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Just in time for holiday shopping:
Levenger opens a store in Tysons Corner
Tysons CORNER, VA · November 16, 2006 –
Levenger, the upmarket retailer known for its catalog of "tools for serious readers," opens its first emporium of fine goods in the Washington metropolitan area with a shop in Tysons Corner.
The 2200-square-foot store opens in mid-December and is located on Level 2 of the shopping center, between Macy's and Bloomingdale's. While the store gets its finishing touches, shoppers can visit the Levenger Kiosk that's located directly in front of the store. The kiosk will be open before Thanksgiving.
Levenger designs nearly all of the merchandise it offers, and the Tysons Corner store will feature its full line of products. Shoppers will find an assortment of top-quality leather briefbags, totes and laptop carriers, as well as leather wallets and document holders. The company is distinguishing itself for its well-engineered note-taking products and its own high-quality paper, and provides a choice of folios to support them.
Bookcases, reading chairs and home/office furniture scaled for city spaces are also part of Levenger, along with its own True Writer line of fine pens and a variety of reading tools. The company also offers specialty books through its publishing arm, Levenger Press.
Harking back, looking forward
The store has been designed to reflect the distinctive yin and yang of the company, which balances high tech with low, contemporary with traditional. Levenger is both leather-clad PDA holders and microbrewed ink for fountain pens, George Eastman's reading table and leather landing pads for laptops. The contrast of the store's cool marble and warm oak underscores this balance.
"We're one part nib and one part mouse," says Steve Leveen. "The shared DNA is functionality: whether old-fashioned or newfangled, our products are useful." Levenger briefbags and totes, for example, have what the company dubs an "Inside IQ" of organizational panels.
Leveen is the CEO and co-founder with his wife, Lori Granger Leveen, of Levenger. The company was the first in America to design products specifically with readers in mind. Millions of customers tap into the Levenger catalog and website for the unusual but useful in reading, writing and working with ideas.
Baristas, Levenger-style
"We're excited about translating the Levenger concept into a see-and-touch retail experience," says Leveen. The Tysons Corner store features both a Notes Bar and Pen Bar as ways of letting the customers touch, feel, try.
At the Notes Bar, sales associates will make a custom notebook to each customer's specifications, using the company's award-winning Circa note-taking line. "It's comparable to going to Starbucks and getting a latte just the way you like it," says Leveen. At the Pen Bar, customers can try their hand at writing with different modes and different kinds of ink, using the company's True Writer pen line.
Part of a larger retail portfolio
"Now I'll be able to get my Levenger fix whenever I want," says Andrew Carroll of the Tysons Corner store. A bestselling author who lives in Washington, Carroll has been a longtime Levenger devotee. He recently returned from a swing through the Levenger store in South Florida. "Everything they sell is of the highest quality, and whether I'm buying gifts for friends or myself, I find Levenger products pretty irresistible," he says. "But I never feel guilty, because I know that whatever I buy, I—or the person I'm giving it to—will get lots of use from it."
The Tysons Corner store joins Levenger stores in Boston, Chicago and the South Florida town of Delray Beach, where the privately-held company is headquartered. An outlet store is in Memphis, Tenn., near the company's national distribution center. To visit its Webstore, click Levenger.com..
Levenger at Tysons Corner:
FACTS AT A GLANCE
2200-square-foot store opens mid-December. Levenger Kiosk opens before Thanksgiving and is located directly in front of the store.
Catering to: men and women specialty shoppers seeking high quality and enduring value. Almost all products are Levenger designs.
Offerings: elegant but functional leather briefbags, totes and laptop bags; an assortment of small fine leathers; top-quality note paper, award-winning note-taking products and a range of folios; reading lamps and chairs; city-scale office furniture; fine writing instruments and reading tools; specialty books.
Location: Level 2, between Bloomingdale's and Macy's, across from Parking Terrace A.
Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Sunday.
Call (703) 288-9097 for opening day and extended holiday hours.
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