Brian Anderson can spend hours talking about the “usable works of art” he sells. It’s easy to catch his enthusiasm as he walks through Anderson Pens, the business he and wife Lisa founded in 2010.
There are high-end writing instruments from Japan, Italy, Germany, the U.S. and elsewhere that range from handmade fountain pens worth thousands of dollars to roller ball pens affordable enough for corporate or personal gifts.
The store also offers inks in myriad colors and styles, some higher-end stationery and writing paper, and accessories for maintaining and repairing pens.
“We actually eat, sleep and breathe pens,” Brian acknowledges, with Lisa nodding in agreement.
The two met while bidding against each other online for collectible pens. Their bond was cemented when they realized they each owned one half of a vintage pen and pencil set. Their relationship grew over a number of years, and they eventually married at a pen trade show. They used the vintage pen to sign their marriage certificate, and it has remained part of the couple’s massive collection.
While the business focus for Anderson Pens has not changed significantly since 2010, its operations have adapted to better serve customers.
The Andersons initially sold new and vintage fountain pens at shows across the United States. Lisa said it was at least in part a way to afford their hobby. They attended around 100 shows in eight years and established a storefront in downtown Appleton in November 2013.
Driving to and from shows on weekends became more and more challenging, so they stopped regularly attending shows just before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It just became a smart business decision not to do shows,” Lisa said. “It just wasn’t profitable, and it was hard on the staff.”
Meanwhile, Anderson Pens has embraced marketing and technology. Brian and Lisa started a weekly podcast in 2012 that now has 10,000 followers and more than 500 episodes. Their website offers the same products they have on the floor of their retail store, and they have developed proprietary methods of photographing and displaying their pens online.
But the retail store has become destination shopping for many, especially since Brian believes they are the only retail outlet of its type in Wisconsin and have built so many business relationships in the industry, both regionally and nationally.
“We offer a very personalized service,” Lisa says. “Pens have to feel good in your hand,” Brian adds.
Anderson Pens moved in August to 1000 W. Wisconsin Ave., Appleton, after construction plans for the Appleton City Center created pressure to relocate.
“Everybody who comes in loves it,” Lisa says of the new store.
The new location is significantly larger, offering floor space to showcase all products, space for shipping, offices, a studio for marketing and a repair area for Brian, who said he always has dozens of pens to repair for customers.
The success of the store has been rewarding. The Andersons say there are far more regular, local customers than they anticipated when they first opened a retail store.
The new store has increased the conversion rate, but, Brian says, “I don’t care what you buy or if you buy; I just want you to come back.”
