Newell Brands, the parent of rOtring, Paper Mate and Sharpie, has opened a nearly 37,000-square-foot design center across two Atlanta locations. The September 15 announcement puts a physical address on the company’s investment in design, prototyping and consumer research. Company announcement.
From the idea to the test room
The center combines space at Newell’s headquarters in the Queen Tower at Concourse Office Park with a photo and creative studio at Morgan Falls. The company describes industrial and brand design, visualization, digital prototyping and dedicated consumer-research environments, with designers working alongside marketing, consumer insights, innovation and R&D teams.
One example is its Kids UX Lab, where the company observes parents, caregivers and children interacting with products. Those shared capabilities serve Newell’s wider portfolio; the announcement does not identify a pencil-only laboratory or disclose a separate writing-instrument investment budget.
Writing is growing; the published number covers more
In its July 31 results, Newell reported $851 million of second-quarter Learning & Development sales, up from $809 million. The segment’s 4.9% core sales growth includes Writing and Baby. Both grew on that basis, the company said, but it did not publish a separate Writing percentage. Second-quarter results.
That is the useful connection between the two announcements: a growing Writing business sits inside a group adding shared design and research capacity. The release does not establish how that spending will affect a particular pen or pencil range. Newell does not report a separate rOtring growth rate here, so the segment result should not be read as a sales figure for rOtring’s pencils.
The tariff benefit had not yet become cash
Newell’s companywide quarter also included approximately $100 million pretax in recoveries of tariffs expensed in 2025, plus approximately $26 million pretax relating to the first quarter of 2026. Those amounts had not been collected at quarter end and had not improved second-quarter operating cash flow.
For the business behind the brands, that distinction is material. The accounts recognized a benefit before the money arrived. It belongs alongside the sales growth and the new design space when assessing what changed at Newell. Results and cash-flow explanation.
