At the end of last year, as we prepared for 2024, Neil and I thought about the experience of our shop, which all comes from how we first started Yoseka in 2017. At the time, we had an idea to introduce Asian stationery to people here in the US. Having grown up in a stationery store in Taiwan, Neil’s concept of stationery was so different from the stationery available here. There is a lot of individuality reflected in stationery when you grow up in Asia because there are so many choices and every category of stationery brings more to choose from.
Over the weekends, we started doing pop-ups in markets as a way of telling the story behind some of these stationeries. We learned that the best way for people to learn about something new was by trying it out for themselves. Over the next couple of weekends, we took all the packaging off our products and made testers for every item we had.
In 2018, when we opened our first shop in Sunnyside, we brought the same set up from our pop-ups into our brick and mortar store. Customers who visited us may still remember our one main tester table in the center of our shop. To this day, one of our fondest memories of the shop was simply being able to chat with customers about what their favorite stationery items were and the unique ways in which someone would use their stationery.
Over the years, our team has grown to a lot more people than just me and Neil, but the heart of Yoseka and our mission will always be to create a space where you can try your stationery out within a community of individuals who share your passion.
This year, our goals are to 1) Plan stationery events that bring the stationery community together, 2) Film more YouTube videos that bring our in-store testing experience to the wider community and 3) Make more Collaborations to tell the stories of brands and partners we believe in.
Through these goals, we hope to bring more people in the passionate and wonderful stationery community together and empower more people to find the right stationery items for themselves.
1 comment
I just placed my first order #160910, it was a pleasure because I was after those Hobonichi Plain notebooks. I am enjoying everything in my order. Love the ink Diamine Poinsettia and the Pentel Hybrid Metallic Gel pen. First discovery on those. Forgive me for my rambling, but I am looking for a TWSBI broad nib. I am seeing that the 580 writes broader than the ECO. Have your tried it, experienced it? Or if you have another pen suggestion in the broad nib. I have a broad in a Kaweco (too small) and a Lamy (nib is a stiff as a board), What are your thoughts? I have such a blast watching you on YT. I’ll be back with another order soon. Take care!