[Pen/Pencil Review] Graphite Pencil + Paper Store
I know this is a day late – Day Job has been a bear. So this will be quick. This past weekend, Jimmy wanted to do something different…spontaneous even. We headed up to McKinney, Texas, on Sunday afternoon. First we hit up our friends at Carpe Diem Comics, and did our part to make it not be THAT day. Also, we finally got some Pancake (the shop dog) time, since we haven’t seen him since he was a puppy. Then we went to a new store a couple of blocks away that Jimmy had heard of — Graphite Pencil + Paper.
This store is just what it says – pencils and paper. FUN pencils and FUN paper, but just that. No pens. Maybe that will change down the road, maybe it won’t. But for now, it’s AMAZING and rare. We don’t have many strictly stationary stores like this anymore – they’re like independent book stores now. The store has some great ideas and some great people running it. I didn’t get pictures of the store this time around.
The owners are educators who want to help bring back the art and science of cursive writing. They have wooden pencils, mechanical pencils, lead holders, and things to use them on. They are trying to make writing FUN again with high quality pencils and fun notebooks and paper. They have an upper space to have classes for journaling and letter writing. There’s a manual typewriter in the front window to type a letter or poem, and if you do write a letter, I think they even said they will mail it for you.
This store also has a nook in the back to sit, read, write, and relax. But what’s also cool? There’s a wooden box near the register with a coin slide like at laundromats — you put in a quarter and you get the pencil you see in the photos. There are two “gum ball” machines – one dispenses a plastic bubble with an eraser, the other has a pencil sharpener. The money from those machines goes to an educational foundation grant to help educators.
So if you’re in the northern reaches of Dallas — or just want a fun jaunt, go check this place out. I believe they’re officially opening this weekend, but I would check before going.