Friday, November 24, 2006

Buy One Get One Free?

To celebrate the holiday season, the Pear Tree Pen Company would like to offer its customers something special - something rarely seen in the world of online pen retailing. So, it (come on, who are we kidding? I) decided to offer select items at an unheard of "Buy one, Get One Free" price."

The problem is, I have so many wonderful things in stock that I can't decide what to offer at this price! Sure, I'd love to be able to do that for all the items in my store, but I have a family to feed, too!

So I've decided to let YOU choose the items from my inventory to make available at this unbelievable discount.

So - here's how it's gonna work: Each week from now until the week before Christmas, one item from my inventory will be offered on a "2 for 1" basis. All I ask is that you all let me know what you'd like me to put on sale. I'll select the winning item from the votes received, either online or via email, at 2Fer@PearTreePens.com. (All sales prices will be based on MSRP, by the way.)

You would be well-justified in asking, "Is this some sort of marketing gimmick?" Of course it is! But I'm flush with Thanskgiving turkey and a whole lot of liquid lubrication and my otherwise sound judgment may be slightly impaired. But I still think it's a pretty good deal, and the ultimate winner will be you!

So, let's get the ball rolling - visit my website and let me know which of the items I have available you'd like me to put on sale. Beginning Monday, November 27, 2006, the item with the most votes that week will be listed for sale on my website.

While you're poking around the site, check out what else I have to offer - this could be the best time to buy that ink, journal or pen you've always wanted - for a limited time all orders over $100 get free shipping and you can take an additional 10% off all orders over $25 (see my homepage for details).

And don't forget to tell your friends to vote and look around the site. Click here to visit the Pear Tree Pen Company website.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Waiting for Columbus*

Tomorrow I leave for the Ohio Pen Show, which is billed as the 4th largest pen show in the nation. The show is held in the belly of the beast - at least as far as University of Michigan fans go -– Columbus, Ohio. Yet I remain undeterred.

In fact, I a’m actually pretty excited, as this will be the first time the Pear Tree Pen Company will be exhibiting at the show. I’'ve been making preparations for weeks now, yet believe it or not, much remains to be done. Taking the management concept of "Just in Time Delivery" to dizzying new heights, some of the new products I'’ve ordered still haven'’t arrived - which is causing me some degree of stress, as you might imagine. And, although I a’m resigned to the fact that some of the things I had hoped to accomplish will most likely not be done, I still think I'm in pretty good shape overall.

For starters, my staff and I will have new shirts embroidered with our fancy-schmancy new logo, which should make us pretty easy to spot - on the concourse and off. We also just received our new promotional ink blotters, imprinted with contact information as well as the "Partridge in a Pear Tree" logo. Come by and pick one up.

I've also made sure we ordered new inventory so there will be plenty of pens, paper and inks to sell. Making their debut at the Pear Tree Pen Company will be new pens and inks from Pelikan, including some of the unusual Pelikan Level 5 fountain pens, as well as Pelikan'’s new 364 Epoch "Wood Nut" fountain pens, which are made from hand-polished walnut wood. If all goes according to plan, we hope to have a large selection of Pelikan student pens available for the young attendees and, of course, the cliched "Young at Heart." As one of the newest Authorized Platinum Pen dealers in North America, The Pear Tee Pen Company will also be displaying for the first time its new assortment of Platinum fountain pens, which will be available in a variety of colors and nib sizes.

Lamy pens continue to be well-represented among our products, and we will have a large array of Al-Stars, Safaris and Vistas, as well as some of the pens a little higher up in Lamy's line, like the Brilliant Accent and the 2000. We'll also have the Lamy Studio, which has just added a cool new blue color to their line-up.

In response to many of your suggestions, The Pear Tree Pen Company has also partnered with Greg Minuskin, an extremely talented nib "guru" and one of the rising stars in the field, to bring you several pens with custom-ground stub and cursive italic nibs. Greg has performed his magic on a select group of Sailors, Bexleys and Lamys, and these pens will be available to try and to buy only at the Pear Tree Pen Company.

So, if you a’re in Columbus this weekend, please come by our table and visit. And if you're not in Columbus this weekend, please understand why I won't be responding to your emails and orders with my typical alacrity. Shipping will resume once I recover early next week.

Thanks, and I hope see you at the show.

James P.

* My apologies to Little Feat for stealing the title to one of the greatest live albums of all time.