Yarn Shop Dreaming

I'm planning on moving to the Boston area in summer of 2005, and I've got it in my head that what I'd really like to do when I get there is open a yarn shop. This is all Ellen's fault (my friend who is planning on opening a yarn shop here in NYC, and briefly flirted with doing it in New England instead). Of course, many knitters dream about running their own store - who wouldn't want to play with yarn all day? - but I figure I have an edge, given my experiences working at yarn stores, and my above-average knitting skills.

Tonight someone suggested to me the idea of having a yarn shop in part of my home. This holds some appeal, since that way most of the upfront cost would be inventory. Still would have to lay out a lot of money, but I figure I could start small, with mostly mail-order, and also run classes and private knitting lessons out of home too. Meanwhile, I could be looking for a retail space.

Maybe it's a pipe dream, but maybe it could work.

So here's my question for all you wonderful knitters reading this: Given that I'll probably have limited space, I'll have to start with a limited selection of yarn. If you were stranded on a desert island, what three yarns would you want to have with you?

Comments

[Deb]

Something handpainted, something thick and thin, and something that feels like I could lie in it forever-so-maybe Koigu, Manos something, and some cashmere-
How's THAT for an answer to the three? By the way, my local doesn't carry any of the above, so get moving on the mail order businessand mail to Canada!

[ellen]

I assume this is a cool, not tropical, desert island!
I would choose something fuzzy, something colorful, and something practical, so my selection would be Fusion Mohair, Koigu KPPM, and Lamb's Pride Bulky. But I would probably want to try to herd some llamas while on the island so I could also get alpaca!

[amy]

Sock yarn regia or opal, a standard wool like Cascade 220 or Peace Fleece, and a good standard cotton blend from Classic elite. Maybe that's what I'd want to start my store with but anyway something basic across the board to cover what anyone might be looking for.

[ivete]

Being the practical-minded one, I'm gonna point out that you won't be able to offer three different yarns from three different distributors b/c the initial orders are so large. If I were you and I was going to start out small, I'd get one distributorship with lots of lines and sell only their stuff first, then expand. My pick for that distributorship would be Brown Sheep -- they let you order by the skein instead of the bag, and the have good basic yarns in tons of ranges. Can you tell I've thought this out? ;o) This was actually my business plan when I thought I'd be opening a store.

[Stephanie]

I'd get a really good laceweight. Jamiesons soft shetland. And a truly stylin' sock yarn. I could live off of those I think.

[Michelle]

I'd stock a basic wool in sport and worsted (I like Galway), sock yarn, something cotton for summer knitting, and something fluffy for scarves and shawls. I'm not too attached to any one brand, but Amy's idea of going with one company to start with is a good one.

By the way, I have glove envy! I am so tempted to start a pair even though I wouldn't get to wear them until next winter. The daffidils are blooming here!

[Sharon]

Love the glove. Something for felting...Lamb's Pride or Cascade 200. Something for socks..Koigu. Something for wonderful color mixes...Noro Silk Garden. Three? Just three? Can't be done.

[Amy]

Boston, do you have a neighborhood in mind? Most of the map is covered (I can think of three on the red line heading west out of town, four heading southwest a few miles, and two heading south from the city.) I am not sure about heading North.

[vanessa]

koigu, manos and jamieson's

[Lynnette]

I'd have to say Koigu, some Noro or Lopi to make a fast project, and some sock yarn--probably Lorna's.

Before the new people took over our local LYS, it was run in a Victorian home--downstairs was all rooms of yarn, one room upstairs was spinning supplies and an office, and then the couple lived out of the 3rd floor. It had such charm!

[Stacy]

Tahki Cotton Classic, Rowan Wool Cotton, and Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky.

P.S. I sent you an email to your yahoo account but it bounced back to me. Is there another email address where I can reach you?

[Meredith]

How wonderful. I have lived in and near Boston my whole life... Its such a great place. I currently live 28 miles north of Boston. Brown Sheep is one choice and it seems that everyone is either felting a bag or making a scarf so fun eye lash yarns would draw in the beginner knitter that wants to make a scarf and I love the Mission Falls cotton. I know that someone has put together a web site of all the yarn shops in Massachusetts. I'll do some browsing. Its always good to know your competition.

[Meredith]

Here's the web site I was thinking of.

http://marthas.blogs.com/massknitting/2004/01/store_reviews_w.html

Hope this is of some help to you.

[Allana]

I like the one line idea. I might suggest the Tahki/Stacy Charles line because they now own Filatura (at least for US distributions). So you get fab basic wools like Zara and Primo, plus Cotton Classic, and both lines have a lot of colors both solid and mixed. I think Koigu is an excellent idea but I hear that (like Debbie Bliss and Noro) they can be difficult in terms of getting stock and if you are starting small, you need to be sure you can get your yarns in on time!

[Alison]

hm... I think if I were to get all my yarns from one distributer I might pick Knitting Fever, because they have Debbie Bliss, Noro, Gedifra, Euro, and a few others. I think I could probably manage to start with at least 2 or 3 though. I would definitely carry Karabella, since I love their yarns and already have a good relationship with them.

[Kerstin]

Hi Alison ~ I live in Sudbury and have often thought it would be a great location for a yarn store. There's no real competition within a 30 minute drive from here. However, the rents are high and the town has a history of not supporting the smaller businesses. I'm not sure why as many people have $$ to burn here. When I knit in public, I've been approached by women asking if I "teach." Funny you should mention starting out at home because I've been thinking of putting a small weekly group together and offering yarn for purchase. If you ever do move here and start a shop, ring me up if you need a part-time employee. And email me if you want to know more about the "competition."

[Kerstin]

P.S. No one stocks Karabella in the western 'burbs. I can only dream!!!

I'm in the process of opening a yarn shop with some other people, in what is perhaps the last part of NYC which does not already have one (or two, or sixteen). Some thoughts:

Some distributors have no minimum orders. Some have relatively low minimums ($500 or less). There are a few with larger minimums, but those minimums are just for the first orders. You generally pay a certain percentage up front, and then pay the rest upon delivery.

Because of the recent, enormous surge of interest in knitting, manufacturers are faced with much more demand than supply. Shipping times are "one week to four months," as a rep recently told me.

The good news is that you don't actually pay for the yarn until it is delivered, so your initial outlay may not be as much as you'd think. The bad news is that the chances of your actually getting the yarn you order by the time you want it are very slim. This means that you have to over-order most yarns initially, and in the case of a new store, it is very difficult to guess which yarns will be popular with your as-of-yet non-existent clientele.

Selling yarn from only one company might be a good idea if you want to spend most of your time teaching, and just have the yarn there to sell to people in classes; however, I don't think an All-Brown-Sheep, All-The-Time sort of store would be a big draw... and what would happen to the business if Brown Sheep couldn't deliver for a few weeks?

Another thing to consider is that the popularity of various crafts changes dramatically over time; when the current craze wanes, there will be tons of yarn stores and too few customers, and many stores will close. A rep told me that he's been working on five new stores a week for the past year or so. The list in Meredith's link has something like eight-four stores in Massachusetts (not including the multiple Michael's locations). A few years ago it was hard for me to find just a couple of them in the Boston area.

Karabella yarns tend to be overpriced, which is why some stores avoid them, and why other stores are happy to sell them: a higher MSRP returns a higher profit. But for those of us who don't enjoy paying $250 per sweater, there are other companies offering similar yarns at lower prices. That being said, Karabella's yarns are lovely, and we will be selling some of their products, if they ever arrive. :)

Koigu does have major manufacturing/distribution issues. In February, they told me that they wouldn't be able to start to think about filling new orders until April.

Some other small manufacturers are not taking orders at all. You cannot sell Manos del Uruguay at the moment, because the American distributor will not open any new accounts, period. They do not have enough product to fill the demand created by their existing accounts.

Running a shop from your home is fine, if you're comfortable with letting strangers roam around, but it's not always legal. You have to check local zoning laws, and even if it's permissible, your neighbors may put up a fight.

My yarn choices would probably be Berroco Plush, something from Noro (Lily? Kureyon? Hana Silk? Cash Iroha?), and vast quantities of something sock-weight... but then I'd be leaving out Blue Sky Alpacas' amazing new Organic Cotton, and Schaefer's Helene (50% wool, 50% cultivated silk, insanely pretty), and Koigu's KPPPM, and just about everything from Katia...

While we're doing market research, what's your favorite brand of needles?

[Alison]

To the last (anonymous) poster - I'm sorry to be so long in replying to your comment. And I would have replied personally via e-mail, but you didn't leave yours. But feeback has been that people like it when I post replies to comments publicly anyway.

I've been thinking a lot about what's going to happen to all the new yarn stores when the current knitting boom goes bust. In conversation with one friend I was reminded of my original idea, formed almost two years ago, to have a craft store with a broader focus, almost like a Michael's or something, but with the charm of a small business. Of course, this could be a completely bad idea in that the big chains could certainly undercut me on price, but my hope would be that people value the personal touch that I would provide. And I would focus on demos and classes, and try to hire a knowledgable staff, unlike many of the chains.

So that's one way I could possibly distinguish myself from the other yarn stores, and stay afloat when interest in knitting inevitably wanes in a few years.

I'm less enamoured of the idea of running the store from home at first than I was when it was first posed to me. But it partly depends on what house we end up in. We looked at one house this weekend that had a separate building on the property where I could have a studio, and probably a yarn business too (mail order / internet at least) if the zoning was okay. But someone else beat us to that house, and I don't know what we'll end up with. Time will tell.

As for what needles I like, in my hypethetical store I would probably want to carry Addi Turbos (my favorite by far), Crystal Palace bamboo, and Susan Bates Silvalume (their aluminum needles without the plastic coating). But that's just me - others surely have their preferences as well.

Thanks to all for their comments and advice on the yarn question!

[Nancy Aldredge]

I stumbled upon your posting and have taken in all the information as I am starting to put together a business plan for opening a LYS in Bryan/College Station, TX. It is HOT here 9 months per year and I wanted some comments on how much wool yarn (and like fibers) would be pratical.

There are no yarn stores (other than Wal Mart, Hobby Lobby, Jo Ann's and Hancock) for 100 miles in any direction!

Any further information and /or suggestions would be appreciated.