Colorado Pen Company

[ThreeForMe]

Colorado Pen company was the first pen company I was introduced to after I started to use fountain pens, many years ago.  My daughter is moving to Colorado Springs for college and will be going for Army ROTC.  She and I do an annual trip into manhattan to visit the Lamy store and the Fountain Pen Hospital.

 

Does Colorado Pen Company have a physical storefront?  I've searched their site and these forums but I haven't found any photos or threads about Colorado Pen Company as a physical store versus online-only retailer.  Does anyone have any insight?

 

Thank you!

--Mark

[goodpens]

I do not know the status of Colorado Pen Co, but can recommend Meininger’s (the Denver location) for an excellent selection of fountain pens, inks, and paper. 

[markofp]

Colorado Pen Company used to have physical storefronts in higher end shopping malls, this is going back 20 to 25 years ago or longer. Some of them became Paradise Pen Company, others shut down. As far as I know, they are now on-line only.

[ThreeForMe]

Thank you goodpens and markofp!  Great info.  I found a Meininger's in both Denver and Colorado Springs.  Although they are art stores, it looks like they have more than the basics for fountain pen ink, paper, converters, etc.  I have not even read/heard of that store.  Thank you so much for the information!!!

[JakobS]

On 8/7/2021 at 9:03 PM, markofp said:

Colorado Pen Company used to have physical storefronts in higher end shopping malls, this is going back 20 to 25 years ago or longer. Some of them became Paradise Pen Company, others shut down. As far as I know, they are now on-line only.

 

I believe you are thinking about Colorado Baggage Company that had Paradise Pens as an offshoot. Colorado Pens is a different company altogether, that has had a predominately online presence since its' beginning. 

 

14 hours ago, ThreeForMe said:

Thank you goodpens and markofp!  Great info.  I found a Meininger's in both Denver and Colorado Springs.  Although they are art stores, it looks like they have more than the basics for fountain pen ink, paper, converters, etc.  I have not even read/heard of that store.  Thank you so much for the information!!!

 

It might also be worth checking out Guiry's, they are mostly a painting (as in house paints) company, but many of their stores sell a good selection of art supplies, and their Colorado Blvd location in Denver used to have a large fountain pen focus, having some pen brands visit for mini pen shows, a number of years ago, and before the Colorado Pen Show existed.

[markofp]

5 hours ago, JakobS said:

I believe you are thinking about Colorado Baggage Company that had Paradise Pens as an offshoot. Colorado Pens is a different company altogether, that has had a predominately online presence since its' beginning. 

 

 

There was unquestionably a brick-and-mortar retail entity called Colorado Pen Company from about the mid 1980s to about 2000 or so, I was a frequent customer. There were several near me in high-end shopping malls here in New Jersey, in Short Hills, Bridgewater and Paramus.  They declared bankruptcy about 2000. Peter Paradise, the owner of Colorado Baggage, had a minority interest in the company and made a play for some of the stores, changing the name to Paradise Pen.  Montblanc picked up a few others and made them boutiques. I suspect that the current coloradopen.com is a separate entity altogether.

[goodpens]

On 8/8/2021 at 7:52 PM, ThreeForMe said:

Thank you goodpens and markofp!  Great info.  I found a Meininger's in both Denver and Colorado Springs.  Although they are art stores, it looks like they have more than the basics for fountain pen ink, paper, converters, etc.  I have not even read/heard of that store.  Thank you so much for the information!!!

The Denver store specifically has a large FP department (recently built out by a FP enthusiast/staffer, Patty), but I don’t believe Colorado Springs has built out the department similarly.