Editing The Pen Addict 656/transcript (section)

== Starting Amarillo Stationery ==

* Okay. So we've kind of gone through the background here. And then it's, oh, I'm going to start a stationery shop. When did this thought process come in? When did you kind of have this thought that said, oh, maybe I'll do, you know, put up a little storefront on the internet and see what people think? For real, right? Like that's, it's a little adventurous to think of that little idea. It definitely started when I was doing the podcast with Jeffrey Tindiria, you know, because through that podcast, we got to meet and interview a few brands from Mexico and some of them, and you've seen what I carry. So there's just some, so there's some awesome stuff there. And I had, during that time, I was like, why isn't there more presence of them in the United States? They clearly ship over here. And there are a few stores that do carry them, like Vanessa. Yeah.
* She's got a few Apuntes notebooks. And that was surprising to see for me. But I also appreciate that, you know? Right. Um, but back to this idea of having met all these people, I started to think, well, maybe my purpose in this stationery world is to be that presence, be that kind of bridge for these brands, for these awesome products to these, uh, to the public, to the United States, you know? So it started as a really tentative idea. I was like, how would this work? Um, and I was thinking, I had just moved into this house. I have a full basement, um, that I could fill up with stationery. I'm not going to, but I could potentially, you know, you know, stock a few items and then just sell out of my home. So it started with that idea. And I, I talked to a few of the vendors, a few of the brands that they were so supportive. They're like, yeah, we'll make, we'll make it work. We'll send you whatever you need. Um, and if, if it doesn't work, then we'll, we can work something out. And so they were really, really helpful, very excited for this idea as well. And in the beginning, I went through a few name changes as well, because I thought I wanted to do something with the word desk. And then I was like, no, I don't like it. And then I knew I loved mustard yellow. So one of the first names that I thought for the shop was Amarillo Mostaza, which is a little translation in Spanish. But I was like, I think this is too much. People are not going to get what my shop is about. So I just took Mostaza off and put stationery. At least now they know it's a stationery, you know? Um, so that's how it started. And slowly, but surely, I think what this year I celebrated three years of business and, um, yeah, it's still honestly, uh, uh, a work in progress. Every, every day is a learning day. Uh, every show I learned something, you know? So yeah, it's something I never saw myself doing, but I'm kind of glad I'm doing it. And I'm even more, um, happy and just appreciative of the reception of my shop and of my purpose here. So that's, that's been really nice to see. And that's what obviously, you know, getting to know you over the years, that's been like the biggest, you know, aside from you're just an awesome human being is that you were trying to tell a story with this brand and put in the work that had to be very challenging to like find, discover, curate, make sure all of the regional based stationery items all under one roof, you know, if you will.
* Um, yeah. What were, what were some of the challenges about getting like, say like your initial like set up with getting the right amount of brands and, you know, telling the right stories and sharing these stories? Like, I, I can't imagine that was, that, that was simple. I mean, we don't get into this because it's easy, but like, like you, I'm sure you loved, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I'm sure you love doing it. But like, I, I sit here and look, knowing about retail, like I do, this could not have been easy.
* Yeah. It was definitely a huge learning curve. Right. Um, I think I knew, I knew the, the top, like, what is it? Five brands that I wanted to carry. I wanted to have a Puntes notebooks because they're just some of the most beautiful notebooks I have seen. I wanted to, to have the brand blue star crafts because they just do some amazing, amazing work. And at that time, Monarcha stationery had just freshly launched as a brand and with their first incline. So I was like, this is perfect because if I open a shop, like a store, um, well, a shop, uh, then I can carry them as well. And so I reached out to them and then I reached out to a leather brand. And then I had also seen this whole pencil company from Mexico. And I also reached out to them and then like washi tape, uh, and a few other things, but yeah, it, it was also trying to figure out like, what is the correct stock? You know, how much should I, you get it. How much should I carry? You will never answer that question. Satisfactorily. No, no. And you know what? My very first pen show, cause I had, uh, I had opened or launched Amarillo in 2022 of February, February, 2022. And my first pen show was the Chicago pen show in May of that same year. So I was, you know, new, I had ordered, I think so much stationery Brad for that pen show.
* And it was a little ridiculous. Now looking back at it, um, I can show you a picture, but I have, my table is stacked with fountain pen ink. You can barely see me behind the stack of ink. Um, but yeah. And then needless to say, I came back home with a lot of it, right? Because it was just, I had so much. And then I learned, I was like, okay, maybe just take, you know, 20 of each color, not the ridiculous amount that I took. But yeah, that was a huge learning curve. And of course, like setting up the website because I'm doing it all. I'm doing, I'm designing the website. I'm setting up a little, um, shipping website as well. Like what are my fees going to be getting the boxes? You know, I, at first I only had one box and one of the critiques. I had because somebody bought like one thing of washi tape was that I used that box. I'm like, well, this is the box that I have. I can't, you know, I can't just carry all the box sizes, but I get it. And eventually I did get like three or four different boxes. Yeah. But at that time, all I could afford was like one size and it was huge. And this is not your full-time job. Like this is, you know, you're doing this on top of your job. Yeah. So I, I learned from the critiques, of course, like I, every, every comment or every complaint is a learning lesson. Um, so I was gracious for that because otherwise I wouldn't have probably thought about it until like much later and realized that I probably should get a smaller box because I'm making it cumbersome for the post person, you know, um, I'm making it cumbersome for the person receiving it. And for me, cause I'm wasting all this space. So, yeah, I was going to put you on the spot, which is always, it's very unfair for, for no, for me to put retailers on the spot, say, Hey, tell me your favorite brand that you carry. So I'm going to tell you my favorite brand that you carry now. Or that was the biggest, uh, surprise for me. And I had already pulled the page up before you said the name. I love the blue star craft stuff. Like it is really, I love the fabric pen trays. That's like my jam, but like they have the other accessories, like the ink accessories and the pallets and all the little boxes and the wood type accessories. But y'all, I'm telling you like the, the, the fabrics on, uh, on their trays and they have different size trays, the little baby size tray. I couldn't, I was like, I'm never going to use this tray. And then that's like the most used one. Right. Cause the pen will just sit in the big tray and like, that's fine. I can find all kinds of different stuff to put in the, in the tray. So are there, are there any like cool discovery stories like that? Did you ever, did you stumble across anything? It's like, wow, this is new and you know, have to, have to start carrying this or figure out how to start carrying this. Yeah. Well, honestly, in my like discovery of like, of, uh, Mexican brands specifically, uh, I discovered furniture brands that are just insane. I don't think I will, um, I will be close to carrying furniture, but you know, eventually maybe down the road when I open a physical shop and that's kind of a future goal, then I can have the, the physical store be some sort of showroom for those items, you know, and it would be a special kind of order, but yeah, blue star crafts is just knocking it out of the park every time. Like they're one of my favorite brands. And that was one of the ones that I really wanted. And they were very open. They're so easy to work with, but the challenge is that they're always creating something new. So I'm kind of always behind because by the time I place my order and by the time I get it, they're already launching the next thing that I don't have. Right. Right. But no, they, they, they do awesome work. And I, if I could carry one of every item that they have, well, at least 10 of every item I could. And I, there are some items that I have that I, I don't carry in the shop, but I probably should. But one of my favorites is like the, I don't know if you've seen them, but they have a, a lamp that's like this in your nightstand. And it's also a little pen tray. Super cool. I do carry them. I do have two here in stock. And I'm thinking about keeping them. I was going to say.