Looking For A Pen Shop In My Area

[yourNibs]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone knew of any pen shops in Virginia? Preferably around the Christiansburg/Blacksburg area. I enjoy shopping online, but I think it would be really great to actually be able to see some pens and maybe sample them prior to purchasing them.

 

Thanks,

youNibs

[Subscript]

Sorry to say you'll have to make the drive to DC. Pen shops have evaporated.

 

I'm sure you could stop in and say hi to the Goulets in Ashland (also a drive) - but they are not a bricks & mortar store.

[Moshe ben David]

Sorry to say you'll have to make the drive to DC. Pen shops have evaporated.

 

I'm sure you could stop in and say hi to the Goulets in Ashland (also a drive) - but they are not a bricks & mortar store.

 

Fahrney's in DC is the best locally; there's also a Paradise Pen in Tyson's Center -- maybe check on-line for Paradise Pen to see about locations in malls closer to you. Personally I like Fahrney's better.

[Bill]

 

Fahrney's in DC is the best locally; there's also a Paradise Pen in Tyson's Center -- maybe check on-line for Paradise Pen to see about locations in malls closer to you. Personally I like Fahrney's better.

While I like Fahrney's, I would say that Bertram's is the best in the DC area…better for both selection and prices.

 

And don't forget Pen Haven if you like vintage pens. There is another Paradise Pen at Pentagon City and one down (up?) in Richmond that I have not visited.

 

Of course, the DC pen show is worth the drive.

[Bill]

Oops, I forgot that Levenger's again carries major FP brands besides their own brand True Writer.

 

So in Tysons you have Paradise Pen, Levenger, Montblanc (actually next door at the Galleria). In Kensington you have Bertram's and Pen Haven. In Arlington you have Paradise Pen. Downtown you have Fahrney's.

[Bill]

SIX PEN SHOPS ALONG THE METRO!

 

Excuse me for shouting but I just realized I have a headline. The first phase of the DC Metro Silver Line is scheduled to open in January. Pen fans who visit DC will be able to visit four dedicated pen shops plus a Montblanc boutique and a Levenger store without having to walk more than a block and a half from a Metro station!

 

Bertram's Inkwell (White Flint)

Fahrney's (Metro Center)

Paradise Pen (Pentagon City)

Paradise Pen (Tysons Corner Center)

Levenger (Tysons Corner Center)

Montblanc (Tysons Galleria)

 

The exception is Pen Haven which is about 2.5 miles from the White Flint station, a 15-minute bus ride or 8+ minutes by car.

 

One of the three Tysons stations will be a couple of blocks away from the hotel that has been used for the DC Pen Show. After the new line opens I may do some route testing then start a thread with complete directions for a six-store, four-stop "Pen Tour of DC." Maybe I should craft routes from that hotel as well as from Reagan National where there is another Metro stop. Actually, you could fly into DC and visit three pen stores and over 400 others without stepping outside ;-) Apple and Microsoft stores, book and stationery stores, and cool restaurants, too. Of course, the best stores, Bertram's and Fahrney's would require walking a few hundred feet in the fresh air ;-)

Edited October 29, 2013 by Bill

[Moshe ben David]

While I like Fahrney's, I would say that Bertram's is the best in the DC area…better for both selection and prices.

 

And don't forget Pen Haven if you like vintage pens. There is another Paradise Pen at Pentagon City and one down (up?) in Richmond that I have not visited.

 

Of course, the DC pen show is worth the drive.

 

I'd forgotten about Bertram's Inkwell. I shopped there once and was quite impressed; Bert is knowledgeable and really worked with me to find what I needed. But I thought Pen Haven was now defunct? Where are (were?) they located?

[Bill]

 

I'd forgotten about Bertram's Inkwell. I shopped there once and was quite impressed; Bert is knowledgeable and really worked with me to find what I needed. But I thought Pen Haven was now defunct? Where are (were?) they located?

 

I haven't been to Pen Haven in over a year so I cannot speak to their status. They are/were at 3730 Howard in Kensington, open on the weekends...in antique row just off Connecticut Ave., a little north of the Beltway. Their web site is up but it is static/dated. Google Street View is from April 2012. Yelp has a review from March. I was at Bertram's today at the annual pen show and did not even think about slipping over to Pen Haven. Nor did I think to ask because the two Berts know each other.

 

In my previous posts I forgot yet another DC area pen store. That is the Pen Boutique in the Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, also home to another Papyrus -- as well as one of the nine local Apple stores ;-) They also have a second mall store in Columbia but I consider that more of the Baltimore area than DC.

 

Bill

[WirsPlm]

Pen Haven's owner died, I believe, and that shop isn't operating any more. Speerbob is apparently the one liquidating the Pen Haven inventory https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/255317-unknown-modern-pen/

[Felix1]

I met Martin Ferguson at the DC Pen Show and he's active in the Richmond Pen Club.

 

Suggest dropping him a line at martinspens51@verizon.net to see if he has any suggestions closer to your area.

 

Alternatively, Sam Marshall at richmondpenclub@marshall-assoc.com

[yourNibs]

Hmm, too bad. Thanks for the input, everybody. I guess I'll have to plan a trip to DC sometime.