Own a LYS?

[RunningMommy]

Does anyone here by chance own or run a LYS? My husband and I have been seriously considering opening our own LYS in Cape Girardeau, MO. We live in Virginia Beach now but when he gets out of the Navy next year we will be moving back home and settling down there. There's no LYS's in Cape and the only real place to shop for yarn is Hobby Lobby. It's a college town and I've always been surprised that there's no yarn stores in town. SO, I think we'd have a really good market there.

 

Anyway, that's just a long roundabout way of asking if anyone has a store and do you have any tips for us?

 

Thanks a bunch!

[Amy]

Do you have a large sum of money available for the investment that will be required to buy all the yarn you'll need to open?

 

You'll probably need to stock yarns that Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Wal-Mart, and other craft stores don't carry, because you won't be able to compete with them for prices on the yarns they do carry.

[RunningMommy]

Thanks Amy, we do have a substantial amount in savings. Also, my FIL runs his own carpet-laying business. He has a showroom downtown that he is closing this year and owns the building. So our location is taken care of. I'm in the process now of researching what yarns I'd like to carry and how to get them wholesale, etc. Luckily there are about 10 LYS's here that I can research before going back to MO where there are 0 stores. We're in the market research phase right now, working through the figures of what it would cost to fully stock the place.

 

I have this vision of a yarn store/coffee shop where local crafters can come and hang out, knit & crochet together, have classes, etc.

[The_Virginia_Hooker]

I have this vision of a yarn store/coffee shop where local crafters can come and hang out, knit & crochet together, have classes, etc.

 

I wish we had that around here

[Amy]

I have this vision of a yarn store/coffee shop where local crafters can come and hang out, knit & crochet together, have classes, etc.

 

Oh, that sounds fabulous! I know a lot of people want to open a yarn store, but they don't have any idea how much cash they need on hand in order to get the store supplied with the necessary furnishings and all the stock you have to have on hand.

 

Good luck with your endeavor! And maybe you want to move to my town to build this store!

[Angeleyz14]

Just my .02 but pick up a knit mag (tend to have more ads than the crochet ones) and visit all the yarn co. websites. A lot of them have a place to email or a special section just for wholesale inquiries or buying (yes I am bad about browsing yarn websites).

Also what sells and what doesn't may change. I know the here the one store carries a lot of plymouth (reasonable prices) which sells like crazy for her, the other shop carries some of the more expensive yarns. Also from my site browsing(then store petting/pricing) Universal has a lot of really nice yarns and some of them are actually quite reasonably priced.

I also love Rowan even though I can't afford much of it myself. But most sites also have patterns you can purchase and such and if you are buying their yarns you might want to consider that angle and have some binders with individual patterns you are willing to sell. Depending on the amount of space you will have...a section with table and chairs just for pattern browsing would be great.

Also look into the eco-friendly yarns, they are getting more and more popular.

And I love the coffee shop idea(though I only drink tea).

Best of luck!!!!!

[noQcrocheter]

there is only 1 lys near me, it is also a new/used book store, she used to be a teacher, in the front room she has all the books in the back room she has the yarn and patterns the yarn prices are kinda high but she will do special orders if it sothing she normally carries or of a brand she carrys. she also has a selection of hooks and knitting needles. she used have classes, and knit/crochet alongs but hasnt had any in a few years

[VenLuvsCrochet]

I LOVE the idea of a yarn/coffee shop combination. My two favorite things. I frequently take a small project to my local Starbucks and work on it while enjoying my coffee, but it would be even better if I could browse for yarn and other goodies, then sit down right there and have a cup of coffee while I look through patterns and such or just meet with others who share a love of good yarn.

[Bizzyboppers]

Hi there.

I own and run a LYS. PM me and I'll give you info.

[ldyer1]

I created a yarn store for a character in a role playing game and I definately had a coffeeshop/yarn store going. Basically, I love going to my local bookstore, reading, browsing and having coffee. I never leave empty handed, even if it is just baked goods. So...I thought that if I ever really opened a store it would have the coffeeshop side of things also. Mostly because that is another way to make money to keep the craft side open in times of sparse sales. In my vision, I had a door just to the coffeeshop part so that people that didn't craft would still come in for the coffee and probably internet too.

 

So, I think it would work, do your research like you are doing, and let us know how it goes. If I ever get to the point I want a career change, I might just do the same thing!

[RunningMommy]

Thanks for the encouragement ladies. Lately this has been all I can think of

 

What do you think of having a library of crochet & knitting patterns, books and mags to lend out?

[Amy]

Thanks for the encouragement ladies. Lately this has been all I can think of

 

What do you think of having a library of crochet & knitting patterns, books and mags to lend out?

 

If you are planning to also sell the patterns/books/magazines, I would not have a lending library. People will just check out the books instead of purchasing them through you. Since patterns are not traditionally part of a regular library system, I would also recommend getting approval from the designer/publisher of individual patterns. They may not want you to lend out their patterns since that would detract from pattern sales and their profits, and they depend on pattern sales to make their living.

 

There's a fine line between providing customer service and providing things that negatively impact your profitability (and ability to stay in business), and it's sometimes hard to know exactly where to draw that line.

[stillwjo]

I like the idea of the coffee shop and LYS (what's an LYS?). It would be nice to be able to browse patterns and ask for help. A crochet-a-long would really be a crochet-a-long (I've enjoyed my first virtual cal this weekend - Charity Squares).

 

I'd be curious about how you'd be able to lend out copyrighted patterns, if you did that.

 

Just don't spill the coffee on the almost finished afghan....

 

John S

[RunningMommy]

Yeah, you're probably right about the library... I've just been brainstorming like crazy lately.

[RunningMommy]

I like the idea of the coffee shop and LYS (what's an LYS?). It would be nice to be able to browse patterns and ask for help. A crochet-a-long would really be a crochet-a-long (I've enjoyed my first virtual cal this weekend - Charity Squares).

 

I'd be curious about how you'd be able to lend out copyrighted patterns, if you did that.

 

Just don't spill the coffee on the almost finished afghan....

 

John S

 

L- Local

Y- Yarn

S- Store

 

[The_Virginia_Hooker]

Don't forget the tea, for people that can't have or don't like coffee

[happytee40]

I love the idea of LYS with coffee and tea baked goods, my dream store would have WIFI rooms for classes and demo's on felting and spinning, yarn dyeing. Lots of pattern books to sale and yarn tons of yarn in beautiful colors. couches and comfy chair around a fire place to sit and knit and crochet. Wow I really hope all your dreams come true for openning a shop. I hope you are thinking of a really cool name for your shop.

[texasredhead]

If you are going to be in a college town, you might want to do some kind of a survey to see if people there knit or crochet and how many people you could have for customers. You might consider catering to the college kids and offer some special classes for them to learn to knit or crochet. When my daughter started college she taught a bunch of girls in her dorm how to crochet and some did Knifty knitting too. The problem would be that the local yarn shops charge so much for their yarns since they are more specialized than what they carry at Walmart. You will have to know who your going to be selling to. Definately have a website with your classes on it and maybe try to sell some of your yarns online to supliment your income that way. I sure hope you can do it!! It sounds so fun~~!