The late afternoon sunlight caught the glint of lacquer fountain pens and signature greeting cards in one of Westwood’s oldest family businesses.
Flax Pen to Paper, originally named M. Flax, has been a staple in Los Angeles since 1931. Three generations have owned and operated the store, which is currently run by husband and wife Philip Clark and Joan Flax.
Flax Pen to Paper stocks a variety of goods, including high-quality fountain pens, Moleskine journals and leather-bound sketch pads.
“We’re very sensitive to what people want to spend and we would rather sell the person the right pen than make a sale,” Flax said.
The shop was initially opened as a paint store in downtown Los Angeles and was operated by the current store owner’s grandfather, Meyer Flax. In 1950, under the ownership of his son Harvey Flax, the store was moved to Lindbrook Drive in Westwood. It stayed there until 2002, when the shop was relocated to its current location on Gayley Avenue.
Joan Flax’s grandmother, Judy Flax, said she still remembers her earliest memories with her late husband, whom she married when she was 20 years old. Meeting him was what introduced her to the family business.
“We sort of grew up more working through the store together,” Judy Flax said.
“It became a part of our background and who we were.”
After Joan Flax’s father died last October, the business became more sentimental for her. It has allowed her to stay connected with him.
“Every day he would call at 7 o’clock at closing to check in and see how the business was running,” Flax said. “After he retired, it was always nice for him to see that we could continue the business without him.”
Joan Flax grew up in Westwood but was not involved in the store’s business as a young girl.
Now, she enjoys working full time in the store. She said, while gesturing to a wall of pastel colored envelops, that she could look at paper and invitations all day because it’s fun to see the different combinations of color and style.
Each one of the greeting and sentimental cards stocked in the store are handpicked by Flax. She only wants to sell something that is worthwhile.
Clark, originally from Scotland, settled permanently in Westwood after he met and married Flax.
Since he also enjoys quality pens and stationery, it was only natural that he join Flax in running her family’s business.
“We’ve always worked together and we’ve always worked well together,” Clark said.
Their children were involved in the family business when they were very young, doing bookkeeping and office work. Their daughter, Alanna Flax-Clark, still lives in the Westwood area and helps with the social media and booking parts of the business.
“(The store) was an amazing place to grow up, around creative artists, photographers and writers,” Flax-Clark said. “I was probably the only fourth grader who knew how to clean, fill and repair a fountain pen.”
The store helped bond Flax-Clark with her grandmother, Judy Flax, who taught her how to do basic bookkeeping for the store when she worked in the office.
Judy Flax still lives within walking distance of the store and often helps with the store’s banking responsibilities.
Most of the customers that frequent the store are students and faculty from UCLA and the surrounding hospitals, Clark said.
Laurie Horowitz has been a Flax Pen to Paper customer for more than a decade.
“Most places don’t specialize in pens or have the variety (Flax Pen to Paper) does,” Horowitz said.
She said she continues to be a loyal customer because of Flax and Clark’s personalities and their knowledge and love of their business.
Flax and Clark made the personal decision not to sell merchandise online because they felt it would diminish the personal dimension of their product.
For Clark, the process of finding the right pen or complementary absorbent paper is a personal experience lost in the digital age. A customer can only decide if the weight or shape of a pen and how it writes is a fit for them during an in-person experience, Clark said.
“I love the art of fine writing because fountain pens tend to slow me down and my writing becomes more thoughtful,” Flax said.