Stationery Show Mania: May - August 2024

Every year our team attends the two big gift shows in New York City, NY NOW and Shoppe Object. But this year we just couldn’t get our fill of shows… so we attended two more! In May, our designer Jean went on vacation to England and took the opportunity to visit the London Stationery Show, filled with lots of wonderful brands we hadn’t seen before. And last month during the other big New York trade shows, a new show popped up: Stationery Fest, hosted by Yoseka Stationery in Brooklyn. Stationery Fest included some fabulous brands from around the world, and we couldn’t stay away!

London Stationery Show

Jean here. Since I happened to be in London during the London Stationery Show, I absolutely had to attend! It was a real treat to see how a stationery show in London differed from ones in New York. The show took place under the arched roof of the Business Design Centre. In addition to the many new brands at the show, the show’s decor had its own iconic UK touches.

I first stopped by the booth of Gilded Words, a small stationery brand based in Oxford, drawn in by the lovely color combinations and gold accents of their desk tools and stationery. Their owner, Samantha, explained that the company focuses on making their products out of sustainable materials, such as their Natural Notebook bound with palm leaves. This October, we’ll be bringing some of their desk tools to the shop, including their beautiful pen cases and pen cups. I was also wowed by the elegant and creative designs of Andhand’s pens and desk tools, especially their arch-shaped tape dispenser and their 3D illusion ruler. All these and their ballpoint pens have already arrived at the shop and online store.

Shoppe Object

Fast forwarding to August, we left Newton bright and early in the morning of the fourth. Because of the show’s steady growth, its venue was again split between two buildings this year. As usual, we found all kinds of great new things there.

Gingko book lamps	Chocolates by Elements Truffles
Testing new notebooks at Fiorentina	New gift wrap, mice, and large soft toys from Maileg
Hobonichi preview at the Hightide booth!	Blackwing now prints graphite hardness on their pencils!
New Trovelore brooch for the year of the snake	Misuzudo Bindery notebook made from pine shavings

NY Now

Onto part two of our New York journey! The NY Now show at the Javits Center was just as packed full of goodies. Here's a selection of things that caught our fancy.

This year's new special edition blue Kaweco Liliput	New stamp sets from Eric Small Things!
Can't have enough washi tape! New from Papier Platz.	A gorgeous standing pen case by Orom
An endless supply of stickers	The toppers of these adorable pens spin around!

Stationery Fest

There’s only one word to describe the spectacle that was Stationery Fest: Overwhelming! It was truly amazing to feel the energy of so much stationery enthusiasm gathered in one place. From the two hour line to get in the door, to the bustling crowds inside, to the endless rows of stationery booths from around the world, this show was completely different from the orderly trade shows we’d attended earlier. Since Stationery Fest was open to the public, we got to experience the show as regular customers, exploring new brands as potential shop buyers, as well as shopping for ourselves. Here are some of our favorite sights and moments from the show.

Posing with @joyletters at the entrance	Stationery Fest banners!
Esterbrook pens: we'll be getting some in later this month!	Opus 88 fountain pens: coming in a few days!
Gorgeous hand-painted Taccia urushi pens	Handmade pen cases by Toyooka Craft
Jenny and Victor with their matching cherry blossom pens from Hachimonjiya	Gorgeous pen cases and notebook covers by Galen Leather
Trying out the letterpress at Oblation's booth	Meeting the Pilot team and nibmeister Kirk Speer

We were completely wiped out after one day at Stationery Fest. With tired eyes and heavy shopping bags, we headed back toward Newton. We arrived home in the deep of night. It was time to rest, regroup, and get ready to open the shop once again!