The 2003 National Stationery Show, New York

The Javits Convention Center

The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center (see footnote) is located at 655 West 34th Street in New York, and is the largest convention facility in New York City,

Registration area

On Sunday, May 18th the Javits became the home of the National Stationery Show, continuing until Wednesday, May 21st, 2003.

This show, one of the largest in the country, exhibits all forms of stationery, cards, wrapping paper, specialty papers, and other related items, It is grouped into several areas so that it is not overwhelming. The areas include,

	Presents® — This section is devoted to gift & novelty items. Such items include stickers, rubber stamps, craft supplies, scrapbooks, wall calendars, prints/posters, men's gifts, plush, games, toys, puzzles, juvenile products, licensed products, books, school supplies, T-shirts, mugs and souvenirs. Number of exhibitors: 400 Square Feet: 70,000 sq. ft.
	Celebrate® — This section presents party & occasion product — from weddings and bar mitzvahs, to Christmas and Chanukah, to Halloween and birthdays. Merchandise includes balloons, favors, decorations and trim, tableware, partyware, giftwrap, ribbons, bows, tags and ties. Number of exhibitors: 75 Square Feet: 18,000 sq. ft.
	Take Note® — This section focuses on cards & social stationery. It thoroughly covers the range of paper products including greeting cards, personalized greetings, writing papers, personal stationery, invitations, laser papers, imprintables and imprinting systems, postcards and boxed notes. Number of exhibitors: 625 Square Feet: 130,000 sq. ft.
	Home Work® — A section devoted to desk top & personal office, it presents items both decorative and functional for the work space at home or in the office. Products in this section include frames, prints, decorative boxes, desk accessories, writing instruments, small storage, lamps and furnishings, clocks, computer accessories, small electronics, desk calendars, journals and diaries. Number of exhibitors: 175 Square Feet: 42,000 sq. ft.
	Indulgences® — Fine lines & luxury items of all media are in this section — paper, leather, metals, wood, fabric — and are luxurious either because of price point, design or craftsmanship. Products include fine writing instruments, frames, handbound books, desk accessories, diaries, calendars, journals and albums, handmade cards and paper products, ribbons, decorative boxes and giftware. Number of exhibitors: 125 Square Feet: 30,000 sq. ft.

Home Works and Indulgences are the areas where all of the fountain pens and related items are found and most of the pen companies exhibit in this space.

Steve and I arrived at the show at about 11 a.m. Sunday morning and went directly the Indulgences section. That is the end of the building and we decided to start from that point and work our way over toward the middle where Home Works is located. At the very front of this section we stopped at Yafa Pens. Yafa had a wonderful exhibit space, full showcases and was fully manned and ready to do business. Jerry Greenberg, owner of Yafa was present and we spoke with him for a while and then with Michael Montague and Charles Flink, two of my favorite people at Yafa. Yafa also has the Monteverde line and the Delta and Nettuno lines and all of the pens were on display.

Jerry Greenberg, CEO Yafa Pen

We were shown the newest of the Monteverde lines, the Diva, lipstick styled fountain pen, which has already be released on the market in the ballpoint version. This is a fun item, fully functioning fountain pen, which I am sure is going to be a huge hit. The colors are terrific and the packaging is awesome. You can see the entire collection at http://www.monteverdepens.com/diva.html below is just a sample

Another new item is the Jewelria Collection and the color is fantastic; the colors available are at http://www.monteverdepens.com/jewelria.html here is another sample

Okay, there is more. The Nettuno line has the newest edition, the Shark. This is one incredible pen. I saw the pictures of its introduction in Penna Magazine last month, but did not appreciate the pen until I had it in my hand. It is wonderfully designed, with magnetic snap closure when the cap is put on and, as an added feature, when the cap is posted, it is magnetically sealed to the pen so that if you turn it upside down, shake it, or whatever, that cap is not coming off. It must be lifted off. A very unique feature and one that I just loved.
The pen is gray and white and the resins are fused so that the pen appears to be half white and half gray, with no apparent seams and closely resembles the skin of a shark, with the pearlescent effect closely resembling the underbelly of the great white. It is a stunning pen and one that must be seen to appreciate. Again, I think that is going to be a winner and I have placed an order and am awaiting my shipment. Don’t miss this one it is a great pen, substantial size, piston filler and is limited to 400 pieces, Fountain and capped Rollerball.

We then took our leave and made our way to Aurora. Joel Blumberg of Kenro Industries, the distributor for Aurora Pens in the U.A. was eager to greet, as was Dick Krane. We stopped by and chatted with them for several minutes, but the place was jumping and so we left shortly so that they could do business.

(Available now at Penstop)

In addition to the Mini Optima Collection, Aurora has several new release in the works and will be available soon.
Our next stop was Visconti. There we met and spoke with Steve Weil, of Fine Writing, the U. S. distributor for Visconti Pens and Dante Del Vecchio, one of the owners of Visconti, Italy I had time to take a couple of pictures, look at the new Wall Street, which is an incredible pen, already on the market. We have them in stock so check out our page.

Steve Weil, Fine Writing – Visconti U.S.A.

Steve Weil in front of a magnificent picture of the Wall Street.

Grey Wall Street

Black Wall Street

New Visconti Clip

A new edition being release is the Opera. I was not able to get great pictures, the lighting in the Javits is awful for filming, but I did my best and you can get a general idea. It is an octagonal shaped pen and the inkpot is also octagonal. A great looking set.

The Visconti Opera

Well a couple of hours have passed; we have been looking at pens, paper, leather goods, diaries, desk accessories and so many wonderful items that we needed a break. Off to the coffee stand where we met up with Dick Egolf of Sailor Pens and Rob Cole. We chatted a few minutes and just relaxed. The place was crowded and there was so much more to see in our little area.

This image is just a part of one aisle. So you can image the ground that we covered on Sunday.

Another view for you to imagine the vastness of this place.

Acme Pens, novelty pens and accessories. Very entertaining exhibit. We had fun with the exhibitors. Okay, our rest was over and you saw a couple of pictures of the place, now on to the next stop. The Home Works Section of the Show where we found Conklin Pens.
We met up with Rob Rosenberg and his famous Dad, Harold of Waterman fame. There was a lot of excitement at this booth as there are a couple of very exciting new release coming out. I took a picture of one of them, but it was behind glass and the show was just too busy to take it out. I did my best and I am sure you will get the idea. Another new pen is the Rain Forest a stunning green and orange, brown and rust resin Conklin Nozak.

Rob Rosenberg, The Conklin Pen Company

Harold Rosenberg busy with customers.

The new Royal Crescent – Sterling Silver overlay with unique and striking design.
Actual pen in the showcase, complete with reflection in the glass.

Well it is late afternoon and we are making our final round and on to Sailor and Conway Stewart. The exhibit booth is large, spacious and visitor friendly and we actually get a chance to sit down and talk to these guys. At the counter is Rob Cole showing pens to a group of prospective buyers and Karen is talking to another group. Michael and Dick Egolf are keeping the area fresh and in order. This is a constant effort because when exhibiting you are constantly putting and pulling at your stock, in and out of the showcases.

Rob Cole, who often posts to Pentrace, Dick Egolf, CEO Sailor U.S.A. and Steve Zucker PenstopOnline

There are some new and exciting pens coming out of both Sailor and Conway Stewart in the next couple of months. They powers that be have promised to send me images when they get back to their offices, so we will have to wait. I was able to get some images of pen cases being sold through Conway Stewart.

The three pen case with credit card slots is a great, convenient way to transport your valuables. We will have them available on our website shortly, but if you are interested now, just email me.

Well, we have come to the end of our trip and come away from this show with new and exciting products to offer. We will have a new section on our site called office essentials, with desk sets, pen boxes, pen cases, and many exciting writing accessories for your pleasure.

We hope you enjoyed the trip through this exciting show. Let us hear your comments and requests. We want this tour to be for you, so if you tell us what you want to see, we will do our best to bring it to you.

Maryann Zucker
PenstopOnline

The Javits Center covers a total of 1.8 million square feet. It is owned by New York State, and operated by the Convention Center Operation Corporation (CCOC). The CCOC is a public benefit corporation established in 1979 by the New York State legislature, and is the only entity permitted to operate the Javits Center. The facility officially opened in 1986.

The Javits Center hosts trade shows, large conventions, public shows, banquets, heavy industrial exhibits, and other special events, such as immigration ceremonies, meetings, and exams. The Javits Center offers 814,400 square feet of exhibit space on four levels and the entire facility can accommodate 85,000 visitors at one time. The special events auditorium seats more than 3,000 people. The facility's 100 meeting rooms can accommodate groups as small as ten people and using additional hall space, groups as large as 15,000. The facility employs approximately 300 full-time staff, and draws show floor workers from a 2,200 member labor pool. The number of workers varies with the size of the show.

Looking out from inside the entrance of the Javits.
The facility has two loading dock areas adjacent to the exhibit halls: one on the first floor and one on the third floor. These include 50 covered loading docks and three drive-in ramps on each of the two main levels. A four-acre truck marshaling area eases loading and unloading activities.