Penn State Store visit report

[SonOfMartin]

Yesterday I had the day off so I put all the pen turners in the family in the car (me, 2 sons, and my Dad) and make the 2 hour drive to the Penn State store.

What a lot of fun. Lots of stuff, discounted items, scrap bin (wood by the pound!), but most importantly: very friendly staff.

They took LOTS of time to answer questions, show us pen after pen and then ring up the sales.

I know that PSI takes their lumps for shipping (but I've never had a problem), but being there first hand yesterday only makes me want to order from them more.

We had an absolute blast, came home with lots of goodies and will make the trip again!

If you ever find yourself within driving distance of the store, I encourage you to go...you never know what you'll find!

 

[Mark]

Thanks for the post. I intend to get over there (someday). PSI has always been good to me. I look forward to the visit.

 

[Two Hair]

So far have never had prolems with PSI other than slow shipping

 

[glycerine]

Cool, good to hear. It's about a three hour drive for me (with no traffic), so one of these days, I may have to go. I was actually in Philly back in July for my wife's and my anniversary. Didn't even realize at the time that Penn State was located there!!! But that's probably a good thing since it was an anniversary trip. Nothing romantic about a guy in a woodworking store!... or is there?!

 

[DozerMite]

I've been there twice. It's not nearly as big as you might think, at least not what I had imagined it would be. Some of the items I asked about getting, I was told that they come from the warehouse (which is around the corner) and would take 2 - 3 days to get to the store. I didn't have that long and it would have been just as fast for me to order it.
I did load up on other things while I was there though. Good thing I had the dually. Their sister store (MLCS)is right next door too.

 

[Scooley01]

Is there anything available in store that's not available through the website? Texas is way too far to make the trip there, but curious anyways

 

[SonOfMartin]

Howdy! Born in Brownsville, college and married in Houston and have lived in PA now for 20 years but miss home (especially when my shop is 20 degrees).

The answer is "yes and no". They carry the catalog items, but have a used / consignment / scratch & dent area along with the wood (by the board foot or by the pound).

I found used tools, motors, speed controller that are not catalog items along with the consignment items but to say they had unique pen related or turning related items, then the answer would be no (as far as I could see).