I received a Fathers Day mystery box and was pleased with the variety of fountain pen options and contents. Cost to value was a pleasant surprise. Recently, I was able to visit the store in person and Michelle was super helpful. She walked around the store with us, hearing my requests and making befitting suggestions. The variety of brands, writing styles, and price points were available for any budget. I never felt rushed or pressured, and other agents offered potential products. This literal boutique had more foot traffic and consumer diversity than I imagined. I gave into the temptation of buying yet another mystery box that did not disappoint. Although I live in IL, I will make my way back on my next visit. read more

Let me just say 1st, outstanding customer service & knowledge on the merchandise! They even have a connecting store with the different writing paper. A great selection of pens! Something for everyone price wise also. Only wish they also had some vintage selections. But we were very happy and will be a repeat customer. read more

I've bought fountain pens from Pen Boutique's online store. Orders are received promptly and boxed so the pens don't get crushed during transit. I'm strictly an online customer. read more

I've been on the hunt for a TWSBI ECO, but none of the stationary stores in VA have them for sell, much less to try. Did some research and found out that Pen Boutique did! After confirming with their discord (they have such a helpful and friendly community!) i headed over to their shop! Only had 30mins to shop cuz they were closing but MICHELLE was so helpful! From letting me test the different nib sizes to helping me get the color pen i wanted. SHES AMAZING! The experience with her is 100/10 already. Im already planning to come back to explore their ink collection! She also helped troubleshoot some issues i had with using the pen for the first time! Can't wait to go back! read more

Pen Boutique - Got a rootbeer in fine nib and clear in medium! - Cards & Stationery Near Me - Columbia, Maryland

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I had no idea there was a stationary and fountain pen store close to where I lived. I was super excited to go and browse all of the fountain pens. There was an event going on - food when I walked in was a dead giveaway. The store itself isn't very big but there were about 10 people looking at fountain pens. I couldn't even look since people were at the counter. For me, customer service is everything and no one working acknowledged me, not even to say hi. I know you may be busy but if you have a customer that just walked in, say hi. I looked around and found they had field notes so I looked at those for a bit and then my eyes wandered over to the hobinichis. I have never seen a hobinichi in person before so it was nice to get a sense of the size. I looked around at the pelikans and other fountain pens but there were alot of people so I left. I may be back when there isn't an event. read more

Pen Boutique - Cards & Stationery Near Me - Columbia, Maryland

If you're into pens or stationery, Pen Boutique is the place to check out. I could've easily spent hours just browsing all the pens, inks, Hobonichi planners, and Traveler's Notebook stuff they have. The selection is amazing, and the staff is super chill and helpful. Left with a major wish list! read more

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I live out of state and do not have a similar stationary store anywhere close to me. I was in MD for Project Glow but my favorite part of the trip was Pen Boutique. I absolute loved the welcoming environment and the insanely helpful staff. I am both sad and glad that I don't live nearby. My wallet would be barren. If you like pens and stationary, you will have a fantastic time inside the store. read more

Customer Service is excellent and enjoy shopping and supporting a community small business. In addition to the various pens, pencils, inks and stationary they host small classes to improve your writing skills. Just a wonderful store that supports a great hobby read more

I placed an order on 05/20/25 for a limited edition fountain pen ink from Monteverde. I waited and waited for the shipping notification and never received one. On 05/27/25, a whole week later, I went on the website and selected "Chat" to get status on the order. I expressed concern about why it had been a week and my order hadn't shipped yet and got the folllowing response: "We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience regarding your recent order. The Monteverde Ink Bottle - Honey Yellow (30ml) was placed on hold and not shipped due to a quality concern. This particular ink contains an excessive amount of shimmer, which could potentially cause clogging issues in your fountain pen." I was so upset. Why not email me immediately after placing the order to inform me of the issue?....did they just want to take my money and never ship anything to me? Also, the ink was still listed as "in stock" and available for sale on the website. If there was a quality concern, why not pull it from the website and not continue to sell it? I was so disappointed in their customer service. A couple of other online vendors had the ink in stock but it was sold out in most places so I immediately asked for my order to be cancelled so I could place an order with another vendor before it sold out completely everywhere. They cancelled my order on the spot (which is why I gave them 2 stars instead of 1) and immediately placed my order with a second vendor (cough*Bertram'sInkwell*cough) and 10 minutes after placing the order, my order was shipped out. I was impressed! I understand not wanting to ship out defective or products with issues but not communicating it to your customers while they wait for their order, that they're never going to get, is just a big failure in customer service. They need to rethink their approach when issues like these arise. read more

Unbelievable staff. Very friendly and helpful. Went in with a damaged Mont Blanc fountain pen and while they weren't able to fix the issue they were extremely generous with their time while trying to help! read more

This is the height of good customer service, which is true of many businesses run by women who have the unique ability to make you feel like family. Their knowledge of the pen world is impressive and they have relations within this sphere that offer access to some quite unique pens. If you have fallen in love with pens or want to learn more about them, then this is the place to visit. read more

They carry all of the brands I'm interested in. The sales team goes above and beyond to help decide what would be most enjoyable to go home with. I will gladly drive 7 hours to shop in person again! read more

Pen Boutique provides the best customer service I have ever experienced! I love walking in and chatting with the staff, as everyone is genuinely warm and personable. I'm so glad to be local to Pen Boutique! read more

If you live in DC and order a pen, expect it to take about a week, because they ship via FedEx, and FedEx, for whatever unsavory reason, routes all its packages from this area through Memphis, even though the delivery address is about half an hour's drive away. This has happened to me twice. So I complained. The store's non-response was 'it's not our fault'. Well, hell yes, it is, because they chose to use FedEx instead of UPS ( which I know from experience can manage a delivery in the metro area within a day). Even USPS would be faster. But what I really can't stand is the shop's snide, entitled attitude. No more business from this pen aficionado! ******************************** The above not even the worst of it. The pen, a Pelikan M600 Glauco Cambon, about $600 with a coupon, arrived this afternoon in its proper packaging but when I held the pen to get a close look at it, I got ink on my fingers. They'd inked the pen -- a no no -- but then had not even bothered to clean it out. There was a surprising quantity of ink remaining, which took me several minutes to wash out. Unbelievable! What lower than low cheats! Your mileage, of course, may vary, but if you're reading this, for your own peace of mind you should shop elsewhere! read more

The selection here is amazing, and the staff are very helpful. If you're into pens and stationery, you need to go. They have a range of offerings from around the world in all price ranges. During my visit, I snagged a Traveler's Notebook and a Fisher Space pen. But the best part was getting to chat with other pen collectors and notebook aficionados. I will definitely be back when I'm ready for my next pen or my next Traveler's insert. read more

Great selection of pens available in the store, and helpful friendly service. I visited the shop for the first time and bought a couple pens, which were a bit of a splurge for me. When I got home, I decided one of them wasn't right for me. I went to the store a few days later, and the hours had changed so the store was closed (this inconsistency was due to reopening after covid and maybe severe weather that day). I called the customer service phone number, and they were extremely helpful. They sent someone out from the warehouse next door with a the pen I wanted, and took care of the exchange even though the store was closed. That saved me another trip, and I didn't expect such a positive response. The shop mainly has pens with a great selection and variety in stock. They also have a smaller but well-chosen range notebooks, pads, ink and refills, and other stationary available. The prices are reasonable, and the service is excellent as mentioned. read more

I have been in the market for a fountain pen awhile now. I ordered one online, but I didn't know what I was doing or what I was looking for. Luckily, Pen Boutique is right here in Columbia! I went in before Christmas and the staff was eager to help, extremely pleasant and super knowledgeable. The sales person that show me around patiently explained multiple different pens and I ended up settling on a really great pan from Monteverde. It had to look in the feel I wanted. Unfortunately, when I left and tried using the pan over the holidays, I had issues with the nib. I took it back right after the holidays, and they were eager to help and gave me a new name. It works perfectly now! Nice people, great customer service, and very knowledgeable! read more

Amazing service and all of the staff is so knowledgeable!!! The store is immaculate and their merchandise is plentiful!!!

Just received my SHAEFER CALLIGRAPHY pen. The pen is great with very smooth calligraphy angles.. Unusual for a calligraphy point in my experience. Thanks for the quick service. I look forward to my next pen order. Be safe and have holidays. All the best, Stan Goldstein stanleyg_99@yahoo.com read more

I purchased numerous pens from pen boutique.com and Lena has been very nice. I purchased lots of expensive pens ( Mont Blanc, Visconti, etc). Today, however, was a major disappointment. I called them before making the 1 3/4 hour one way trip to their office /store. We agreed on what I wanted and price. When I got there they didn't have my order or any info on my order. I also wanted to look at some of the other pens there. The pens are in locked lighted glass cabinets. However, customers are not allowed to look at them thru the locked glass cabinets but only behind an additional cabinet in front of the pen cabinet ! I asked if I could see how the pen I wanted writes -No. I had to buy the pen and the ink and then try it. The ink I tried was too light. -too bad no return or exchange!! I paid and left then realized they charged me MORE than we had agreed upon. Now I have to call tomorrow and try to fix this. I have purchased approximately $10,000 of pens from them in the last 2 years with no problems. However, everyone was rude and certainly no helpful. I think I'm done shopping at penboutique.com or their columbia store. read more

I was in need for ink refills for a Parker fountain pen. There wasn't a store within 200 miles that carried items Parker related. A friend recommended Pen Boutique and they had the refills I needed. I submitted my request and low and behold within two days my order arrived, exceptional! Service is excellent as well as their shop-in-shop collection of the finest fountain pens available! Just wonderful ‼ read more

Pen Boutique - Cards & Stationery Near Me - Columbia, Maryland

The variety and of oens I would say is well stocked. They have more basic pens to higher end like Mont blanc. The service is a little slow as there are other people who don't know much about pens asking questions because they didn't do any research before. I took away two stars because they prioritize adults more than if you walk in with your teen. It can be frustrating so I also love pens and decided after trying out some not to purchase here. First time we came they catered to adults couple the entire time two sales people wity the ine couple. Didn't even bother to help us . It was a woman and younger blonde salesman. Since there aren't stores with the particular pen my son wanted I stayed so he could get one. This second time again some woman walked in talking about getting a pen for some important author just talking over and it was rather obnoxious. We waited for her to finish before the sales woman could get back to us so we could ask questions but by then fairly insulted so just let him by the one pen and tried some that I wanted so I didn't waste my time and we left. Seems if you walk in talk loudly and boast you are going to spend a lot of money is they way to get service first even if you walk in after other people . We will try this next time!! read more

Overall good transaction, however be careful when ordering and note if your item is a "pre-order" or "in stock." Many items long in stock elsewhere are not stocked here, but ordered when you purchase, and can take a few weeks to ship. Also, items are shipped "Direct Signature Required" which for me is a deal breaker...I work. Nice place with good folks, and I understand this requirement...but unfortunately I cannot purchase from them again. read more

I am not pleased with this company & will not be visiting them again. I ordered a pen which they said was in stock which turned out not to be in stock & would not be for a few days. During this time I decided I did not really care enough for this pen and decided to cancel. They made my decision to cancel extremely uncomfortable. They wanted a Reason I wanted to cancel. Then they said they could help me find another pen, they would work with me. I had to personally get on the phone with them & make it clear I simply wanted to cancel. The transaction I had with them before this one was equally disappointing. The sales help was tragically uninformed, I asked if they could gift me an ink cartridge since I had just spent over $3,000.00 on the Montblanc Kipling set & received icy resistance. No, not for me, I'll shop elewhere. read more

The customer service is not good. When you are buying a luxury item like an expensive pen, you expect good communication from the seller. I had to call the seller three times to find out the status of my order. On two separate occasions, they gave me dates that depend would ship only to not follow through and ship depends on the date promised. It might be advisable to find another place to buy a luxury pen. read more

Sooo 3 1/2 stars rounded to four This review is for a transaction made about 2 years ago during the height of the pandemic and I've kept that in mind while writing this. I also genuinely hope the people working here and anyone reading this is doing well. For starters, the first pen I received came packaged really horribly. Shockingly bad! It was the typical Sailor "navy-colored pen coffin box" inside of a plastic shipping envelope with nothing to protect it. So obviously the Sailor case arrived slightly crushed, but the pen was okay. This is kinda nuts for an over $300 dollar Special Edition Sailor. Now the the terrible nib on the pen was not at all their fault and to their credit, it was pretty nice that I didn't have to jump thought any hoops to get a replacement. I was also really happy when I (thought) I was told that a new pen would be shipped that day before I even sent back the original. But maybe I heard wrong, because it took about a week after they received the original to send a new one out. Now that would be okaayish if the customer service person I spoke with to get updates wasn't so brash and slightly patronizing. It's defeating being talked down to when I'm being overly-understanding and patient. The final annoyance I have with this company was that the Replacement came in the same crushed box as the original with the used converter I sent back -which is pretty sketch. At the end of it all I do have a really dope pen, and wanted to write this to get rid of all the negative emotions I have attached to my beautiful Sailor Pro Gear; for some sense of catharsis or something. I do really wish the best for all the people at this business and understand that the past few years have been a bit grim in the world, and the Bora Bora waters design they created is of a fun and bright aesthetic. Something nice to hold onto. read more

Mediocre selection of pens. Very SLOW shipping. I feel like they don't even have the pens in stock. They are not passionate about pens, especially fountain pens. read more

Ordered a new Montblanc PIX Ballpoint Pen for my brother for Christmas. The pen arrived in the wrong box and looked just terrible during a quick unboxing. I will be requesting an RMA number as soon as their Customer Support is open this Monday read more

Pen Boutique - Box my new Montblanc PIX Ballpoint Pen was delivered in. Just terrible. - Cards & Stationery Near Me - Columbia, Maryland

While I have never visited the store, I did place an order for a Cross Townsend pen online. I also ordered a few rollerball and ballpoint refills. When ordering items like fine pens, I am always a bit concerned about getting a fake. However, I received an authentic and gorgeous Cross Townsend at a phenomenal price. The rollerball refills I received wrote smoothly and were also sold at a fair price. Further, as part of their holiday sale, I received, along with my purchase, a free pair of cuff links and a Parker ballpoint pen, which is actually quite stylish and handy for a free pen. Finally, I received the items much faster than anticipated. I have a feeling I will be shopping from the Pen Boutique again. read more

I have never been to this store, but I have made several purchases through their online shop. They are one of the better pen shops that I personally recommend. I love their customer service, selections, and prompt shipping. 10/10 read more

I purchased a Parker Duofol pen from these people, through no fault of theirs the order got lost in the US mail. They dealt with an angry Norwegian customer with completely level heads, cancelled the first order, and sent me the pen again(which got here). I am very pleased with that, and would definitely buy from their store again. read more

I made the pilgrimage out from Baltimore to visit the Pen Boutique, and I'm very glad that I did. Foolishly, I didn't catch the name of the saleswoman who assisted me, but she was extremely helpful and friendly; it was a pleasure to chat with her about writing implements and paper. The store's inventory can only adequately be described as exceptional in both quantity and quality. Almost every brand of fine writing implements is represented in their store, and the staff is knowledgeable about every product. I'm utterly impressed with the quality of their selections and their service. It's clear that the staff is passionate about pens, ink, and paper, and they have a lot of useful information to share with their customers. I ended up going home with a pen, some ink, and a replacement nib for another pen. When my new pen gave me some trouble the following day (no fault of the store's -- the blame lies with German nib makers) I was worried that I would be in for some hassle from the store in getting support. I was completely wrong. Not only does the small, local store have a dedicated customer support line when you call, the representative I spoke to was knowledgeable, helpful, and empathetic. Because of this support, I don't have to contact the manufacturer for now and instead am being guided through troubleshooting by the store's staff. If you're passionate about writing implements, in need of a good pen or paper, or just curious about a specialty shop that excels in their field, I cannot recommend highly enough that you stop by Pen Boutique. I will certainly be a returning customer. read more

I needed an engraved fountain pen to gift to someone, on a relatively short notice. I called the store and even though they couldn't guarantee the pen would reach me on time, they provided enough information for me to weigh the risk. The pen, engraved, along with several accessories was shipped to me 2 hours after I placed the order! Well packaged and all nicely done. This was my second such purchase with them and I'd be happy to come back in the future. Note - their email doesn't seem to be tended to, or if so, not regularly enough for it to be useful. Calling them up is a safer choice. read more

Found a little gem in Columbia, MD for all things pens. Friendly service and had all the refills I needed in stock.

Excellent selection and customer service. I purchased an entry level pilot fountain pen and love it!

They sold me a damaged pen and refused to refund my money. They gave me the runaround for about a week and then flat out refused to give me a refund. They said I could send it back to them but I would need to pay for shipping and they would keep 20% or restock. Restock what? The pen is leaking. I will not buy from them again. read more

I shop at this store frequently and love it! Great selection and prices! Staff is friendly and helpful. It is located in an office park across from Columbia Mall with lots of parking. read more

I find them to be dishonest, by refusing to post my review regarding a pen I purchase, I was not asking for a refund because the item fail to perform I am trying to warn people about the poor quality they are selling, I even sent photos with writing samples and now I wonder if the pen I purchase came from China and not Germany. read more

Let's face it, when you want to purchase something you have multiple choices. The differentiator is customer service. I ordered this pen from PEN BOUTIQUE on 12/12/2020 as a Christmas gift. It was meant to arrive on the 19th December. Christmas came and went, as did the New Year and then on 1/14/2021 it finally arrived. I had already phoned and emailed them several times and told them that it was no use to me at this juncture and needed a RMA. I turned around and mailed the package back the very next day 1/15/2021. It arrived back at PEN BOUTIQUE on the 18th. I waited a few days and then asked about my refund and was told it would be processed in a few days. Today is 2/8/2021 and I still have not received my refund. This is the worst customer service that I have ever experienced. Apart from paying for shipping and then paying to return the item after it arrived more than a month later and still no refund after waiting another 3 weeks. My advise is to purchase elsewhere. read more

Although I've lived in Columbia for 17 years, I just recently stumbled across the Pen Boutique for the first time. I had taken my son to an appt. in the same building and we decided to go in to check out the pens. I actually don't have much experience with pens, but I love making art. My mom has gorgeous handwriting and has done a fair amount of calligraphy, so I definitely appreciate the tool to create such beauty. My 11 year-old son was interested in the pens. I decided I would like to buy him his first official fountain pen, partly from him receiving all As on his first middle school report card. The store had several customers and staff members present. A sales associate approached me to offer assistance and I gladly accepted. Aurora taught my son and I a tremendous amount about the fountain pens. She really gave us a full and interesting tutorial. My son really took it in and seemed very fascinated. He was able to try out different pens and select one for himself. While he was choosing one, the owner Ane introduced herself and gave me some additional information on the store and upcoming classes. I was definitely interested to here more about classes for beginners. I thought some of my friends would also be interested in these classes for their kids. She was so kind, she offered me a complimentary starter pen for my daughter, who was back at home. I was really appreciative of such a thoughtful and generous act. We made our purchase and took our pens home. My kids both assembled their pens and began writing with them. I am definitely planning to visit again. Before I left, I was checking out some of their calligraphy pens. They have a huge assortment of all types and brands of pens, and even more online. I think a calligraphy pen would be a great holiday gift for my mom. I whole heartedly recommend supporting this small, local, female-owned, niche business. I hope the community can fully support them and keep their business thriving! read more