Pelikan is in Trouble

[Olya]

Sadly, it seems Pelikan is facing financial trouble, which has affected the workers (letting go, late salaries, cut benefits and bonuses) at the factory as well as the factory itself (lack of investment to modernize).

 

This is a terrible summary of this very excellent and highly recommended blog post

 

https://thepelikansperch.com/2021/07/03/pelikan-peine-vohrum-factory-protest/

 

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/ofcyzg/trouble_in_the_world_of_pelikan_not_what_i_want/

 

[TgeekB]

Unfortunately, many companies globally have been negatively affected due to the pandemic. Many people are choosing to leave their current jobs. Hopefully they can find their way out of this. 

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

that is very sad

It would be a shame for the world to lose such an important manufacturer.

 

[MHBru]

A world without Pelikan is unthinkable and they have my sincere hope for a full recovery.

[sgphototn]

It seems the holding company that controls Pelikan has decided that the potential for Pelikan manufacturing in Germany is no longer profitable. 

 

Without substantial cost saving endeavors it's likely to close the German operation, sell off the Pelikan name and assets, and move on to more profitable ventures.

 

Or take the Pelikan brand elsewhere (most likely Asia), retool, automate more manufacturing, have fewer employees, and concentrate on fewer models.

 

Maybe I'll hold on the my M1000 for a while longer as collectors will drive up prices. 

 

 

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

31 minutes ago, sgphototn said:

It seems the holding company that controls Pelikan has decided that the potential for Pelikan manufacturing in Germany is no longer profitable. 

 

Without substantial cost saving endeavors it's likely to close the German operation, sell off the Pelikan name and assets, and move on to more profitable ventures.

 

Or take the Pelikan brand elsewhere (most likely Asia), retool, automate more manufacturing, have fewer employees, and concentrate on fewer models.

 

Maybe I'll hold on the my M1000 for a while longer as collectors will drive up prices. 

 

 

Well, if you're right, then I hope Pelikan just shuts down completely.

The quality of Chinese pens is certainly not in the range that anyone should be willing to pay Pelikan prices for!

(and I say this as someone who has multiple wing sung 601s and loves them!)

 

Part of the reason that Pelikan can charge what they do is because people know and accept that European labour is very expensive. Chinese labour is cheap and everyone knows it, and people would be flat out stupid to pay Pelikan prices for a pen they KNOW was made for a fraction of the original cost and likely with a significant drop in quality/quality control.

 

It is likely better to let it die than to do that with it... (hello?... Parker?...)

The best outcome would be that Pelikan manages to sort out their finances and keep operating as they are.

The second best outcome is that maybe a rich German investor who has an appreciation for history and fountain pens will step in and buy it... Actually, this might even be preferable to them continuing to be owned by a "holding company"...

 

Or maybe Lamy will rescue them... stranger things have happened (nike and converse for example)

 

If they move to China, then the name is better off dead.

Better to have no new Pelikans than bad pens with the Pelikan name on them.

 

I am really regretting not having bought a Pelikan yet... 😕 I've tried a couple and they were exceptionally nice.

They simply are not in my budget, they are my "if I won the lottery" pen brand.

 

PS: I have no illusions that the holding company who currently controls Pelikan gives two figs what we think beyond what sells and taking our money. I am not stupid enough to believe anyone there cares at all what happens to Pelikan's reputation, they just want money. So, here's hoping for a rich investor who believes in the history and heritage of Pelikan, coming in and saving the brand.

[maclink]

It can be quite sad/concerning, reading how these companies change hands and end up being owned by huge corporations that have no genuine interest or passion for the products being manufactured.  It typically leads to a loss of quality or just plain stagnation or 'short-cutting' without any meaningful innovation.

 

I don't see a bright future for Pelikan, but nothing is permanent and there are new companies with passionate owners emerging.  

[Olya]

5 hours ago, TgeekB said:

Unfortunately, many companies globally have been negatively affected due to the pandemic. Many people are choosing to leave their current jobs. Hopefully they can find their way out of this. 

Sadly it's not just a pandemic issue, this has been an issue for 10 years and workers have (rightly) complained for years with various promises made by Pelikan during that time of which none came to fruition.

 

I also hope they pull through, but sadly nothing is forever.

[bunnspecial]

This is really bad news.

 

I suppose it probably explains why stock has seemingly been thin on most Pelikan pens and even some inks this year. At various times, I've looked into buying a new M1000(a pen I can't make up my mind if I want or not, but figure buying one is the easiest way to figure that out) but stock is spotty from US and international retailers both.

 

I hope that first of all they can get the workers paid, regardless of the fate of the company. I have a lot of sympathy for workers not getting paid, and little sympathy for companies that skip payroll.

 

My general observation is that they don't have much trouble selling their products, so I'd be curious to know how the money issues originated in the first place. Montblanc is probably the closest comparison, although they have much better brand recognition(for better or worse) and also, again for better or worse, a significantly wider variety of products. Pelikan is a pure pen company.

 

I hope there's an 11th hour intervention that saves them, though. I go back and forth on modern Pelikan products, but certainly don't want to see them go.

[A Smug Dill]

8 hours ago, IThinkIHaveAProblem said:

The second best outcome is that maybe a rich German investor who has an appreciation for history and fountain pens will step in and buy it... Actually, this might even be preferable to them continuing to be owned by a "holding company"...

 

⋮

So, here's hoping for a rich investor who believes in the history and heritage of Pelikan, coming in and saving the brand.

 

The slight ‘problem’ I have with @IThinkIHaveAProblem's solution formulation above is it's unduly limiting. Any Chinese, British or American egomaniacal billionaire who has more money than he/she can throw away in three lifetimes can have an appreciation for fountain pens, German manufacture, and the Pelikan brand. To me, it would be just as good for consumers such as ourselves for a private investor to snap up the Pelikan name and assets, and decide to keep the factory where it is for now because that is what pleases him/her — as opposed to other Pelikan fans, concerned German citizens, or fountain pen hobbyists at large — while control of the company's fate stays in the hands of an ‘outsider’ who simply doesn't identify with others who want to have a say in its future.

 

I like Pelikan, I appreciate German manufacture, but I don't buy Pelikan because it reflects something of the German cultural spirit, essence or tastes; I buy (some models of) Pelikan pens because they are good pens that suit my preferences, which can in no way be construed as German. Of course I don't have the money to buy the company, but I certainly hope someone who can afford to own it as if it was a personal pet could do so, and there is no reason why that ‘saviour’ has to be German in origin, self-identity or geopolitical allegiance.

 

 

[sgphototn]

I've decided there's something worse than Pelikan going out of business.

That's Pelikan being bought out by Yafa.

[Toll]

I am not a Pelikan collector, nor do I even use a Pelikan that often — I only own one — but I appreciate their heritage and their products. I am saddened to learn about their financial woes, and I hope a solution emerges that keeps them whole. 

[TgeekB]

6 hours ago, Olya said:

Sadly it's not just a pandemic issue, this has been an issue for 10 years and workers have (rightly) complained for years with various promises made by Pelikan during that time of which none came to fruition.

 

I also hope they pull through, but sadly nothing is forever.

Thank you Olya. I did not know that and it makes matters even worse.

I have only recently become a Pelikan fan and am learning to appreciate their history as well as excellent vintage offerings. I do also have a modern m400. It would be a shame to see them go. 

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

2 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

The slight ‘problem’ I have with @IThinkIHaveAProblem's solution formulation above is it's unduly limiting. Any Chinese, British or American egomaniacal billionaire who has more money than he/she can throw away in three lifetimes can have an appreciation for fountain pens, German manufacture, and the Pelikan brand. To me, it would be just as good for consumers such as ourselves for one of private investors to snap up the Pelikan name and assets, and decide to keep the factory where it is for now because that is what pleases him/her — as opposed to other Pelikan fans, concerned German citizens, or fountain pen hobbyists at large — while control of the company's fate stays in the hands of an ‘outsider’ who simply doesn't identify with others who want to have a say in its future.

 

I like Pelikan, I appreciate German manufacture, but I don't buy Pelikan because it reflects something of the German cultural spirit, essence or tastes. Of course I don't have the money to buy the company, but I certainly hope someone who can afford to own it as if it was a personal pet could do so, and there is no reason why that ‘saviour’ has to be German in origin, self-identity or geopolitical allegiance.

I agree with you.

As I wrote it, I was thinking more along the lines that a rich German investor would be more likely to keep things in Germany. But if a rich Canadian (or other nationality) investor wants to buy it and do the same (keep things in Germany as they are) then by all means, rich investor, please do so!

[bill88]

30 minutes ago, IThinkIHaveAProblem said:

 But if a rich Canadian (or other nationality) investor wants to buy it and do the same (keep things in Germany as they are) then by all means, rich investor, please do so!

How about a bunch of us pool a few bucks together and make them an offer.

 

How would you like to not only own a Pelikan pen, but the company as well? 

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

Just now, bill88 said:

How about a bunch of us pool a few bucks together and make them an offer.

 

How would you like to not only own a Pelikan pen, but the company as well? 

sounds great... anyone wanna start us off by pledging the first million or so Euros?...

 

[Christopher Godfrey]

bunnspecial wrote: <...Montblanc is probably the closest comparison...> and I do not agree with this, for MB is part of a <huge> group with bags of money behind it!  (Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA with annual revenue of over 300 millionEUR!)

 

Compared with these figures, Pelikan probably looks "small-fry"!  No comparison, in fact?

[nibtip]

400 million sale of German logistics center Pelikan proposes special dividend

ttps://translate.google.com/translate?hl=fr&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theedgemarkets.com%2Farticle%2F百利金暂停交易1小时-拟以8100万欧元售德国物流中心&prev=search

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

17 minutes ago, nibtip said:

400 million sale of German logistics center Pelikan proposes special dividend

ttps://translate.google.com/translate?hl=fr&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theedgemarkets.com%2Farticle%2F百利金暂停交易1小时-拟以8100万欧元售德国物流中心&prev=search

I like this part:

 

"The group also said that the proposed lease will ensure that its current operations will not be severely disrupted in the short term and that the group will continue to operate at its existing location."

 

[readytotalk]

3 hours ago, nibtip said:

400 million sale of German logistics center Pelikan proposes special dividend

Sadly, but it`s only 81M in Euro.

And I wonder what will happen to Pelikan after 5-year lease period expires?

What if the tenant refuses to renew the lease?
Looks risky...