I'm so glad to see you interviewing a company about a retail store -- which obviously competes with Goulet Pens -- but it helps make Goulet the industry leader in growing the FP community. Bravo!
How does it compete with Goulet? Lamy focuses on one brand (their own), while Goulet has a platform for multiple brands and products. This is why they're a retailer. What yourself saying is akin to saying BestBuy is a competitor to Apple. They're not
ihurricane7 - if I buy a Lamy pen at a Lamy store instead of from Goulet, Lamy gets the retail portion of the profit. Same for Best Buy and Apple. Or Chanel and Nordstrom. The consumer decides who they want to get that portion of the retail profit.
@@kathleenlavender029 Goulet as a retailer, already has to pay (albeit at a lower price since buying in bulk) Lamy to sell their pens. Lamy isn't trying to be the subway of the pen industry and open many stores. They're there to have a presence. Also, they have a physical storefront in that regards whereas Goulet is completely online. Not competitors whatsoever. People aren't going out of their way to drive across the country to NY to buy straight from their store.
Lamy was my first fountain pen and what a great choice as an introduction to this great hobby. I now have a Vista, Safari, LX and a Studio. I'm treating myself next to a Lamy 2000. Nice to know I can try in person now on my next trip to New York.
I remembered Lamy did have a nice store in Bogotá,Colombia maybe 30 years ago .I was back in Bogotá,Colombia 2 years ago visited a tiny store with very reduced inventory, 😢. We bought 2 Lamy pens 🖊 . I like to visit store and talk with people and find new items. I hope so the US customers support the store
A big loss for Mannheim and the flagship store that Kristina is now in the US. German companys need more Kristinas. She is an awesome person and a good example for doing you're job with a lot of heart. I have a lot of respect for Kristina as a person and her art doing her job. Great and honorable lady.
Yet ANOTHER great interview video, Brian!! So thoroughly enjoyed your conversation Ms Schmidt and Ms Bohny. Very sweet ladies who are extremely proud of their product and it shows!!!
Next goal for Goulet Pens - make the rest of the world appreciate pens and stationery as much as Asia and parts of Europe. If anyone can achieve this, GPC can!
lol, the german market for lamy pens are mostly kids. in elementary schools here, it's pretty much mandatory to use a fountain pen, after learning the basics of writing with a pencil. that first fountain pen is often a valued posession. and to this day, the lamy safari (a.k.a. that one with the screw on top) is a bit of a status symbol among eight year olds.
The store looks fabulous, and I’ll be sure to visit it on my next trip to NYC, but I can’t help but wonder at the impact it will have on B&M stores as well as online retailers
You mentioned a couple times it was the second store in the US but never said where the other one was. The LAMY site is pitiful in sharing store locations. In google I find a store in San Francisco but it doesn't have the same feel or name as the NYC store, so I am not sure it is an official location. In any case, can someone confirm the second location?
Yes, it is in San Francisco! Here is a Fountain Pen Network thread with some pics: www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/331636-lamy-boutique-opens-in-san-francisco/ - Colin
Having bought all my fountain pens from the internet, while I love that they now have a physical fountain pen store in New York, it is kind of hard for me to visualize seeing and holding a pen in person before buying it. I feel like that takes away some of the surprise and unveiling that you get when you open the box by yourself and see it for the first time. Besides, the physical store doesn't put a tootsie pop in the package for you, and that tootsie pop makes all the difference ha ha.
Sorry Brian, but as I mentioned awhile back (and as a New Yorker since 1979)..... Soho is little more than a trendy ghetto. And sadly, LAMY is late to the party. I love their pens. I own quite a few. But what's truly trendy and hip in New York, is no longer in Soho. Hasn't been for quite a few years actually. I hate to say it, but I fear the LAMY store will eventually shut its doors a few years down the road, if not sooner. Victorinox had a Flagship store in Soho a little over a decade ago when Soho was still the place to be. Victorinox no longer has a Flagship store in Soho. Hasn't had one for quite awhile now.
@@Gouletpens Hi Colin. Normally, I'd agree. However, I don't think LAMY understands how Soho is viewed by different generations of new Yorkers. Older ones, such as myself, see Soho as a massive Con Job that property developers pulled decades ago. And, credit where it's due.... They were incredibly successful at it. I mean, you can put tons of trendy shops in a run-down ghetto that is literally rat-infested. Which Soho absolutely is, unfortunately. It's not going to change the fact of what it is. It's like taking an alcoholic who is living on the streets. You can give him a bath, a shave, a hair-cut. Dress him in the finest Armani suit, shoes.... make him dapper as can be. Set him loose onto the world and.... He'll be right back where he was a few days later. Nothing being done to solve the real issues. Same with Soho as a neighborhood. Younger generations see it as a place that _was_ trendy. They don't anymore. So you have both older and younger generations of New Yorkers who don't hold the place in any high regard. But the obscene property prices are still there. Other than tourists, and property owners still living in Soho; LAMY just isn't going to reach that massive audience of potential new pen-buyers it thinks it will. Younger generations of pen-buyers have online shops. Older generations have two particular pen shops that have been around for decades. (No worries. I won't give them any free publicity here. I will say that one of them is literally in the next neighborhood over from Soho, in the downtown Financial district.) I hope LAMY succeeds. But I have to be honest when I say, I think they made a mistake opening up a store in Soho. Brooklyn, especially directly across the bridge from Manhattan, that's where the latest generation of successful New Yorkers are living, buying up property, _spending their money._
@@sketchstackarchive9132 Yes, understand and agree. Very similar in Los Angeles here. Neighborhoods evolve and cycle. I wish them well and their purpose is exposure and traffic, tourists, as much as residents so I think they know what they are doing, residential aspect aside. I have just forwarded this to my brother on the Upper East side and hope to visit NYC soon again and this will certainly be one of my first stops!
@@NGMonocrom As a lifelong NYer (having shifted just across the Hudson four years ago...not saying where, it's gotten trendy enough as it is), I get your drift about SoHo's theme-park problem, and how overheated its gotten in the last decade or so. Then too, I like the idea that Lamy's giving it a shot, since they're not just the trendy brand *du jour* dropping a new shop, and I do wish them the best of luck there (and, since somehow this is the first I'm hearing of the joint, I'll be paying them a visit, even though my heart, and wallet, is with Pilot these days). I also agree with Sketch Stack that their goal with the store is likely less about in-store sales than it is about brand presence: let's face it, you and I know about Lamy simply from being into pens; the average passer-by likely knows bupkis about "writing instruments" in general, let alone Lamy, so we can think of this more as a marketing maneuver than anything else, and if this gets Lamy's name out there with other "name" shops (several of which I thought were dead-and-gone by now...) it'll have justified the rent.
I'm so glad to see you interviewing a company about a retail store -- which obviously competes with Goulet Pens -- but it helps make Goulet the industry leader in growing the FP community. Bravo!
A rising tide lift all boats. :) - Colin
@@Gouletpens Cool attitude, and so true.
How does it compete with Goulet? Lamy focuses on one brand (their own), while Goulet has a platform for multiple brands and products. This is why they're a retailer. What yourself saying is akin to saying BestBuy is a competitor to Apple. They're not
ihurricane7 - if I buy a Lamy pen at a Lamy store instead of from Goulet, Lamy gets the retail portion of the profit. Same for Best Buy and Apple. Or Chanel and Nordstrom. The consumer decides who they want to get that portion of the retail profit.
@@kathleenlavender029 Goulet as a retailer, already has to pay (albeit at a lower price since buying in bulk) Lamy to sell their pens. Lamy isn't trying to be the subway of the pen industry and open many stores. They're there to have a presence. Also, they have a physical storefront in that regards whereas Goulet is completely online. Not competitors whatsoever. People aren't going out of their way to drive across the country to NY to buy straight from their store.
Lamy was my first fountain pen and what a great choice as an introduction to this great hobby. I now have a Vista, Safari, LX and a Studio. I'm treating myself next to a Lamy 2000. Nice to know I can try in person now on my next trip to New York.
Definitely one of the better brands to start with and go from there. Great pens at a variety of price points! - Colin
I remembered Lamy did have a nice store in Bogotá,Colombia maybe 30 years ago .I was back in Bogotá,Colombia 2 years ago visited a tiny store with very reduced inventory, 😢. We bought 2 Lamy pens 🖊 . I like to visit store and talk with people and find new items. I hope so the US customers support the store
A big loss for Mannheim and the flagship store that Kristina is now in the US. German companys need more Kristinas. She is an awesome person and a good example for doing you're job with a lot of heart. I have a lot of respect for Kristina as a person and her art doing her job.
Great and honorable lady.
That store would be dangerous for the wallet. Great vid.
One of my first pens as a kid was a Lamy ABC which I already have after almost 19 years. The company will always be special to me.
LAMY does the 'kid' pen very well! - Colin
@@Gouletpens u tryna roast him ?
Thank you, Brian.
Yet ANOTHER great interview video, Brian!! So thoroughly enjoyed your conversation Ms Schmidt and Ms Bohny. Very sweet ladies who are extremely proud of their product and it shows!!!
I bought a Lamy Safari after seeing a review by Goulet and their visiti to the factory in Germany.
Awesome interview, much love for you all guys ❤❤❤
Of course they're in NYC, it has all the best stores, all kinds of stores, I need to take a trip.
Excellent interview! I hope they add a store in Mpls and one in Dallas, too.
Thanks Brian, Kristina and Isabel for this really interesting video. Must stop by the store if I ever make it to New York.
YES!!!!! physical store arises!!! now to make my way down to New York :)
Wow, I would have no idea they'd opened a store if it weren't for this video!
Interesting. I love the idea of being able to try them out.
Yes you can't actually do that online. I miss going to a building and talking to people who were knowledgeable about the product.
Next goal for Goulet Pens - make the rest of the world appreciate pens and stationery as much as Asia and parts of Europe. If anyone can achieve this, GPC can!
We're working on it! ;) - Colin
lol, the german market for lamy pens are mostly kids. in elementary schools here, it's pretty much mandatory to use a fountain pen, after learning the basics of writing with a pencil. that first fountain pen is often a valued posession. and to this day, the lamy safari (a.k.a. that one with the screw on top) is a bit of a status symbol among eight year olds.
The store looks fabulous, and I’ll be sure to visit it on my next trip to NYC, but I can’t help but wonder at the impact it will have on B&M stores as well as online retailers
I'm sensing a road trip in the future.
WHAT!!!! I will be visiting soon
You mentioned a couple times it was the second store in the US but never said where the other one was. The LAMY site is pitiful in sharing store locations. In google I find a store in San Francisco but it doesn't have the same feel or name as the NYC store, so I am not sure it is an official location. In any case, can someone confirm the second location?
Yes, it is in San Francisco! Here is a Fountain Pen Network thread with some pics: www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/331636-lamy-boutique-opens-in-san-francisco/ - Colin
Having bought all my fountain pens from the internet, while I love that they now have a physical fountain pen store in New York, it is kind of hard for me to visualize seeing and holding a pen in person before buying it. I feel like that takes away some of the surprise and unveiling that you get when you open the box by yourself and see it for the first time. Besides, the physical store doesn't put a tootsie pop in the package for you, and that tootsie pop makes all the difference ha ha.
I love the fact that Lamy is opening flagship stores
Hoping one ends up in DC so I can visit at some point! - Colin
@@Gouletpens
I was thinking here in Denver.
@@Gouletpens hopefully boston
Blue Lamy 2000 when? ...or green and gold. Mmmmm.
Meh, I wish fountain pens got more appreciation in my country. Apparently I'm "that pen guy" to some that know me.
From which country do you come from?
Who cares what other says, we know pen guys are cool.
Nice video. I really need to check this store out some day. I will also have to ensure my wife is with me. Otherwise, my wallet will quickly empty.
I’ll cut to the chase, because EVERYONE has a flagship store in the city. Duh.
That there's some mighty purdy chase-cuttin', pardna.
There are others? The only other flagship fountain pen store in NYC that I know if is Mont Blanc.
Sorry Brian, but as I mentioned awhile back (and as a New Yorker since 1979)..... Soho is little more than a trendy ghetto. And sadly, LAMY is late to the party. I love their pens. I own quite a few. But what's truly trendy and hip in New York, is no longer in Soho. Hasn't been for quite a few years actually. I hate to say it, but I fear the LAMY store will eventually shut its doors a few years down the road, if not sooner. Victorinox had a Flagship store in Soho a little over a decade ago when Soho was still the place to be. Victorinox no longer has a Flagship store in Soho. Hasn't had one for quite awhile now.
Time will tell, but I feel like any way to expose a larger audience to fountain pens, I'll root for it! - Colin
@@Gouletpens
Hi Colin. Normally, I'd agree. However, I don't think LAMY understands how Soho is viewed by different generations of new Yorkers. Older ones, such as myself, see Soho as a massive Con Job that property developers pulled decades ago. And, credit where it's due.... They were incredibly successful at it. I mean, you can put tons of trendy shops in a run-down ghetto that is literally rat-infested. Which Soho absolutely is, unfortunately.
It's not going to change the fact of what it is. It's like taking an alcoholic who is living on the streets. You can give him a bath, a shave, a hair-cut. Dress him in the finest Armani suit, shoes.... make him dapper as can be. Set him loose onto the world and.... He'll be right back where he was a few days later. Nothing being done to solve the real issues. Same with Soho as a neighborhood.
Younger generations see it as a place that _was_ trendy. They don't anymore. So you have both older and younger generations of New Yorkers who don't hold the place in any high regard. But the obscene property prices are still there. Other than tourists, and property owners still living in Soho; LAMY just isn't going to reach that massive audience of potential new pen-buyers it thinks it will.
Younger generations of pen-buyers have online shops. Older generations have two particular pen shops that have been around for decades. (No worries. I won't give them any free publicity here. I will say that one of them is literally in the next neighborhood over from Soho, in the downtown Financial district.) I hope LAMY succeeds. But I have to be honest when I say, I think they made a mistake opening up a store in Soho. Brooklyn, especially directly across the bridge from Manhattan, that's where the latest generation of successful New Yorkers are living, buying up property, _spending their money._
@@sketchstackarchive9132 Yes, understand and agree. Very similar in Los Angeles here. Neighborhoods evolve and cycle. I wish them well and their purpose is exposure and traffic, tourists, as much as residents so I think they know what they are doing, residential aspect aside.
I have just forwarded this to my brother on the Upper East side and hope to visit NYC soon again and this will certainly be one of my first stops!
I think they may have already cut back their hours of operation. Their daily hours are shorter and they are now closed on Sundays.
@@NGMonocrom As a lifelong NYer (having shifted just across the Hudson four years ago...not saying where, it's gotten trendy enough as it is), I get your drift about SoHo's theme-park problem, and how overheated its gotten in the last decade or so. Then too, I like the idea that Lamy's giving it a shot, since they're not just the trendy brand *du jour* dropping a new shop, and I do wish them the best of luck there (and, since somehow this is the first I'm hearing of the joint, I'll be paying them a visit, even though my heart, and wallet, is with Pilot these days). I also agree with Sketch Stack that their goal with the store is likely less about in-store sales than it is about brand presence: let's face it, you and I know about Lamy simply from being into pens; the average passer-by likely knows bupkis about "writing instruments" in general, let alone Lamy, so we can think of this more as a marketing maneuver than anything else, and if this gets Lamy's name out there with other "name" shops (several of which I thought were dead-and-gone by now...) it'll have justified the rent.