When new customers ask Peter Laywine about the appeal of writing with a fountain pen, he asks if they drive standard. “And then the little light bulb goes off behind their eyes,” Peter says. “When you drive standard and you’re downshifting and upshifting, you’re in control of the car and the speed of the car. It’s the same thing with fountain pens. It’s about the physical act, the haptic act of writing where the ink flows out of the pen and onto the page that you do not get with a ball point.”
Peter remembers buying his first fountain pen in middle school. “I think it was seven dollars,” he recalls. “It was a Sheaffer no-nonsense with turquoise ink. It was fabulous.” Now, as the owner of Laywine’s, Peter is helping to meet the needs of fountain pen enthusiasts across the city.
I've always found the sales associates in Laywine's to be very helpful and knowledgeable. Their stock selection is also great and you can pick up some great deals during their annual sale.
They have Lamy, Parker, Sailor, Pelikan and more more more.
(I fell in love with an independent label called Ystudio, they are the only store who carries them in Toronto, go check it pls.)
They also carries Hobonichi and Midori.
Staffs are super knowledgeable and approachable, the owner told me they opened it for 30 years!!
I'm new to pen collecting and I found Laywine's early in my new hobby. In the last 2 months, I've spend a significant amount of money with them and they have worked hard to get my business. Until today. I went looking for a pen, ink and supplies. While I was there, I wanted to exchange 2 lined notebooks I bought previously for identical notebooks without lines. Because I was outside the 30 day exchange, they said no.
It is, of course, their choice but with a customer that has shown the loya