The New York Gift Shows: February 2024

Every year in February and August, our team attends two big trade shows in New York City: NY NOW, one of the biggest home and gift shows in the industry, and Shoppe Object, a curated gift show founded in 2018 that has been growing larger and more exciting with each year we’ve visited.

Check what our team saw on our latest visit to New York!

Day 0: A Brief Excursion

This February’s trip was different in one key way: it was shorter. Ordinarily, we arrive in New York on Saturday and spend the afternoon exploring the city. This year, however, since we’ll be gone for an extended period in March, we opted to keep the shop open on Saturday and spend fewer days in New York. With the cold weather and a few of our team members getting over health issues, we didn’t have the energy to explore new stationery stores, either. Given these challenges, we still wanted to make the most of our trip and have fun. What to do?

We brought this mini printer on the trip and took photos with exhibitors at the booths we visited. Everyone received a copy to take home, printed on the spot. The best part? The photo paper was a sticker: peel off the backing, and it was ready to go in a journal. Stocked with printer, photo paper, a phone camera, and Kokuyo mini scissors (we printed two photos per sheet), we were all set to make some memories!*

*We swear we aren’t being sponsored by Canon. 😂 

Day 1: Shoppe Object

Shoppe Object has been expanding every year that we’ve attended. In 2024, they finally outgrew their main location at Pier 36 and expanded into a second building several minutes away. On day one, we stayed in the Pier 36 building, where most of our current brands were located. We scurried around at top speed, placing orders, quickly checking out new items, and snapping pictures whenever we could. Here are some of our favorite sights from day one!

Macon & Lesquoy pins. How cute is that pigeon?	J. Herbin 1670 Fuschia de Magellan ink	Stunning handmade fruits by Trovelore
New MT washi tapes from Sweet Bella are a necessity	Pencils aren't the only things Blackwing makes!	New limited edition frame colors from Izipizi

In addition to visiting a ton of exhibitors, we also met fellow stationery store owners, Paper and Pencil Chicago, and ran into Amy from Penny Post perusing the Blackwing booth. We're always amazed how these shows can bring people together!

After the show, in our typical dessert-first fashion, we made our way to Ănjelly, a small cafe where the viral jiggly cat puddings could be found. We recommend the chocolate and passionfruit flavor! For dinner, it was back to an old favorite for dinner, So Kong Dong tofu house in Fort Lee.

Day 2: NY NOW

We spent day two wandering the aisles of NY NOW in the Javits Center. Reliably full of wonderful things, we found all kinds of great books, notebooks, pens, stickers, and more to stock our shelves back at home. A few highlights:

Popup cards to welcome spring	These stamp a square of glue onto your paper	If only the shop were twice the size!
Hello, 911? I'd like to report a cuteness overload	Loved these floral designs from Fringe Studio	Five colors of paper in this little cat notepad
Can't go wrong with National Parks postcards	The coziest thing we've ever seen, ever	We feel you, sir

Thanks to all the exhibitors for making this trip so much fun! We're so excited for all the great things we found at your booths. Bonus photo: we met up with Leaf and Anna from Maine, our friends from last year's shows!

A good, busy day. This calls for ice cream!

Day 3: Shoppe Object and Back Home

Day three was a flurry of activity. We ping-ponged between the two Shoppe Object locations on their shuttle, finishing up orders with old friends and seeking out new and interesting items.

Boggle and sleep, always	Recycled paper notebooks in cheerful spring colors	Maruman's new hardcover Mnemosyne notebooks!
We change our minds: this is the coziest thing ever	The cutest button chairs. (Also, is everything green this year?)	Magic folding wallets that you'll have to see in person!

The new Shoppe Object location, Skylight at Essex Crossing, had two floors of booths! They also had an awesome food court on the lower level that we had to check out.

By the end of the day, we'd placed a stack of orders, taken even more photos, and walked until our feet begged for mercy. It's time to head home!

Thanks, readers, for following along. We hope you've enjoyed these little snapshots of our time in New York. There are so many wonderful things on the way to the shop. We can't wait to share them with you!