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Levenger becoming the 'Starbucks of note-taking'
DELRAY BEACH, FLA · October 20, 2006 – Levenger, the upmarket retailer known to millions of Web and catalog customers as the company offering "tools for serious readers," is serious about being the retailing mecca for superior note-taking products.
"We'd like to be the Starbucks of note-taking and list-making products," Steve Leveen told The Wall Street Journal for the paper's September 29 feature on list-making.
And indeed, Levenger offers some of the most versatile and user-focused systems on the market. They range from the custom-blend Circa system, to 3 x 5 cards with an array of filing methods, to wallets with built-in writing platforms for business-card-size notes.
The not-so-secret ingredient they all share? Really good paper.
'Notationery'
Levenger paper is worlds away from the standard-issue stuff found in office supply stores. The quality is more closely aligned with good stationery—so much so that the company has dubbed it "notationery."
It's the difference, says Leveen, "between instant coffee and freshly ground beans. And it's as rich as a double cappuccino."
American blend
This is paper that's been put through the mill at the American plant where it's made: it's crafted to be bright, smooth and strong. A 60-lb. stock that's tear-proof, it's also three times weightier than typical office-supply paper.
"We see our paper-based systems as being as effective in their own way as electronic ones, and often more agile," says Leveen. "They need only natural power and provide instant hard copy."
'Make your own Circa'
The Circa system that Levenger has created gives customers the opportunity to custom-blend their own notebook, using different sizes and designs of paper that can be easily rearranged, along with different types of covers.
In the Levenger stores, notistas (aka sales associates) will create the Circa notebook to customers' specifications while they shop, much the way a barista will make that double espresso to order.
'It's a 3 x 5 world'
Levenger has also elevated the humble 3 x 5 card to something approaching cult status among note-takers. An array of holders, ranging from pocket-sized leather writing folios to a multi-tiered wooden organizer called Card Bleachers, makes these cards remarkably handy both on the fly and on a desk.
Right on the money: Wallet Writers
The company's newest line of note-taking products, Wallet Writers, give note-taking new currency by providing a mini writing platform as part of the leather wallets, with a mini pen that fits inside.
Oasis for mind-mappers
Levenger has also turned the pedestrian note pad into a creative mind-mapping tool by designing a series of pads that have space for sketching as well as writing. They come in standard sizes as well as in a larger, 11 x 17 size called the Oasis.
"Ultimately note-taking is not simply keeping a list; it's capturing and nurturing ideas, and giving them the springboard for action," says Leveen. "Our role is to give people good tools for gaining the most from their ideas."
Find Steve on Starbucks cup #94
The next time you take a sip from a Starbucks cup, take a look at what's written on the back. Starbucks runs a series called "The Way I See It," which showcases thoughts of various writers and other thinkers. Number 94 belongs to Steve Leveen, the author of the award-winning book The Little Guide to Your Well-Read
Life .
Steve's words on reading:
Want to find time to read? Fall in book love.
Seek
out the books that fire your passions.
Follow your intellect
and your heart.
Then time will find you.
We'll drink to that.
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