TRAVELER’S COMPANY Partner Shops are stores around the world that embody and share the spirit of TRAVELER’S notebook with fans and users. Not only can you browse the whole TRAVELER’S COMPANY product lineup, but you can also share your enthusiasm with the store owners who are also TRAVELER’S notebook users. In this series, we will take you on a virtual trip to visit Partner Shops around the US. Learn about their charm, the experience, and the neighborhood that brings the TRAVELER’S notebook experience together.
Good Postage – Charlotte, North Carolina
Good Postage is a stationery store in Charlotte, North Carolina, run by mother and daughter duo Karen and Jane Manfredi. The store is hosted in the trendy façade of Camp North End in Charlotte, a 76-acre complex that used to be where Ford produced its Model T cars. Good Postage is now one of the many artistic additions to the industrial revamp of the space. As you walk along the streets, you’ll see large containers re-designed into art installations. Good Postage is nestled into the side of a warehouse with an inviting space filled with stationery and art supplies.
Karen and Jane started Good Postage around 2017, bonded by their love for paper goods and stationery. Karen runs the business side of the store while Jane utilizes her art background to create illustrations for cards and art prints. They initially ran the operation from their home as a wholesale business. However, they eventually were able to expand into a brick-and-mortar store in 2020, forging forward despite the pandemic.
“We wanted to bring beautiful stationery items to Charlotte that we had only previously seen in New York or larger cities. Through having Good Postage, we have further our obsession with stationery items and learned so much. It’s so much fun to share all these items we love with our customers!”
Charlotte is a growing city in North Carolina, with a lot of new businesses and opportunities rising in the area. Camp North End was a historic location used by Ford and the military during World War II and the Cold War. Today, it is renovated to become the budding ground for many small businesses.
Inside Good Postage, whimsical hanging lights tangle from the high ceilings of the warehouse. Karen and Jane curate an interesting collection of furniture to display their stationery: a refurbished beer garden table and bench set, old library carts, and more. Near the back of the store, Jane sets up her art studio in the corner with an easel alongside her mother’s vintage letterpress machine. The store embodies the spirit of mixing vintage with contemporary decor – the façade of the old firewall is a reminder of the history of the location.
“It’s inspiring to be surrounded by such history and beautiful old buildings filled with new life. The other small businesses are what make the site too! When you come to visit Good Postage you are also experiencing the whole site of Camp North End. There are endless places to explore and sit and journal.”
Jane first discovered TRAVELER’S notebook in 2020 and very quickly became an avid fan of notebooks. She uses a Black regular size TRAVELER’S notebook as a planner, notebook, and sketchbook all in one. She also has a Blue passport size TRAVELER’S notebook that she utilizes as a reference log for her paint swatches and color mixing. Jane was quick to recommend the notebook to her friends and family. Her father uses the notebook for work in the banking industry; her little sister uses the regular size for school; Karen uses the passport size as a personal planner.
“My father’s TRAVELER’S notebook looks sleek and luxurious. My little sister has a regular size and takes hers to art school with her every day. She uses hers for sketching, journaling, and collecting little pieces of paper and things from her life. Hers looks super worn and is exploding with stuff! Almost all the customers I turn onto TRC come back in to get refills and show me how they are using their notebooks! It is such a fun community to be a part of!”
Jane also shares her employee’s favorite TRAVELER’S COMPANY items: BRASS FOUNTAIN PEN, 008 Clear Zipper Case, 018 Free Diary (Weekly Vertical) for planning, and the 020 Kraft Paper Folder for holding loose sketches!
Good Postage is the sixth store to become Partner Shop in the United States. To commemorate the occasion, we also asked them to design a special Partner Shop Postcard for the store. Jane is the artist behind the design, capturing the refreshing exterior of the store as the main highlight. Her background in arts is the inspiration for many illustrations that Good Postage showcase in their letterpress cards.
“I attended The Chicago High School for the Arts which is a conservatory school for visual and performing arts. I then went to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and right after that my mom and I started Good Postage. I have been very fortunate to be able to focus on art for the past decade. I would describe my art as very layered and colorful! I use gouache, watercolor, and colored pencil predominately. I start with paint and do a complete under-painting and then go over it with colored pencils. “
Next time you visit Charlotte, North Carolina, don’t forget to visit Good Postage and its colorful displays. In your notebooks, you can capture the amazing transformation of old to new in the interesting artistic complex. Don’t forget to collect the special Partner Shop stamp that’s designed with the iconic crown after the city’s nickname: Queen City!
1824 Statesville Ave Suite 106A
Charlotte, NC 28206
Have a nice trip!
