The Danish Pipe Shop in Copenhagen, Denmark
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Kevin Godbee - Sep 29, 2011
- 10 min read
By Nikolaj Liberoth Nielsen
The Danish Pipe Shop is more of an institution in Copenhagen as being one of the oldest businesses on the famous pedestrian street in the center of the city. The late Steffen Nielsen ran the shop from 1969 until January this year. Now, in the hands of Steffen’s family, the shop still stands strong – mostly due to an ongoing love affair with the talent of Danish pipe makers.
Steffen Nielsen died on Monday the 31st of January this year on his way to work. He didn’t make it to the shop and took his last breath 50 meters away from the front door. This was not only a catastrophe for me personally as I lost my father and my best friend, but also because of the quick decisions we as a family had to take on behalf of the pipe shop. One choice was to close it and/or sell it. Another choice was to continue it in the spirit of Steffen. We made the last choice.
The beginning
My father, Steffen Nielsen, moved his way as a clerk into the tobacco shops of Copenhagen in the 1960’s. Soon he became the first man at The Company of Poul Hansen located at the famous pedestrian street, Strøget, and in 1969-1970 he took over the shop. He never changed the shop’s name – probably because the old Poul Hansen still worked in the shop and Steffen didn’t have the heart to remove Poul’s name from the shop windows. In the 1960’s the shop was more a wine and tobacco shop, but Steffen Nielsen had a hunch that there was ‘something happening with pipes’. He then decided to convert the shop to what the famous pipe connoisseur and writer Paul C. Olrik called a “Temple of pipes”. And Steffen was right about the pipes. In the 1970’s and 80’s there was a significant progress in the market of selling pipes.
Steffen then developed a close friendship and business relationship to the upcoming and very talented pipe maker Erik Nørding. Especially the style of Nørding’s freehand or fancy pipe was and still is a huge seller. Due to the connection with Nørding, Steffen was introduced over the years to other Danish pipe makers like Poul Ilsted, Anne Julie, Tom Eltang, and later again Poul Winsløw, P. H. Vigen, and Manduela. Also Jens Tao Nielsen – who Steffen knew from the 60’s as they both worked at Wilhelm Jørgensen, one of the leading pipe shops in those days – became a known pipe maker through Steffen’s shop among others.
At that time Copenhagen was home to many pipe shops such as W. Ø. Larsen, Pipe-Dan, Bjørn Thurman, Remo Sørensen, Paul Olsen, and others. Steffen had two employees and furthermore three helpers. In total he had around five employees in the 1970’s and 80’s. And me, I was a little kid in the 1970’s and often I went to the shop with my father on Saturdays. I remember it being a lot of fun, and I used to make forts out of pipe boxes and tobacco tins in the basement.
Cornerstones
Every shop had its own clientele, and their signature pipe makers. The cornerstones of Steffen’s shop were pipe makers like Poul Ilsted, Jens Tao Nielsen, Anne Julie, Sixteen Ivarsson and of course Erik Nørding together with classic brands like Georg Jensen and Stanwell. Steffen had always had a lot of international customers due to central placement of the shop with five minutes to the amusement park Tivoli and one minute to the town hall square, but the core of the business is and has always been the Danish and Scandinavian customers.
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It was of huge importance for Steffen that everybody felt welcome in his shop no matter what kind of pipe smoker or person you were – some are all about the taste and some are all about the design and finish. Therefore he always had all kinds of pipes available for sale – from the cheaper pipes to the fine hand carved all in the same shop. Nevertheless the volume in both pipes and lighters were significant and still is. For instance, for many years Steffen’s pipe shop was one of the top sellers in Scandinavia of lighters from Dupont and Dunhill.
Financial crisis and non smoking campaigns
In the late 80’s and beginning of the 90’s the shop suffered from the general financial crisis and business was almost gone because of a governmental initiative. Very close to bankruptcy Steffen had to adjust his business to the new situation. The handmade pipes were declining and in general the Danes were hesitant to spend money and the tourist stayed away from Denmark. Also the stop smoking campaigns that had started during the 80’s had had their effect on the demand for pipes. At that time fine shops like Remo Sørensen, Pipe-Dan and Paul Olsen either closed or moved to other and less expensive addresses in the outskirts of Copenhagen.
Now pipe makers like P. H. Vigen and Poul Winsløw couldn’t sell their pipes in downtown Copenhagen as their outlets all of a sudden were non existing, but Steffen – as one of the only shops left – let them into his shop. Today Poul Winsløw is one of the shop’s most valued local suppliers and his workshop is 30 minutes away.
But Steffen still had to cut down on expenses and had to let the staff go, and for a long time he ran the shop by himself. When business got more reliable Steffen hired Niels Popp. One could claim that there were too many pipe shops to a declining clientele, so it was survival of the fittest. Steffen was tempted to change the course of the shop and turn it into something else. But today I think his love for the pipe business, the customers and respect for the remaining suppliers made him keep it as it was. I remember talking with him and he always said “But where would Mr. Hansen go to get his tin of special tobacco – where would he find it then?”
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Regarding myself, I slowly moved from the basement to the upstairs to stand side by side with my father behind the desk. This was an ongoing source of income for me – from when I was 15 running errands and up in my twenties when I was a struggling student. When I was 18 I had met most of the Danish pipe makers and I knew most of what there was to know about the pipe business – all thanks to my father.
A new era
In the year 2001 The Danish Pipe Shop got its own webshop after kind pressure from Niels Popp. Ten years ago this was a very demanding and time consuming process, but Steffen and Niels did enjoy some successes with the website over the years. Overall the internet gave a boost to the small pipe makers and in general it has been a positive asset to the world of pipes.
With that said, Steffen didn’t get any younger and around his 60th birthday the family started to pressure him regarding retirement. The incident of the early 90’s recession had cost Steffen and his wife all their savings, so he was torn between his love for the shop, pension money, and a lack of time together with my mother. Due to those reasons he didn’t invest time or money in the development of the shop or the website, and within the last years they lost their pace. Furthermore the year 2005 was a sad year. The biggest pipe shop on Strøget in Copenhagen, W. Ø. Larsen, had to close down. Even though it was a competing business close to Steffen’s shop, he didn’t celebrate at all. In his mind, this could mean a smaller supply of pipes and other tobacco related products in Denmark.
Turning 70 in 2009 Steffen’s mind was set on selling the shop, and he would try to do so during 2010 and 2011. In the autumn of 2010 he suffered from a tough pneumonia and on top of this the busy month of Christmas was hard on his health. Still on Christmas Eve he was well enough to walk all the stairs up to my apartment on the 3rd floor, so we thought he was regaining his strength. This was also proven by the fact that he was in business as usual after new years in 2011. However, on Monday the 31st of January he took the train to the central station in Copenhagen – just as he had done it in 40 years. Passing the town hall square Steffen fell and died at age 71 very suddenly – just 50 meters from his much beloved shop.
Keeping the shop
The death of Steffen was of course a shock and a great loss for the family and our friends. But in addition to this we had to make a very important decision about the shop. Should we sell it or keep it? Closing it became very difficult as we felt that it represented Steffen and everything he loved for 40 years. The customers, the staff, the suppliers, and not least the pipe makers and the obligation to keep their craftsmanship alive. The support from all our friends and customers made the decision to keep the shop easy. But a growing turnover in the last couple of years made it even easier.
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We have hired a new man behind the desk, Arko – a true pipe smoker and a student at the University of Copenhagen. Also behind the desk you’ll find the grandchild of Steffen, Daniel. The bookkeeping is taken care of by Louise – Steffen’s youngest daughter, and the management is now done by Niels and me.
We have focused on a complete makeover of the web shop, www.danishpipeshop.com, and the response is surprisingly good. And we are trying to gather some of the old pipe making friends such as Poul Ilsted, Jens Tao Nielsen, Tom Eltang, and as a new initiative we will try to get a hold on young pipe makers from Sweden and of course Denmark. The response to this initiative has been very positive.
Everybody agrees that the internet is here to stay and important for the business. Still we think it’s even more important for the Danish pipe enthusiasts that we still have a real shop where you can see and feel the pipes. We hope to combine these two things and we will stay true to the concept.
For me personally it has been a good experience to be back in the shop – as much as my regular job allows me to. Monday to Friday I work 40-50 hours in my job as a Sales- and Marketing Director in the graphic industry, but I still get a kick out of selling a pipe on my shift on some Saturdays in the shop. And we still sell 20-40 pipes a day and an amazing amount of tobacco.
What I think is very surprising is that we start up quite a lot new pipe smokers. This is both women and men who want to change from cigarettes to pipes. This fact and a rising interest from the Asian markets and customers one could think that pipes will get a boost like cigars did some years ago. A funny fact is that a Danish Facebook group called “People who point with pipes are always right” (In Danish: “Folk der peger med piber har altid ret“) almost has 90,000 fans!
Our own Facebook group “The Danish Pipe Shop” just came alive a couple of months ago – and we have new friends every day. Yet a new initiative on the scene of social networks, which probably would make my father turn in his grave. Still I wish he could be alive to see the kind words on our wall from customers all over the world.
I look forward to seeing you in the shop, webshop or as new friends on Facebook.
Kind regards,
Nikolaj Liberoth Nielsen, nn@danishpipeshop.com
[mappress]
Written by Kevin Godbee
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Great article! I love to read about important/historic pipe shops. Very nice photos, too. It looks like a great store. Are there always so many young people shopping there?
What a wonderful article. You couldn’t ask for a better friend in the pipe world. His dedication to his profession and care of his customers was truly moving to read.
The world needs more places and people like this in it!
Nikolaj wrote a great story. All of the photos, except for two, were taken by me when I was there in July 2010. The store facade and the B&W photo of Steffen Nielsen Early 1980’s were sent to me.
The clientele while I was in the shop, for about an hour, was an interesting 50/50 mix of “old guys” and “young guys”.
This brings back memories of a wonderful trip. The Danish Pipe Shop is right near the start of the pedestrian walkway after you cross over from The Square. There’s a lot of great shopping, so if you want to split off from your better half, she will be easily occupied for a while and you can hang out in the pipe shop.
Great article Nikolaj. Whilst not a pipe smoker, my late grandfather was passionate. I loved visiting the shop and meeting your dad many years ago, and it is great that your family has decided to keep the business, and his legacy going. Congratulations and all the best for the future.
Great article. I have been to that store many times when I used to live in Denmark. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Nielsen, wonderful, wonderful man. I was saddened to hear of his passing. I have ordered pipes from the online store and to my surprise shipping to California only took 4 days. Great selection and very reasonable prices. I will be ordering more pipes soon.
Very nice story…sounded like a wonderful man with a work ethic I could never come close to
Thank you Nikolaj.
As a former employee and friend of the family I feel privileged to have known a man like your father. I have so many good memories from the time in the shop and very happy that you decided to continue running this truly fantastic pipe and tobacco shop. I look forward to come and give you a hand on a busy Saturday in the near future..
Looks like a great shop with heritage. Makes me Jealous ! Great story.
What a great feel good story! Brewshooter got it right, the world needs more places like this! Nikolaj, if you are ever in the market for an American to mind the store count me in!
I think I’ll take a wander over to Copenhagen. Passed through the City airport plenty of times on my travels but never left the terminal.
Copenhagen and this pipe shop are definitely going to the top of my list of places to go next year.
A lot of military history going on there also, going back to the Napoleonic wars when the English commandeered the Danish/Norwegian fleet to stop Bony’s men getting hold of it.
Also the Naval bombardment of the city by the Royal Navy in 1807.
The Danes never have forgiven us for that. There’s still cannon balls embedded in the walls in the city.
I’m probably going to Denmark next summer. I’ll definitely stop there!
Fantastic piece on a wonderful shop. And, I agree that the world needs more places like this!
Interesting article indeed.
I only wish I could pay a visit to what appears to be a wonderful shop.
I also wish we had one like it here.
Great article! I had the pleasure of visiting this shop when Copenhagen hosted the World Cup in 2004. I stayed a long time and remember how Mr. Nielsen patiently (and enthusiasticly) helped me choose some new tobaccos. There are very few real pipe shops leftthese days and I hope this one will be there the next time I visit Denmark.
I’ve been smoking pipes for over 20 years now. I’ve settled for the Savinelli 614 full bent. I’ll definitely be visiting the shop early next year. If you see a couple turn up on a Harley, it’s me and the Missus. 🙂
Great article! Beautiful place!
Congratulations to his owner and those who visit.
Regards.
What a great guy and a wonderful shop. I have returned to pipe smoking after a 15 year break and was shocked at how many pipe shops have closed in that period. But thank goodness for the internet which has let me find and visit in person some of the good pipeshops that remain in the south of England. I and my wife plan a motorcycle tour to Scandinavia next year and will definitely visit your shop and buy a pipe or two and a good supply of tobacco. Keep up the good work!
great article, but sad to hear. I often went to the shop while I lived in Copenhagen…and bought plenty of Stanwell POYs and tobacco while I was at it. It is sad to hear that the face behind the counter will be different when I am able to get back to Copenhagen, though I am glad the shop will stay in the family and that its commitment to the pipe world will also be maintained.
Cheers.
Thank you all for your positive comments and special thanks to Kevin & co for bringing my fathers story. Kind regards from Nikolaj
Very sorry to hear that Steffen has passed! Very nice story! I remember Steffen well from my many stops in Copenhagen over the last decade while I visited Danish pipemakers, encouraging them to attend the Chicago Pipe Show. I was originally drawn to the Shop because it was the only place to see a few new pipes made by greats such as: Poul Ilsted (Bech), Jens “Tao” Nielsen and P. H. (Jess) Vigen. What impressed me even more was Steffen’s knowledge of tobaccos. It is a great loss!
Rex Poggenpohl, Officer, Chicagoland International Pipe Show
Wow! Such a shop with such dedication. We need more shops like this. A good article!!
Thank you for the excellent article about this fine shop and the traditions kept alive there. Everything about this article and it’s content are world class and an enjoyable read…
Nikolaj your writing really stirred my memories. I last met your father a couple of years ago, together with Erik Nording we enjoyed a beer or three in the bar across the street from your fantastic shop. Most importantly, we discussed the old times and recalled all those past pipe Nordic craftsmen, sadly many now passed on, but most of whom were personally known to me going back to the 70’s when they were making a name for themselves and particularly active in both Germany & the USA.
Hopefully it will not be too long before I again meet with Erik in Copenhagen thereby offering the opportunity to call in at the shop.
Here’s wishing your business continuing success.
I read this article with great interest because I am a HUGE Erik Nording fan. Does anyone know how to convert the prices on the Danish Pipe Shop’s internet site to US dollars? I really like the selection of Nordings in the internet listing. Any help would be appreciated.
Hi jrincr01
TDPS list all their prices in Danish kroners and Euro. If you take the Euro and multiply it with 1,3 you have it in US dollars. So 100 Euros is 130 US Dollars. Remember that being an outside EU resident you will save the tax on the listed prices. Approx. 20 %. Note that the TDPS selcetion in Nording pipes is quite unique. Especially the handmade ones which you rarely see anywhere on the web.
I appreciate the information, Nicodemus.
I’ve been in The Danish Pipe Shop today and it’ s incredible!, never saw that amount of tins and pipes, incredible attention