On a recent weekend inside SunSnow: Paper and Goods, a customer bought a pen, settled onto a couch in the back nook, and pulled out a thick, well-loved junk journal. For nearly half an hour, she wrote quietly as other shoppers drifted past the “writing bar,” lined with pens and pencils, and a wall of notebooks and sheets of stickers.
For Jenny Lin, the 34-year-old artist behind the new Cherokee Street stationery shop, it was exactly the kind of moment she had hoped to create.
“She feels safe enough to stay here,” Lin said. “No judgment. She’s here to do her thing and have her calm moment. I loved that.”
SunSnow is Lin’s first brick-and-mortar but she’s loved art since she discovered it at the age of 4. She went on to study fine arts in college before shifting to graphic design, and working in corporate roles — including several years at Mercy Hospital — that sharpened a skill set she now describes as equal parts analytical and imaginative.
“I was a data visualization designer,” she says. “It’s taking information, taking data, so very analytical, but putting it into something visual.”
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That mindset still shapes how she makes, curates, and sells. Lin loves lists. She loves tracking. She loves being, as she put it, “intentional about everything that I do.” Even when she daydreams, she can’t help but quietly fact-check. She recalled drawing an imaginative jellyfish with flowers on its head, then Googling it to make sure she wasn’t inventing something impossible. (She wasn’t — “Flower Hat” is the nickname of a real species and now the title of one of her works.)
Moon&June Studio, Lin’s illustration brand, came first. SunSnow grew from the same impulse to create. Where Moon&June showcases Lin’s own work, the shop invites customers to experiment with materials and ideas of their own.
In a city where many stationery lovers order their favorite pens online, SunSnow leans into the pleasures of shopping in person: the click of a refillable pen, the texture of a notebook cover, the chance to try something before committing. Lin even built a testing station—part doodle wall, part communal workspace—because “tools are meant to be tested,” she says.
“I had someone come up to me and say, ‘I’m just so happy you have these pens because I see them online all the time, but then there’s shipping. I don’t get to feel them. I don’t get to hear the click,’” Lin says. “I understand that because I like hearing and I like feeling things, too.”
Many of the pens Lin carries in her shop are Japanese brands that she describes as smooth-writing workhorses. Across East Asia, where stationery culture is especially strong, tools are often treated with care: refilled and reused rather than tossed aside.
She’s also clear about what SunSnow isn’t. Even as retail continues to evolve, Lin didn’t open the shop to pressure anyone into a purchase. “I don’t want people to come in and feel like they have to buy something,” she says.
That philosophy is part of why she waited for Cherokee Street. Lin began asking about leasing a space more than a year ago, holding out until the right storefront opened in a neighborhood she already admired for its mix of artists, small businesses, and steady foot traffic. “It’s a really good, creative community,” she says. “It’s also really diverse.”
Inside the shop, Lin highlights small local artists and makers. The shelves include goods from Create-O Potato, a former college classmate of Lin’s, as well as Violet and Jade, a candle brand known for St. Louis–themed scents, including one inspired by Cherokee Street. When she looks for vendors, she gravitates toward independent artists. A graphic design background means she notices branding and color immediately, and she tends to favor pieces with strong palettes and intricate details.
That sense of contrast also shaped the name of the store. “SunSnow is about contrast,” she says. “Bold energy … and then calm moments, appreciating little things.”
For now, SunSnow is in a soft-opening phase, with weekend hours and an inventory that continues to grow. A snowstorm earlier in the year stalled the store’s original opening but Lin was finally able to host a celebration last weekend.
Down the road, she hopes to host workshops and gatherings — perhaps journaling meetups or classes led by guest artists specializing in calligraphy and other crafts. Lin, who teaches illustration and digital design at various local colleges, imagines the shop evolving into another space where people can learn from one another. In some ways, that’s already starting to happen. A recent conversation with a shopper about a local pen club drew lots of attention. Within minutes, a nearby customer who overheard the conversation leaned in to ask for more details. Soon, several people were swapping information about how to join.
“I want people to come in, connect, feel cozy, and just enjoy the tools,” Lin says.
