National Stationery Show in New York City

by Melissa of Pressbound

On May 18th I had the fabulous opportunity to walk through the National Sationery Show at the Javits Center in New York City. Stationers from across the country displayed their products at this annual event in the hopes of getting lots of wholesale orders from shops and accounts like Paper Source or to add to their list of reps. Companies large and small participate, spending months planning and constructing booth spaces, and designing new lines of cards and other paper products to debut at the show.

I wanted to see what the show was all about and what it takes to exhibit in the hopes that in the next couple of years Pressbound may make its debut at the show. It was also a wonderful opportunity to meet lots of other folks in the biz, especially those doing letterpress, or a combination of off-set and letterpress cards. Everyone I spoke with was incredibly nice and encouraging. Not only was it awesome meeting so many great people but I learned a ton too.

There was also a strong local presence at the show. My friend's and studio mates Albertine Press shared a booth space with Angela Liguori from Carta ink. Albertine debuted new packaging for their Letterpress Library note cards and Angela was selling her imported Italian ribbons as well as hand made cards and books.

Other locals who were at the show include the fabulous ladies at Two Trick Pony who make silk-screened cards and journals, Smudge Ink who do both letterpress and offset cards as well as a line of bags, and Vermont native Kelly from May Day Studios who exhibited with The Ladies of Letterpress.

If you're interested in reading more about the show I've written three round-up posts on the Pressbound blog.