Boston pen shop closed

[Norlander]

    I was genuinely shocked this afternoon when I went to former Bromfield Pen/Appelboom shop in Boston to find that it has closed.

[amberleadavis]

Oh no, that's so sad.  I'm so sorry to hear this news.

[The Elevator]

OH NOOO 🙀 I was planning to make a trip out there soon (I live about an hour away) but I guess that’s just not going to happen 😭

[inkstainedruth]

You mean *permanently* closed?  Or just closed for the holidays?

I got to go there a couple of times before Appelboom bought them.  Bought my first Pilot Metropolitan there, and a couple of bottles of ink, including a really nice discontinued one: Caran d'ache Grand Canyon (a very nice, very dark brown).  

Bummer if they were closed for good.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[FarmBoy]

The internet and google is your friend:

 

 

Appelboom Boston (this location is permanently closed)
Formerly Bromfield Pen Shop
49 Bromfield Street
Boston MA 02108
United States

[dms525]

Joost Appelboom was able to get some pens that were not available in Europe but only in North America because of Broomfields. I assume they must have been bleeding cash, if he had to close it. A big loss all around.

 

David

[inkstainedruth]

Wow.  What a total bummer.  That's really sad -- especially given all the discussion recently about whether or not Fountain Pen Hospital in NYC was also closing for good.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[jchch1950]

Another closed store is a loss to the community of pen lovers.

[inkstainedruth]

Agreed.  One of the advantages is that you can often try a pen to see if the weight/girth is comfortable, and also see how the nibs write.  Bromfield's, the first time I went there, had tester pens for the Metropolitans, so I was able to see which nib I liked better (I chose the M nib that time).  

Wow.  I just looked up in my inventory because I couldn't remember which of the Metropolitans I'd gotten there, and looked at the purchase date... December of 2014!  (How time flies....) 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Surlyprof]

That’s very sad.  I was hoping to get back there sometime.  I bought my first fountain pen, a Pelikan 120, at Bromfield’s.  I walked there on my lunch hour from my first job out of college.  It was a great pen shop of which I’ll always have fond memories.

[Misfit]

This is sad. I hadn’t shopped with them, but we need B&M stores.  

[Mark from Yorkshire]

Unfortunately in the internet age and online trading I guess B&M stores are just too expensive and unprofitable. Cheaper rent on warehouses and I guess don’t know lower rates as well

[Christopher Godfrey]

Oh, nooooo!  I had been shopping at Bromfield since I first arrived in Boston thirty-six years ago and had been meaning to go back into the city to see the "new" Appelboom shop just up the street...

 

My very first "collectibles" were bought from them: several Esterbrooks with flexible nibs, an MB MonteRosa (ditto) and more -- I had always carried a single pen upon my person; but perhaps Bromfield got me into the collecting habit more than anyone else -- and, by and by, Greg there turned me onto the renowned penman/artist Pier Gustafson, from whom I caught the Waterman bug...thereafter it was downhill all the way!  So, thanks Bromfield Pen!  (I wonder where Fred and Greg are nowadays?)  

[antares1966]

On 1/7/2024 at 3:42 AM, Mark from Yorkshire said:

Unfortunately in the internet age and online trading I guess B&M stores are just too expensive and unprofitable. Cheaper rent on warehouses and I guess don’t know lower rates as well

Yeah, brick and mortar dying in many fields.  I bought my (currently) oldest pen at World Lux in Seattle, great customer service and I actually changed my mind about what to buy after “test driving”.  There really is no substitute for getting a pen in hand.  I’m willing to pay a bit of a premium for that experience but many/most I imagine are not.

[inkstainedruth]

That's one of the reasons I miss Birmingham Pens' B&M store in Pittsburgh.  They carried several brands of pens and a nice variety of inks -- and did NOT jack up the prices over online retailers.  Sadly, they had trouble with the plumbing in the Shadyside store, and moved up across the county line to an industrial park in Cranberry Twp., and I don't know if they're open to the public there, or just back online only the way they were a number of years ago, when they were X Fountain Pens.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Runnin_Ute]

Seems that it's true. Went to the Appleboom website and very clearly it says permanently closed. Too bad.

[Geert Jan]

Interestingly on their website they now mention a presence in Australia (and clear state not open for visiting, so I don't know what's going on there)

[Boston Brian]

I bought one of my favorite pens there when it was Bromfield's way back 14 years ago. It was the last Conway Stewart 100 in their stock, it was the Burgundy Blush color with a gorgeous broad nib.

[Surlyprof]

On 1/9/2024 at 4:24 PM, antares1966 said:

There really is no substitute for getting a pen in hand.  I’m willing to pay a bit of a premium for that experience but many/most I imagine are not.

I agree.  We vote with our dollars and I am always willing to pay extra to support B&M.  We don’t have much in the way of true pen stores in the Bay Area anymore (Lamy. Maido and Topdrawer).  We just got a bookstore nearby and I try to buy a book there every month.  Sure it costs more and I often have to wait for an order.  But, it sets a good personal reading goal, keeps one more sale away from Amazon, and keeps the neighborhood more interesting.  That’s worth the $10-12 it costs me each month.  
 

Would I spend an extra $100 for a pen to have a B&M store?  Unfortunately, that is not an option here so I probably won’t find out.