“It has,” Frau Lamm said. “In those early years, he made a living just selling and repairing fountain pens and nothing else, but then ballpoint pens became popular, and he had to branch out.”

It was strange that she knew more about that part of Susanne’s family history than she did, but, of course, she had heard all the stories from Uncle Norbert since she’d worked with him for years, while Susanne hadn’t seen him in ages. “To be honest, I think that all stationery stores will be struggling soon, if they aren’t already. They’ll probably go the way of the old vinyl record stores. I mean, this is the digital era, so aren’t fountain pens and paper notebooks becoming obsolete?”

“Not at all.”

Susanne studied her.

As Frau Lamm stood in the middle of the store, clutching a paper frog, she looked a bit like a princess from a fairy tale, not like a real-life modern woman. Maybe it was her slight build or her big, dreamy eyes that made her appear that way, but Susanne couldn’t help wondering if she was indulging in wishful thinking when it came to her beloved paper products.

Frau Lamm waved the frog as if it were a defensive weapon. “Like you just said, you don’t know the stationery business.”

“So enlighten me.”

“I know you think any reasonable person would use a smartphone and a note-taking app and that it’s just nostalgic, old-fashioned people who resort to pen and paper, but that’s not true. Analog products are actually making a comeback as a countermovement to the digital trend—and that includes vinyl records, by the way.”

If that was true, it wasn’t happening in Susanne’s circles. “Really?”

“Oh yeah. Young people want to express their individuality, but you can’t do that with digital devices because all the Samsungs and iPhones look the same. That’s why they decorate their cell phone covers with pink glitter.”

They both shuddered a little and grinned at each other.

“All right,” Susanne finally said. “But we’re not selling cell phone covers or pink glitter.”

“It doesn’t stop there. People are taking up hobbies such as hand lettering, bullet journaling, or scrapbooking. Coloring books for adults were a big thing a year or two ago, and even Polaroid-style instant cameras are making a comeback.”

“Really?” Susanne’s father had owned a camera like that when she’d been a child, and she remembered her parents arguing because he had constantly wasted the expensive photos on snapshots of himself making silly grimaces. As a kid, she had thought it funny, but now she viewed it as a waste of money. “Why would people resort to low-resolution images like those? Nowadays, every smartphone has a better camera.”