Lamy Boutique Opens In San Francisco

[ErrantSmudge]

Lamy has opened a physical boutique store in San Francisco. It just opened this weekend, and has been in business for two days.

 

I found out about the boutique from the Goulet Pens feed on Facebook. According to Goulet:

 

This is a concept store, working with the new US distributor so they can get direct contact with Lamy fans in the US.

 

 

So I braved the steady downpour of rain here in San Francisco today to pay the store a visit.

 

 

 

 

 

A giant shrine to the Safari family occupies one wall, including Safari, and Al-Star in fountain pen, rollerball and ballpoint versions.

 

 

The Lamy store is well stocked, and seems as if it carries the entire Lamy product line, including some pens like the Accent which I have not seen available from U.S. dealers.

 

Display cases in the back hold the more upscale pens, such as the Scala, Accent, Studio, Dialog, and Imporium. The Aion and Lx are also in these cases.

 

 

 

 

Near the entrance are inks, as well as Joy calligraphy/art pens. The store also sells replacement nibs and stubs of different sizes for the Joy.

 

 

 

 

Behind the register are more inks including cartridges, and special color-matched gift boxes customers can purchase for gift-giving.

 

 

 

I purchased a bottle of Lamy Black ink, as well as a package of violet ink cartridges. I know more visits to the store will be in my future!!!

 

The Lamy store is at 645 Market Street in San Francisco, for those who would like to visit when they are in town.

 

Hours of operation:
10-7 Monday through Friday
11-6 Saturday
12-5 Sunday

Edited January 9, 2018 by ErrantSmudge

[PAKMAN]

Wow! Thanks for the great documentation of this new store! Rarely do I get to look at but a small portion of the Lamy line at any one store. Should be able to get any pen with any nib and any ink all in one place. How fun!

[ArchiMark]

Thanks for the great update and helpful photos. Looks like a great little shop.

 

Weird timing as I've been coming up to SF for bi-weekly meetings about a block away for the past 2 years and last Thursday may have been for the last time. Dang!....

 

Amazing to see a new brick and mortar shop open up after losing so many Bay Area stores in the past 5 - 10 years. Hope it's a new trend.

[pepsiplease69]

Thanks for the heads up.

 

Seems this address is very close to Montgomery Bart station.

[max dog]

Nice!!! I hope the boutiques multiply and appear soon in other cities.

[zaddick]

Thanks for the heads up. Looks like I will have to brave the slight uphill on Market Street to check it out. Ironically I just ordered my first LAMY pens last week from the old distributor. But I would like some more nib widths so this is good timing.

[max dog]

If I walked into that boutique, I am sure I would be walking out with a number of Safaris I never intended on getting. That Safari display is quite impressive. The boutique layout looks modern and clean, just like Lamy pens.

[inkstainedruth]

Nice!!! I hope the boutiques multiply and appear soon in other cities.

 

+1 on that!

Although I don't have much hope in them coming to Pittsburgh....

Just for curiosity's sake (having never been to CA at all) -- were there any other pen shops in the Bay Area that carried Lamy pens? And if so, does this undercut their potential future sales?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: Just took another look at that Safari display. It's way bigger than the countertop carousel that Birmingham Pens had.... Does it have space available for this year's new LE colors?

Edited January 9, 2018 by inkstainedruth

[ErrantSmudge]

 

+1 on that!

Although I don't have much hope in them coming to Pittsburgh....

Just for curiosity's sake (having never been to CA at all) -- were there any other pen shops in the Bay Area that carried Lamy pens? And if so, does this undercut their potential future sales?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: Just took another look at that Safari display. It's way bigger than the countertop carousel that Birmingham Pens had.... Does it have space available for this year's new LE colors?

 

I can think of a few places in San Francisco where Lamy pens can be purchased, but only Safaris. Patrick & Co is a stationery store carrying Lamy, and Mai-Do in Japantown is another stationery shop carrying Lamy along with several Japanese brands such as Sailor and Pilot. Some art supply stores like Arch carries the Safari, and Flax is another art supply store carrying the Safari and maybe some of Lamy's higher-end pens.

 

San Francisco does have a Montblanc boutique within walking distance of the Lamy boutique, but they carry Montblanc's entire line not just pens.

 

But, the SF Bay Area doesn't have a brand-agnostic specialty pen shop that is losing out on potential sales. Those all went out of business several years ago. Making the appearance of this Lamy boutique even more surprising.

Edited January 9, 2018 by ErrantSmudge

[ErrantSmudge]

Oh, yes, I haven't seen the new 2018 LE colors on display at the boutique. The salesperson remarked on my Petrol LE and said they didn't have any of those in the store. I imagine they will have to appear at some point.

[ParkerDuofold]

To put it simply...

 

:puddle: :puddle: , etc., etc.

 

 

I hope it does so well that they open one in my neck of the woods.

 

 

- Anthony

 

P.S.: Thank you, ES, for the field work.

 

 

EDITED to correct typo.

Edited January 9, 2018 by ParkerDuofold

[Calabria]

Thanks for posting those pictures! I'd definitely want one of those red pen cases.

 

Why SF? Maybe the techies like old media?

[Calabria]

PS Pretty gutsy to open a store focused on

affordable fountain pens in this era!

Who else would do that?

[jchch1950]

I wish that they will open more Lamy boutiques around the world.

[piblondin]

I can think of a few places in San Francisco where Lamy pens can be purchased, but only Safaris. Patrick & Co is a stationery store carrying Lamy, and Mai-Do in Japantown is another stationery shop carrying Lamy along with several Japanese brands such as Sailor and Pilot. Some art supply stores like Arch carries the Safari, and Flax is another art supply store carrying the Safari and maybe some of Lamy's higher-end pens.

 

San Francisco does have a Montblanc boutique within walking distance of the Lamy boutique, but they carry Montblanc's entire line not just pens.

 

But, the SF Bay Area doesn't have a brand-agnostic specialty pen shop that is losing out on potential sales. Those all went out of business several years ago. Making the appearance of this Lamy boutique even more surprising.

Flax sells pretty much the full range of Lamy pens and several other brands. Not the greatest selection, but it's something.

[BEEG]

Wow, what a great news, I'm going there in a week

Edited January 13, 2018 by BEEG

[jgmgrg]

And I know they're not people's favorite but Moleskine is right there - either next door or a couple of doors down from there.

[LanceSaintPaul]

That's quite an investment - I hope it pays off to the point that they proliferate too! (I'd like to see them add vintage, used, refurbished "Heritage" Lamy's to the mix in time.)

Edited January 16, 2018 by LanceSaintPaul

[ErrantSmudge]

And I know they're not people's favorite but Moleskine is right there - either next door or a couple of doors down from there.

 

From the Lamy store, a block away at 560 Market Street (on the opposite side of the street) lies Patrick & Co., a local stationery shop which carries notebooks including Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Leuchtterm, Fabriano and yes, Moleskine.

 

I recommend a side visit to Patrick & Co. if you are going to the Lamy store.

[Arielle Finberg]

>Why SF? Maybe the techies like old media?

 

My understanding is that the Lamy Safari is popular with the tech crowd in the SF Bay Area and the nearby Silicon Valley. (In fact, thats how I got into fountain pens in the first place. I kept reading about techs Safaris EDCs on their tech blogs (Im a retired tech), and finally decided to try one to see what all the fuss was about!) Also, perhaps more importantly, San Francisco has become a city of the very rich and poor. Not much of a middle class living there any more. So San Franciscans, and the upper middle class who can afford to commute or visit there, might have enough supplementary income to keep such a store in business.

 

(The good news for me is that these concept boutiques often eventually show up here in Sacramento, at least for awhile. I can hope, anyway. )

Edited January 22, 2018 by Arielle