Trip to NYC - Winter 2026

February 04, 2026

During the first weekend in February, Vernon and I took a trip to New York City! The main goal of this trip was to visit NY Now, and Shoppe Object, two of the best trade-shows for finding items for our shop in St. Louis. Because the two events happen simultaneously, we generally do one per day, and then the third day, tie up loose ends at both shows.

Day 1 - Yoseka Stationery

We arrived in NYC late Saturday morning, grabbed a coffee, and checked into our hotel. It was located behind an alley that was full of graffiti, and there were multiple artists working while we made our way through. Another person was recording a music video.

After checking in, we made our way to Yoseka Stationery, in Brooklyn. I've always wanted to go, but they're closed Monday which is usually our free day, so we made adjustments to our plans and were finally able to visit. We bought a bunch of little goodies, and I got my first Sailor fountain pen (a Pro Gear Slim for those wondering). We grabbed a beer at a nearby spot, and trekked back to the Lower East Side where we finished the day with some pasta.

Day 2 - NY Now

Day 2 began with a lovely breakfast at the hotel, and then we hopped on the subway to the Javits Center, where NY Now is held. We met with our usual reps from LAMY, Kaweco, Midori, and other brands, and discovered lots of fun new items as well.

We found lots of new items for the shop, including Diamine Inks, Tom's Studio pens, Rossi decorated papers, and stamps and stamp pads made in Japan. That's new products from three countries right there! At 6pm the show closed, and we went back to the hotel where we had dinner at the bar there, and pored over all of the samples and catalogues we'd collected during the day.

Day 3 - Shoppe Object

Right down the road from the Javits Center is the Starrett-Lehigh Building, where Shoppe Object takes place. While NY Now contains many of our larger, legacy brands, Shoppe Object has many newer, independent businesses and brands we've never heard of.

We made stops at many spots, and made several purchases at the show. We're thrilled to be bringing New York's own Goods for the Study to the shop, MARK'S Tokyo, and more goodies made in Japan from Kinokinuya. We'll also be adding more stunning items, like letter sorters and waste paper bins, all handmade with hand-marbled or block printed papers. We got dinner at Freeman's next to the hotel, and enjoyed chatting with the bartender there about pens and stationery and working with our hands. If you need someone to come up with a custom cocktail for you, Aidan is your guy!

Day 4 - Finishing Up

Instead of heading out right away on Day 4, we sat in the lounge area of the hotel and went over more catalogues, and put together some orders that we hoped to placed once returning home. After that, we went back to both NY Now and Shoppe Object to place a few orders for things we couldn't stop thinking about. Then, we headed to our respective flights and made it home late in the evening.

We're so thrilled to have been able to spend this time working together, and are looking forward to sharing more of what we found with you as the items arrive at the shop in the coming months!