Maison du Stylo gone!

[bushellk]

I am saddened to report that an old and respected pen store in Montreal has gone out of business. I went down to Maison du Stylo on Union Street in Montreal the other day and discovered that it had gone out of business. I'm sure there are others at FPN who know more about this store than me, but I know that it was a family business that had been around for generations. It began on Peel Street, across from McGill University, and later moved to its location on Union across from The Bay, just south of St. Catherine's Street. On its walls were black and white photographs of family and famous people who had frequented the shop over the many years. It was owned and run by the Culmer family who I think are still making pens. (I was told that a niece would be at the Toronto Pen Show, but I looked and didn't see her. I may have the details wrong here.)

 

I first came into contact with the Culmer family in London 20 years ago when I was a student at university. John ran Peel Pen Shop, and I bought several pens from him. He repaired my dad's Sheaffer Touchdown a couple of times, and serviced my Targa. When I left London, he gave me a bottle of Herbin ink as a gift, explaining that it was an ink that went back to King Louis XIV, the Sun King, and that the blue had a few drops of the royal colour purple in it, which gave it its distinctive purple-blue hue. That's the kind of family and business they had. John once said that no one was in it for the money but for the love of pens.

 

When I moved to Montreal I sought out Maison du Stylo and frequented that shop regularly. The last time I was in there Robert was excited because there were a few customers there who had some beautiful Parker 51s in their original cases.

 

Of course, there are other pen stores in Montreal, but few with the same passion for pens as Maison.

 

Feel free to correct me if I have the names and details wrong.

 

Kevin

Edited October 30, 2008 by bushellk

[gylyf]

That's really unfortunate. My parents bought a Pelikan M400 there as a birthday present for me while we were on a trip to Montréal...

David

Edited October 30, 2008 by cellulophile

[Samovar]

I was also sad to see this store go out of business. I will always remember when Robert took out a whole box of mint Parker 51 and he would not sell any at any price.

 

The store was closed down in July before I left for Japan.

 

Now I wonder where all those amazing pen are?

[Moravia]

Oh no! I am going to be visiting Montreal in the next few weeks and I was specifically planning on visiting Maison du Stylo. I had heard that they were going to close down this year but I thought that it would be at the tail end of the year.

 

I too wonder what happened to their inventory.

[bushellk]

  Moravia said:

I too wonder what happened to their inventory.

 

I have to admit that was my first thought, terrible as it is! But I don't know if I would have been able to be a vulture.

 

Since you may be looking for another pen store, I'll say that I think now the best one in Montreal is Boutique du Stylo. You will find it on the metro level of the Simons building on St. Catherine's Street. It's literally around the corner from the old Maison location. Just walk west along St. Catherine and you'll see the Simon's building around Peel Street. (Not sure of the exact cross street.) In fact, Robert's uncle is now working at Boutique! I believe the manager's name is John; he was at the Toronto Pen Show.

 

Just little further along St. Catherine's is Ogilvy's. In the basement there is Essence du Papier. They have some nice pens there.

 

Finally, the other nice shop is in Old Montreal. It's called Casse Noisette. You can't miss it because it's right beside Notre Dame Cathedral. They have a lot of imports from France and tend to be a bit pricey, but you'll find stuff there you can't find anywhere else. It's also just a very beautiful store in terms of its displays, so nice to browse.

 

Samovar can probably tell you of others but those are the one I know. Bienvenue!

 

Kevin

 

 

[Federalist Pens]

I visited the store in the summer. I was there in June for the Canadian GP.

I saw Robert, and he informed me that he was closing at the end of the year.

It's a shame to see the store gone. He had a good bid of inventory then,

I don't know if he sold out sooner, or just gave up.

The other shops around St. Catherine are all retail with new items. He was the only vintage store I was aware of.

[Bill Smith]

This is sad news, I was in Montreal briefly in August and never got a chance to check out the Pen Stores. I got the impressions the Culmers were getting on in years and I am not surprised they closed. Would like to know what happened to those mint Parker 51s.

[Rufus]

The Peel Pen Shop in London closed a couple of years ago when John decided to retire from the B&M business. I believe he may still be semi-active on-line. While saddened by John's decision it is understandable, but he was one of the few pen techs in Canada. Fortunately, however, out of the bowels of Southern Ontario a young and vibrant penmeister has emerged: Sean Gosse, SMG on FPN. In addition to his nibmeistering, Sean is an on-line seller of vintage and modern pens, PenRx.

[rhr]

Actually, the full name of the Montreal shop was La Maison du Stylo Peel, French for Peel Pen Shop. But the story isn't that simple. Fernan posted the link to the Montreal business directories in this thread Canadian Waterman History, and I used the directory to look up all the locations of the Peel Pen Shop. This is what I found.

 

Peel Pen Shop, a fountain pen repair and retail store, was opened by Charles E. Culmer on 2000 Peel St. in Montreal, Quebec in 1954, and although it got its name from the street, it was at that location for only two years. It moved to 2014 Metcalfe, Apt. 1, in 1956, and to 2018 Metcalfe in 1961. It was at 1243 Bleury between 1962 and 1973, and S. Culmer was listed as the proprietor from 1970-73. It finally moved to 1212 Union Ave. in 1974, and went out of business in 2008. Between 1974-78, Charles E. Culmer was president, John Culmer was v-pres., and Robert Culmer, sec-tres. Around the end of the 1970s, a provincial language law required that all shop signs be in French only, so they started to use the company name La Maison du Stylo Peel along with Peel Pen Shop. At some point Robert Culmer took over the operation in Montreal, and John Culmer retained the English name, the repair business, and all the repair parts, and moved the shop to 140 Fullarton St., London, Ontario. The store is still listed as in business on "Google Earth", but Rufus says it went out of business about 2006. The store still has an active website, though, Peel Pen Shop.

 

Around 1979, I visited the Montreal shop a few times and bought a non-spill inkwell, and had great fun looking at all the stuff. I also ate a lot of Montreal smoked meat on St. Laurent, fresh and hot every day. ;~) Here's a copy of the Peel Pen business card with both company names.

 

George Kovalenko.

 

 

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/rhrpen/PeelPen.jpg

Edited November 1, 2008 by rhr

[Moravia]

  bushellk said:

Since you may be looking for another pen store, I'll say that I think now the best one in Montreal is Boutique du Stylo. You will find it on the metro level of the Simons building on St. Catherine's Street. It's literally around the corner from the old Maison location. Just walk west along St. Catherine and you'll see the Simon's building around Peel Street. (Not sure of the exact cross street.) In fact, Robert's uncle is now working at Boutique! I believe the manager's name is John; he was at the Toronto Pen Show.

 

Just little further along St. Catherine's is Ogilvy's. In the basement there is Essence du Papier. They have some nice pens there.

 

Finally, the other nice shop is in Old Montreal. It's called Casse Noisette. You can't miss it because it's right beside Notre Dame Cathedral. They have a lot of imports from France and tend to be a bit pricey, but you'll find stuff there you can't find anywhere else. It's also just a very beautiful store in terms of its displays, so nice to browse.

 

Samovar can probably tell you of others but those are the one I know. Bienvenue!

 

Kevin

 

Kevin,

 

Thank you for the recommendations! I know Boutique du Stylo very well and have visited it many times on previous trips to Montreal. I too attended the Toronto Pen Show and had a chance to speak with Boutique du Stylo's representatives at length as I was interested in the Montblanc Greta Garbo fountain pen that they were selling at the show.

 

I have not heard of Casse Noisette before but am quite intrigued. I will now have to make a stop there based on your recommendation!

 

[bushellk]

One final thought re. stores in Montreal. Last Friday I found and went into the Essence du Papier on the ground floor of the Ville-Marie shopping complex. It's HUGE! This is definitely the biggest stationary store in Montreal. They also have a very good selection of pens. I could get lost in a store like that, and did, until my parking meter ran out.

 

You'll find it at René Levesque and University, just south of The Eaton Centre.

 

Kevin

[gyasko]

I liked the Peel Pen Shop quite a bit. I went there for ink and paper. (I never had enough money for a pen while i was in Montreal.) Once when i took my son in with me, they insisted on giving me a bottle of red ink.

 

I'm a big fan of Nota bene, on Ave. du Parc. It's not so much a pen place, but it does have a good selection of inks and paper.

[Bill Smith]

  bushellk said:

One final thought re. stores in Montreal. Last Friday I found and went into the Essence du Papier on the ground floor of the Ville-Marie shopping complex. It's HUGE! This is definitely the biggest stationary store in Montreal. They also have a very good selection of pens. I could get lost in a store like that, and did, until my parking meter ran out.

 

You'll find it at René Levesque and University, just south of The Eaton Centre.

 

Kevin

 

 

We got a couple of Essence du Papier locations here in Toronto, one underground in the PATH under the Financial district, a corner in the main level of the Sears store and a store at Yonge and Eglinton. They are really good when it comes to stationary.

 

 

[antoniosz]

Here some more info on "Maison du Stylo"

http://www.watchtime.com/archive/wt_2005_0...2005_06_044.pdf

[rhr]

Thanks for posting that, Antonios. Nice find.

 

However, the author of the article got the address of the shop and the year of the Waterman's Ripple pen wrong. ;~)

 

I can't revise my first post in this thread, but I have been updating and revising a similar thread I have on L&P. I'll add all this information over there as well, L&P topic 1691 .

 

George Kovalenko.

 

Edited December 13, 2008 by rhr

[extrafine]

This is very very sad. I discovered this store when I was in high school. They used to have these wonderful little plastic Reform and Waterman pens, which are pretty much what started me on the collection front.

 

Yvette was quite something as well, a nice lady and a classic old-style Quebec businesswoman, who reminded me very very much of one of my own aunts.

[morgan097]

When I last spoke to Robert this past spring, he told me that after so many years doing the same thing, he now felt it time for a change. His landlord was also raising the store's rent significantly. Nevertheless, he was seriously considering continuing Peel Pen as an online store.

Among other things, I bought a beautiful Sheaffer Balance (6000 LE) from him, and love it.

He'll indeed be missed.