The Letter Farmer Co – More Than a Mobile Stationery Shop

For all the stationery lovers and handwriting enthusiasts out there, today we have a beautiful story to share: The Letter Farmer Co, a mobile boutique filled with stationery supplies and a mission to inspire people to write more letters. Based in Denver, Colorado, The Letter Farmer provides a convenient opportunity for people to enrich and deepen their connections through handwritten letters. They not only carry a carefully curated selection of stationery goods but also offer a space to put pen to paper. At their Letter Farmer events, you can choose fine writing paper and a writing instrument and sit down with other letter writers. They even provide postage stamps so you don’t delay mailing that letter, as well as prompt cards to spark some inspiration and get the words flowing.

We knew from the moment we heard about The Letter Farmer Co that it was an exciting story to share with you, but what we didn’t know – and probably love most – is the story behind how The Letter Farmer Co came to Colorado and the special connection that Tracy Alleman, its current owner, has to handwritten letters.

“Rachel Brandzel Weil started The Letter Farmer around six or seven years ago,” says Tracy. “She is in Seattle, Washington, and that is where she had the business and van. I found her and The Letter Farmer through an article posted about it and started following her Instagram and fell in love. I was pondering doing something similar in Denver but was busy with my career and family and just didn’t make it happen.   

“Then in 2020 Rachel posted that she was retiring the van. I saw that post and reached out and asked if she would consider selling it – the van, inventory, name, business and all – and she said yes! I just loved everything about it. I love stationery but having a full-time job I loved that it was a small and mobile business so I had flexibility to do it when I could. I loved the name as I grew up on a farm in the Midwest and my brother still farms. I even loved the color as red is my favorite color – it felt like fate.”  

So Rachel and Tracy worked out a deal and in June 2021 Tracy flew out to Seattle and officially finalized the sale. Rachel had organized a couple of events in the Seattle area so that folks there had a chance to say goodbye and to show Tracy how she set up and ran events. Then Tracy road-tripped it back to Denver where she’s now running events, mostly in the Denver and Boulder area.     

“I love stationery and stocking interesting and unique inventory and selling the various stationery-related goodies,” says Tracy. “But the real mission is to get more letters into the world. When I do an event, I not only open up the van for items for sell, but also set up some bistro tables and chairs and provide a fun assortment of letter-writing supplies and let everyone know that I provide for free what is needed to write and mail one letter or postcard. So, a letter sheet or postcard, a variety of writing instruments including glass dipping pens, and fun add-ons like wax seals. I even provide one stamp and will mail the letter for them. That is the ‘pop-up letter writing’ part of The Letter Farmer Co.   

“I have loved letter writing since I saved my first letter from my mom when I was off at college out of state. It was a connection that I could save and when I re-read the letters, sometimes years later, I would feel that connection all over again. Close to 20 years ago I was thinking of what to get my mother for Mother’s Day and was talking to an older neighbor, and she told me what she treasured most from her daughter was the letters of gratitude that she wrote to her. I resisted my urge to buy something that year and instead sat down and wrote a letter to my mom about how much she meant to me. My mother passed away a little over 10 years ago and after my father died a few years later we were cleaning out their house and what did I find – that letter. She had saved that letter I wrote to her so many years earlier about how much I loved and admired her. It was tucked in a bedside drawer with a few other letters, cards and mementos. I was so grateful that I wrote that letter.”

We hope you feel inspired to write more letters and that if you are in the Denver area you pay a visit to Tracy and her red van. If you want to see more of The Letter Farmer, please visit their website or Instagram page.