No, don't judge me....

The remodel has not yet begun, but cleaning, sorting and organizing has, thanks to my good friend Jilian. Jilian was an employee at StitchCraft for two years. We've become good friends and I give her the title master organizer. I would go away on a trip, or for the weekend when my shop was open, and she would reorganize the entire shop for me. That meant more sales because you have to move your merchandise around so customers can "see" it better.

Many times, we would reorganize and a long time customer would say,"I never saw this before - when did you get it in?" We would just chuckle to ourselves thinking That's been in the shop for three months now , but finally you can see it :-)

So, I didn't want to bore you with what this room originally looked like, but here it is better organized, so I know where EVERYTHING IS! It took Jilian and I about a day and a half to get it to this point, but soon, the fun will begin with painting, shelving, window treatments, more lighting, a new cover for the sofa (or a new love seat and chairs) and more.

 
From right to left; desk, sewing table, storage drawers with art supplies, papers.

From left to right: Bureau with knitting, embroidery, beading and sewing supplies. Remember the tree in the shop? There it is on top of the bureau. I love that tree. The closet is now housing my knitting needles. I have hundreds. You can't see them well, but they're there. There is also a dress form in the closet.

Sitting area. Ignore the mess which is the playroom adjacent. Still haven't organized that room.

Area with crafting books and weaving supplies. My floor loom is in another room because it's just too big for this room. I have two rigid heddle looms that will fit. That other door is a powder room. The total space is 14' x 14'.

So where is my stash you ask?

My home has a storage room and it's in there. I will move some of it into my studio when it's completely finished, but the majority of it will stay in containers. We have moths in the Pacific Northwest and I don't have an interest in losing my stash to them. Below is the yarn stash. Ten, 18-gallon Rubbermaid storage containers. I think I have enough for two lifetimes worth of knitting.

And below is the fabric stash. Not too big, one bureau full.

Finishing the studio might take me another six months, everything is a process. I've been looking at Studios magazine and Where Women Create (via Somerset Studio) for inspiration. I love Heather Bailey's studio the most. Here is a link to her flicker stream of studio photos. I can't wait to brighten it up! Here's another inspiring studio: Anna Marie Horner's studio here...

In October 2007, I decided to learn how to write a business plan.  In all honesty, I was not thinking of opening up a yarn shop at that time. I just wanted to get all my ideas about owning a yarn shop down on paper and see if my brain could still function properly after having two children, homeschooling and being out of the workforce for over eight years. I'd never written a business plan before. I found books at the library, but none of them were very clear, offered up any really good examples (specifically for the craft industry), or really gave me the tools that I personally needed because I'm such a hands-on, kinesthetic person. Discouraged by the books and after some internet research, I went to my local SCORE office.

SCORE provides free counseling to people that are interested in opening up a small business. They also counsel small businesses that are up and running, and can give you suggestions to make your business more successful. At SCORE, I met with retail counselor Bruce Lulow. He gave me a great, little workbook for $25 that outlined a basic business plan, and I was ready to go. It took me one month to write the business plan (I spent hours a day doing it) with Bruce meeting with me, monitoring my progress along the way. We met every week, sometimes twice weekly. After the plan was complete, I was ready to implement.

In coming posts, I will share parts of my business plan, ideas, things that worked and didn't work, what owning the business meant for my family life, with you here. If you or anyone you know is interested in writing a business plan for a yarn shop, quilt shop or another needlework shop, link them to this blog. I've been in the needlework business for 8 years in the capacity of designer, instructor and shop owner. After much thought and reflection, I have come to the conclusion that I like teaching best. I want to teach you how to open up your own business by sharing my experiences.

While it was not without mistakes, StitchCraft was an award-winning business for a reason. I am very humble about my experiences with my shop. I consider myself very fortunate to be able to own a small business, and I believe that the current economic state of the US can only get better with the help of existing and new small businesses.

So, this was the first week that I didn't have to think about the shop. The space is cleaned out, taxes for January are submitted, bills paid. Life is pretty good. I updated my resume (it's always good to do that while it's fresh in my memory), helped out with the auction event at my children's school, and continue to plug away at organizing my house.

My husband and his friend are a HUGE help. They took the fixtures apart for people to pick them up, made runs to the dump and recycling center, and now, they're fixing up and organizing our garage to make a bicycle work station for my husband. He really deserves the work station, with all he's done. Next on the list is organizing the storage room. It will house my yarn stash, camping, skiing, climbing equipment, etc. It will probably take another month. Then, I get to organize my fiber arts studio! The living room and dining room need an update as well.

I've decided I'm going to call my new blog (when the site gets updated) to "So You Want To Be A Yarn Shop Owner". There is a TON of interest on this subject, and I'm going to spill the beans about how to write a business plan, how much money do you need, how much time, the upsides, the downsides, etc. I hope you find it interesting as you continue to read along with this blog.

Here are some early-stage shop breakdown pics.

We wish you and yours a Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. Travel safely out there!

Our holiday hours are as follows:

There is no Open Project Class on Thursdays, December 23rd and 30th. Yes, we're open for Soiree. You can get help on Sundays during the Holiday Stitching Group which meets from noon until 4pm.

We are open on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve from 10am - 3pm.

We are closed on the following dates:

December 25th and 26th for Christmas

January 1st for New Years Day

This week, my absolutely wonderful and nerdy software engineer husband pointed out to me that there were some really crappy things going on out here in the Internets. After he showed me the "reviews" about my shop, we hemmed and hawed over whether or not to address cyber bullying. He found these on Insiderpages, Google, and Knitmap. They are obviously done by the same person. Last week, a person made a personal comment about me following my blog post about selling the shop (the same person?). Since the comment was a personal attack and in no way constructive, we decided to block the person and delete the comment. A day later, this review showed up in more than one place:

Pros and cons of Stitchcraft: Pros: It's the only yarn store in Vancouver. Cons: 1) It's cluttered and there's no where to sit and stitch--every surface is for displaying stuff they can't sell. 2) No rhyme or reason to the way patterns and books are organised. Everything is just jammed onto the shelves and left for you to guess. They might as well put up a sign that says, "Good Luck." 3) The owner greets you with a terse, "Can I help you?" and then either disappears to talk on the phone or hovers while you browse. There is no happy medium (I think her cell phone notifications can be heard next door because the volume is cranked up so loud). If you do need help, she just sighs loudly and shows you a couple of things. 4) They rarely offer to wind yarn--you have to ask. 5) The owner complains to customers about how busy her life is and how much time she spends at the shop (hint, she'd make more money if she spent less time there). 6) Help is only available on Thursday nights and it's $15. 7) The owner's whiney, bratty kids are there when they're sick and during school breaks. 8) The owner thinks she knows everything about everything and will correct you or tell you you're wrong. 9) The regular knit night only has three or four people (where did everyone go?). 10) Color quantities are limited. If you need a sweater quantity of most anything you probably will have to order it (might as well get it online).

I am a local merchant who offers goods and services for sale. If you want to review my store, please do. But if you really want to be constructive and want us to do things differently at StitchCraft, give us a call or send us an email. We are happy to listen. If you want to comment about customer service, go ahead. But I would appreciate it if you would leave out the personal attacks against me and my children.

I understand that as a business owner my shop and I are going to be under scrutiny and subject to reviews from dissatisfied customers. I want every customer to have a good experience when they visit the store. However, I can’t be everything to everyone and no matter what I do, I will not be able to satisfy everyone. The negative reviews that call out me personally take their toll, but I remain committed to serving the needs of Clark County stitchers because I love the craft and most of the people that walk through our doors leave happy.

Other yarn shop owners get anonymous online reviews that can be construed as cyber bullying and they are unsure what to do about them. Many decide not to address the issue because they feel it gives the bully attention and a feeling of power. Given the recent spotlight on the real consequences of anonymous cyber bullying it must be addressed.

I could go through all ten points and address each and make a case as to why they are untrue, but what's the point? People are going to come here if they like it, or shop elsewhere if they don't. If you really hate our shop that much, then why do you follow our blog? Why do you shop in the store? Why are you so invested in the welfare (or the opposite) of the shop that you feel compelled to post this drivel?

From time to time I read the Yarn Harlot's blog. She has had her share of cyber bullying, has discussed it on her blog at length, and has blocked people from her blog as a result. I've taken classes with her and she's a nice person. I don't understand how people can find pleasure at the expense of other people. A good and constructive review takes skill and thought to construct but any halfwit can pen an assassination piece.

Drama? Yes, drama for which I didn't ask.

In case you didn't know...StitchCraft is for sale. We've been for sale since April of 2010. I've (Nicholette) been looking to get out of the business because it's really just too much being in retail and trying to maintain my family and home. We have no immediate family here, in fact, all our family is East of the Mississippi. So, when the kids get sick, or we need to go to appointments, or vacations, etc...it's very hard doing it alone.

I don't want to see the needlearts go out of Vancouver, so after BIG discussions with my husband, we decided that another option outside of selling the shop is looking for a business partner. The RIGHT business partner. Someone that can work in the shop during the evenings and weekends; someone that will pick up part of the load of paperwork; someone that is happy with their life; someone that loves the needlearts and/or weaving; someone that can invest in a little more inventory, and someone that can help to move the shop to a location with room for a classroom.

The shop is valued at 115K. We are selling it for 100K. A business partner would invest 50K - perhaps a much more reasonable sum than 100K in these hard economic times.

StitchCraft is an award-winning business. We won the title Best New Business in Southwest Washington in 2008. This award was given by a panel of business people in the Vancouver area. This panel included local SCORE business professionals, and professionals from The Vancouver Business Journal. StitchCraft is alive and well - we made a profit in our second year of business! And, this year, the profits are up again!

We've had about 35 inquiries from individuals wanting to know how much the shop is, but no one serious about pursuing the sale. Maybe you're shocked about how much it costs to open a shop like StitchCraft? When you do retail, you BUY all your inventory. The yarn companies don't give it to us on consignment. Not to mention the fixtures, point-of-sale system, Internet site, samples, etc. And, because we're already established and know our market, we have a customer list of 3,100 people. Pretty darn good!

So, if you are interested in becoming a partner, or owning the shop outright, please let us know. Here's a picture of me with my award and a picture of me with my kids this past week at the Pumpkin Patch...And pics of the shop.

Tomorrow between 8am and 9am PST, Betsy McCarthy, my mentor, very close friend and StitchCraft knitting instructor, is going to appear on the Today Show. Please watch! Betsy talks with Jane Pauley about her career change from hospital administrator to knitting instructor. The segment that Jane is doing right now is called Your Life Calling. It's about people making career changes and following their passions, later in life. Very applicable to our job market today. The complete interview with Jane will be available on the AARP website.

Here is the AARP "trailer" for the interview with Betsy and Jane.

http://www.aarp.org/money/work/your_life_calling/

And, Betsy has a new website:

http://betsymccarthyknits.com/

Betsy's book Knit Socks is going to be re-published in this summer. If you would like to reserve a copy of her updated book, please let us know. We're going to host a book signing too!

How exciting to have a knitter in the spotlight! I hope it inspires others to take up the art of handwork.

There's nothing like a knitting retreat to help you remember why you opened up a yarn shop. The people, the students, the teachers, the yarn; the amount of information at Madrona Fiber Arts retreat is absolutely astounding. This year, I was told from one organizer, that there were 700 students. This number doesn't include the amount of people that came only for the fiber market. 700!!!!

And if you're wondering where the retreat got its name, the Madrona tree grows on the Pacific Coast of the US and Canada. It's the symbol of the retreat and boy...the branches have grown many times from it's early beginnings. Here is a picture of the banquet room on Saturday night. There are just as many fiber arts enthusiasts behind me as you see in this picture which was taken from where I sat.

I took two classes this year, both on intarsia with Jane Slicer-Smith. I've taken workshops on intarsia with Kaffe Fassett and Sasha Kagan, and I really liked Jane's class as she explained her methods of design. Each teacher has their own way of looking at intarsia and I'm happy to take great things from each of them. You can expect an intarsia class taught here in the Fall. We'll start with something simple. I'll get my gears turning. Here are my swatches from class:

Every Saturday night at Madrona, there is a banquet with a lecturer, on an interesting topic. This year it was presented by Linda Cortright, publisher and editor of Wild Fibers Magazine. Linda is the representative of the United Nations mission to protect the world's natural fiber industry. The UN mission is called Keep The Fleece. Check the website for more information on natural fibers and to raise your awareness from where these fibers come. Linda told us of her adventures to New Zealand (merino wool) and Tibet (cashmere goats).

Here's a picture of us taking photos at dinner. From left to right Betsy McCarthy, Evelyn Clark, Mary, Charlene Schurch and April.

This year was my first year teaching at Madrona. I had a blast. The students were so sweet and a good time was had by all. I learned to weave too!  Here is my first woven swatch thanks to Syne Mitchell, who brought her 8 harness loom with her and gave demonstrations all day on Saturday. She said I had good selvedges.

So, I'm completely hooked on weaving now. I'll be purchasing a Rigid Heddle Loom soon and I will set it up in the shop so you can all try it. If you read the newsletter, my interest in weaving sparked last summer when I had the opportunity to see some beautiful looms in a weaver's studio. A few of you have expressed interest. Let's see where this takes us.

So this was the scene at the shop this week...

What is that behind the counter?  Yup, a sick child. First, child #2 got the virus and now, child #1. But, I am fortunate that I can bring my children to work and take care of them when they're sick.

My husband can work from home too, so he got the sick one on Tuesday, which was really nice because it was our Groundhog Day sale and we were very busy. To top it all off, I feel like I'm getting something too. Not good since I'm teaching at Madrona next week. Let's see if I can fend it off.

On a happier note; there are some new books in the shop. Nature's Wrapture is a nice little book dedicated to the garment called a wrap. Keep yourself warm on cool nights with some of these really nice patterns.

This book is GREAT! Knitting Brioche is really the first really technical book with beautiful patterns for this interesting stitch.

And yet another sock book. I especially like the patterns in this one.

Punxatawney Phil is THE weather prediction animal. Will he see his shadow? If he does, you will receive 15% off your entire purchase on Groundhog Day, Tuesday, February 2nd. If he does not see his shadow you get 10% off your entire purchase for the day. Why this reasoning? Well, if he sees his shadow, it means six more weeks of winter, which then means we'll be inside knitting, crocheting and stitching more. If he doesn't see his shadow, it's a prediction of early spring and we'll be out gardening and hiking, enjoying the weather. When he's made his prediction, we'll post the result here on the blog along with your discount for the day.

Click here for a link to the most Frequently Asked Questions about Phil.