Salt Lake City pen shopping

May 31, 2008

Pen People,

Most of my pen collection has been purchased on the road, mainly when we are on vacation. Vacation arrives in 10 days! We will be traveling to Salt Lake City and points north. Does anyone have a recommendation for a pen shop in or around Salt Lake City? I've looked at Glen's Pen Page and there is no SLC listing. I've checked the Yafa pen site, again with no listing for SLC. At one time we found a business-oriented stationery store in one of the downtown malls (ZCMI or the one across the street). Well, both areas are closed for restoration and re-design. There was also a fancier stationery store, Tabula Rasa, in the other mall. According to Google Tabula Rasa is in Trolley Square. I can't find the other store. Does anyone have any other recommendations?

Thanks,

Randy

June 1, 2008

I'm in Salt Lake and there isn't much.

Tabula Rasa (still there in Trolley Square, despite remodeling) has Montblanc, Waterman, a bunch of Faber Castell, and some of the new Parkers. Mostly higher-end pens but I've bought a couple of budget ones there. They also have most of the Private Reserve ink colors. Definitely the best Salt Lake has to offer for fountain pens right now. They're still open as of a week or so ago.

The other store you're thinking of is Parry's Office Supply - I believe they just closed their southern location, unfortunately, and the downtown one is closed for remodeling. You might want to call them - (801) 363-1340 - and see if they're still open somewhere. They had a great selection of Lamy pens among others.

Shapiro's Luggage (in most of the malls) carries Pilot Vanishing Point pens and a few others.

Beyond that there's Office Depot, Staples, and OfficeMax, but you probably have those at home. Each has a few FPs.

I've found a few vintage FPs at antique shops here but there's no one place to find them - if you're really bored you could stop by a few. Be sure to ask if they have fountain pens, half of the time they're hidden.

Utah Idaho Supply (a school supply store) had a few disposable FPs last time I was there. If you're into drawing pens or calligraphy pens, we have two good art supply stores: Utrecht (2100 south) and Reuels (400 South). Both of them have Rotring and Sheaffer calligraphy pens, technical drawing pens, and a good selection of dip pen nibs.

I buy most of my pens in Las Vegas (Paradise Pen) or by mail order.

June 1, 2008

I'm in Salt Lake and there isn't much.

Tabula Rasa (still there in Trolley Square, despite remodeling) has Montblanc, Waterman, a bunch of Faber Castell, and some of the new Parkers. Mostly higher-end pens but I've bought a couple of budget ones there. They also have most of the Private Reserve ink colors. Definitely the best Salt Lake has to offer for fountain pens right now. They're still open as of a week or so ago.

The other store you're thinking of is Parry's Office Supply - I believe they just closed their southern location, unfortunately, and the downtown one is closed for remodeling. You might want to call them - (801) 363-1340 - and see if they're still open somewhere. They had a great selection of Lamy pens among others.

Shapiro's Luggage (in most of the malls) carries Pilot Vanishing Point pens and a few others.

Beyond that there's Office Depot, Staples, and OfficeMax, but you probably have those at home. Each has a few FPs.

I've found a few vintage FPs at antique shops here but there's no one place to find them - if you're really bored you could stop by a few. Be sure to ask if they have fountain pens, half of the time they're hidden.

Utah Idaho Supply (a school supply store) had a few disposable FPs last time I was there. If you're into drawing pens or calligraphy pens, we have two good art supply stores: Utrecht (2100 south) and Reuels (400 South). Both of them have Rotring and Sheaffer calligraphy pens, technical drawing pens, and a good selection of dip pen nibs.

I buy most of my pens in Las Vegas (Paradise Pen) or by mail order.

Thanks for the information. I bought a Conklin glider bp at Parry's a few years back and I found some rb refills for the Nettuno Skipper I was carrying on that trip. I happened to hit the Lamy USA website and found a Floribunda Stationery store that carries their stuff. It's near Trolley Square so I can probably talk my wife to making a quick detour. I was also interested in the Utrecht store. Their corporate website stated something about carrying Pelikan pens, above the calligraphy type, like M600s. I will hit Tabula Rasa. The Montblanc may be overbudget but I might be able to find a Waterman or Parker that are on my list.

Thanks so much for the advice.

Randy