Manhattan's newest arts business trend? The pencil store

NEW YORK BUSINESS JOURNAL
By Gary M. Stern
CW Pencil Enterprise in March, a Lower East Side reliquary of wood and graphite
NEW YORK---Can a pencil store thrive on the trendy Lower East Side? The Lower East Side of New York has spurred many innovative stores. The Meatball Shop debuted on Stanton Street, Clinton Street Bakery prospers, and so, in its heyday, did Streit’s Matzos. And now one entrepreneur has introduced a niche business that is going against the tide of apps and smartphones: a pencil store. Weaver tested out the pencil business online in November 2014 and started generating money right of the starting gate. It currently thrives because of online sales, which constitute 70 percent of revenue and 30 percent from the retail outlet. [link]