have them held for an in-store pick – this also makes sure you get the notebook and ruling you prefer.

I know that these price increases brings these notebooks to a similar price range as, for example, comparing the A5 Hardcover to the Rhodia Webnotebook ($22). At this similar price, you may opt for the higher quality paper in Rhodia, but keep in mind that Leuchtturm notebooks still have some pretty nice detail – page numbers, a table of contents (especially helpful for you bullet journalers), perforated pages at the back, and will also give you some faster dry time due to the slightly more absorbent paper (which can be a pro or con).

We are discontinuing the Leuchtturm Grey Linen Pocket – so if you are a fan of this notebook, now’s the time! Actually, this is one of my favourite notebooks, I guess because I’m a texture person, but they just aren’t doing well enough to keep on.

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Some customers have already expressed some disappointment in how our prices are changing, and we fully appreciate your feedback. We listen to everything we hear from our customers, and as much as possible, try to incorporate that into how our business runs.

We’ve been meaning to do this for while, but in light of these price increases, we’re going to add some more package deals and refresh the ones we currently have. Pen and ink and paper and pencil packages to help with trying out new pens or papers, and will also help you save a bit if you’re looking to get a set. We’ll be getting those up and announcing tomorrow.

Thanks again for staying with us for as long as you have, and we hope you’ll stay with us a bit longer.

How to Celebrate National Handwriting Day

It’s National Handwriting Day!

We often get people in the shop who are looking for a fountain pen in order to improve their handwriting, or tell us that they’ve noticed their handwriting improving since they’ve started using a new pen. I’m not sure if a fountain pen is necessarily a magic wand, but having gone through the effort of choosing to write with one, you may find you are writing more thoughtfully or intentionally.

However, that all being said, I think National Handwriting Day is also just a celebration of handwriting, whether or not it’s cursive or beautiful or legible (hopefully it’s legible…).

Here are a few ways you can celebrate:

1. Dust off that old fountain pen! Rummage through grandma’s drawer or try cleaning out and inking up a pen you haven’t used in a while. Sometimes an old tool gives you a fresh perspective.

2. Write a love letter to someone! Your wife! Your dog! Your favourite local pen shop!

3. Spend some time searching up the hashtag #calligraphy on Instagram, and immediately feel both desolate and hopeful about your own handwriting potential.

4. Google graphology, the art/science of handwriting analysis, and see what your handwriting says about you. Be prepared to attempt to change your handwriting…

5. Try something new! Normally write with an EF? Try an Italic! Die-hard printer? Try some Spencerian or copperplate. Try a new ink colour you might not naturally lean towards.

For many fountain pen users, every day is National Handwriting Day. We look for reasons to use our wonderful fountain pens and inks, and sometimes end up doodling. Today, however, is the day when we don’t necessarily seem so Willy Wonka, so go all out and celebrate! Have fun with your writing. Surprise your boss with a memo in your green scrawl. And ask for a raise while you’re at it.