I don't live far from Needle-Arts so I've poked my head in on occasion. The owner is rather unpleasant. Never did I feel welcome ... I was more of an inconvenience.

I've noticed the same thing--I live nowhere near a yarn shop, but whenever I do stop in one on an out-of-town trip, I tend to find that the shop owners are quite unfriendly for the most part. Why is this? I'd rather take my chances buying yarn online than have an unpleasant experience like yours! That was horrible, and leaves no doubt why she wasn't able to make a go of it. My most recent trip to a yarn shop, 1.5 hours away from home, was a dismal failure. The snobby owners turned up their noses when, after they recommended a number of super-expensive yarns (cashmere and other luxury fibers, when I'm wanting to make something practical for a 10 year old), I noted that their recommendations were out of my price range. I would spend more on an item that wasn't going to be outgrown in a year, but no matter what the reason, the customer shouldn't be judged in such a rude manner. I left without buying a single item, then went on Knit Picks and got some very nice superwash wool for my daughter's vest. Take that, snobby yarn shop owners! If I found a nice place with nice people, I'd be the most loyal of customers.

Oh, hun, I'm so sorry! I read your story and almost cried. Well, take a deep breath and remember... you won't ever have to go there again!

Meanwhile, concentrate your energy on all the fun stuff you are busy creating now! And play with your kids... that will cheer you up.

There used to be a shop in the local area who thought extrememly highly of themselves. My youngest son was 2 at the time, and I was keeping an extremely close eye on him, but we were followed by at least one, and most of the time two, employees. They weren't there to help or anything. When I asked them if there was something wrong, they said that it was store policy to follow parents with small children around, like we were going to let our children pull all of the skeins out of the displays or run rampant through the store. Needless to say, I was extremely happy when they went out of business and another, and much more polite, shop took over the space and set up a kid's corner. They don't follow you around and they don't mind if your children pet the yarn, as long as they have clean hands. :)

Good riddance to them. After reading your post I went to see if they had a website and they do. This is what they have at the top of the page

"We're the best kept secret in New England ! Needle Arts has served the needlecraft needs of the Metro Boston area for more than twenty years.

I'm Gloria Shifrin, just the third owner of the store in all that time. As you might imagine we have many, very loyal customers - but everyday we greet new ones. They come back again and again because we have the biggest selection and the friendliest, most expert service."

I thought about emailing and telling her she might want to rethink her attitude -- because she is not living up to her words. But why bother right..... she is going out of business. Which is probably a good thing for the people of Concord.

I do most of my shopping on the internet to avoid the snobs who are too busy doing their own thing at the shop or too busy chatting on the phone at the other shop. So the only thing I use my 2 LYSs for is to view the yarn I'm thinking about if I don't know the yarn... the home to order online.

Take care, Happy Knitting, and Hug that cute little one for me.

Didn't realize that rude yarn shop owners was a common problem -- we've had a couple rude ones here where I live, too. Shame, really....

Man. I feel so bad about the response you got. I knew she was unpleasant, but that behavior just sounds mean. It wasn't like I didn't have the chance to shop there, I just didn't: A. because she had this hostile attitude, B. as you said, there are a million other wonderful places to go, and C. her markup is astronomic!--which I had forgotten about until you posted.

Picking on babies...really...

wow! that's nasty. i wouldn't have bought a thing!

I've only had a few bad experiences in yarn shops, but the ones that I have had are enough to make me concentrate finding yarn on-line only. When we were in Omaha visiting my sister, we visited a shop that wouldn't allow strollers in the shop. They actually shooed us out the door with the stroller, so we left it in the car and carried the three month around. Needless to say, it wasn't a big purchase. I felt like slapping the cashier when she said, "That's all?" No, it would have been bigger, darling, but my nephew is getting pissed being bounced from person to person while we pick out yarn.

Sometimes I think that yarn store owners look down their noses at you if you don't like the yarn they stock. If I even bring up an alternative, they get all jumpy and crap as if Rowan is some how inferior to Dale of Norway or vice versa.

Only once have I put all my yarn down and walked out without buying it. Then, it was about $100 worth of a cashmere blend for my first real project after learning to knit. The owner said to her friend at the counter, "I am so sick of all these new girls thinking they know how to knit after they make one little scarf. They ask the most basic questions," motioning her head toward me. Maybe it was the lack of coffee or the perfume or the vibe, but I dropped my basket on the floor and said, "This 'new girl' is going to buy her yarn somewhere else. Have a nice day," and I walked out. Shame . . . it was a lovely sweater.

Have a nice weekend! Try to keep that cranky kid quiet, will ya? What a joke!

When I got engaged and moved closer to my husband, I was excited to find a yarn shop so close to my house. It had DMC cotton (my favorite for tattting lace) and Brown Sheep Yarn. Plus she had hordes of acrylic. Yes I had basic tastes back then. Upon entering, I asked if she had knitting magazines and her response was that knitting fashion does not change and there is no need for expensive useless magazines or books. I still frequented her shop until a new shop with better yarn open. I was in need of one skein of yarn for a stash project and I headed to her shop since I knew the other store would not have what I was looking for. I got grilled about why I have not been coming so much any more and I said that I was knitting from the stash and visiting other yarn shops (I don't go to the yarn shops except maybe 3 times a year). I was already on edge because she had yelled at one of my students for buying walmart yarn and then I got yelled at for going to a yarn shop that stole from her. The other yarn shop owner is self-taught and used to buy yarn but that was all. At this current moment I don't even like stepping into her shop because she acts like I am going to steal from her now. I have started shopping online to avoid the feud.

Eek! Oddly enough, I went to that same yarn store in Omaha while visiting my MIL (the store is located inside another store). When I asked how the yarn was stocked (content, weight, etc.) they looked at me as if I was incredibly stupid but then proceeded to give me a non-answer. Walked out of that one.

But Ava, if you go back to Omaha, there's a new store there where the staff are extremely lovely and they have a great selection. String of Purls (www.stringofpurls.com)--check it out. They even have koigu. (A seeming rarity for the midwest.) I called a year later looking for an additional skein for a project and they searched through storage to find me the same dyelot. And sent it out that day with a nice little note. Much better than the crap store that shall remain nameless.

Ugh, what a crappy shopping experience you had. The Concord lady sounds like she has quite the stick up her rump though. I can only hope that some drunken frat boys upchucked in some cashmere, or something, because that's a lot of bitterness. I've had the opposite experience- most of the yarn shop owners I've come across have been pretty nice, with a few notable exceptions, but maybe I've just been lucky.

Wow, what a horrible experience. Kudos for you for keeping your self-control... I definitely couldn't have. Sorry you had to go through that. :-(

Wow, I want to say something snarky & bitter, like it would somehow make that lady's day worse, but it won't. She's already living in her own hell. What a bummer, though, because anytime you string the words "yarn" and "sale", most knitters I know get really perky and excited! At least you salvaged the day, and this person's karma caught up to her.
We had a local shop that went out of business, and lordy, those women were strange. One was in the habit of telling anyone in her line of sight about her medical problems, including lady medical problems, and seriously, one time I actually made a beeline to get to the other side of the store, upon hearing "Do you know what a pap smear is?" That's just not good yarn shop talk.
To end on a plucky happy note, Yay for yarn shops that treat their customers right!!!!

Wow, that's pretty unbelievable. I'm proud of you for keeping the reputation of knitters up, though!

What is it with the standoffish shop owners? There was a period of several years where I did not knit much (I was working 55 hours a week & had 2 teenage daughters) but the cleaning woman at work was pregnant with her first baby & I wanted to make her a sweater set. So I went to the closest yarn shop. I was mostly ignored & had to ask for help (which was not really given - owner vaguely pointed to another room & told me to look there while she chatted with her regulars/friends). When I had pattern & yarn selected, I had to ask her to let me pay even though I had been standing near the cash register, obviously waiting to pay for several minutes. Had this not been during the great knitting drought of the early 90's, I would've gone elsewhere. Now, it's a different story with many LYS. If anyone is in the far west suburbs of Chicago & looking for a yarn fix, I can highly recommend Fringe: a Knitting Salon in Aurora (http://www.fringeknitting.com/). They not only have lovely yarn but they are friendly even to newcomers who may spend little money & have a play area for the children. They also are happy to have well behaved children pet the yarn gently & help pick out yarn for their own sweaters. Really, it's just good business to treat customers well & to encourage possible future knitters (altho I think they are just nice people). I rarely leave a yarn shop with less than $200 in goodies but how would they know that when I walk in the door?

I feel your pain. When our local shop closed, a couple of the women who frequented the shop bought up all of the stock and opened a shop in a different location. I have been going there since only because they have the biggest selection. I've probably been there 50 times over the past 3 years, and although everytime I go, someone asks me if I need help (usually the only nice person there) not one person has ever tried to make polite conversation with me, even when I am the only person in the store, or when someone came in outside of her class to ask for help, and the shop was very busy, so I helped her when one of the class teacher/shop partner said she was a bit busy.

I probably would have picked up a bunch of stuff and put it back in the wrong place and then walked out. I certainly wouldn't have bought anything. You have much better self-control than I do.

I had a very similar experience when I visited my friend in Castro Valley, CA. This yarn store, called Adela's Yarns, was right around the corner from her house and I was there gearing up to buy a whooole lot of yarn - like hellooo Colinette. But the owner (I asked if she was in the middle of one of her lectures) and the resident knitters were so unbelievably rude and snotty I made a very large point of putting the yarn I'd picked out (so far) right on the counter and walking out.

The good news is the next day I visited ArtFibers in San Francisco and it was like coming home! So glad I'd saved my money for their yarn instead!

I am so in love with my favorite LYS that I forgot the reason I don't go to the other one (besides the lack of what I want)- the rude owner! I wouldn't have bought a thing. And I'd have secretly wished her LYS would burn down on my way in from "Friday Traffic"- but since wool doesn't burn, I guess it's a moot point. I would have definitely flipped her off and /or called her on it. If you're gonna be that rude, then you get nothing but rudeness back! Good Riddance to the negative LYS owner stereotype!

Wow. That is impressively bad. I've run into a few unfriendly or annoying knit shop owners, but that one just takes the cake. Luckily there are some great ones out there; I've had wonderful experiences with the owners of Knit One (Pittsburgh, PA), Mind's Eye Yarns (Cambridge, MA), and Full Thread Ahead (Los Altos, CA). A good LYS is a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

Oh that makes me so sad! And it's such a bummer to read all these other unpleasant LYS stories, too. I have had a couple of not great LYS experiences, but nothing like any of the above.

I will say that the hands-down best experience I have ever had visiting an unfamiliar LYS happened when I was in Birmingham, Alabama last year. Knit Nouveau, owned by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark (whose designs you might have occasionally seen in IK) was AWESOME. That store had the best vibe (and an amazing yarn selection), and Mercedes herself helped me and was just wonderful. I'll be in B'ham next month and am definitely making another trip to that store. If any of you are ever in that area, I would definitely recommend a visit.

Wow. I don't get it, why is she angry about selling yarn? Wouldn't she want to clear out all her stock so she isn't left with anything?

Oh, venting is fun. There's a yarn shop where I used to live that has a crabby suspicious owner. She followed me around the store (literally 2-3 feet behind me, no kidding) and asked a ton of annoying questions about the projects I had in mind. (Saying "I'm just looking" didn't satisfy her.)

If I picked up a skein she scowled and moved it after I put it down, and she'd ask me if I wanted to buy the yarn (implying, if you don't want to buy it then why touch it?). She also had a dozen "do not touch" signs but to be fair, the signs were in front of needlepoint projects, I wouldn't want anyone touching the canvas either. On my last visit I was at the cash register and a normal average woman in her 50s walked into the store. As soon as she crossed the threshold the owner said to her "Don't touch anything!" The woman looked shocked, I'm surprised she didn't turn right around and leave. I suspect the owner said it for my benefit, because *gasp* I had touched yarn... so it was her passive-aggressive way of yelling at me.

I shopped there 3 or 4 times in 6 years (I only went when the other stores in town didn't have a needle size I needed), and I have NO idea how she stays in business.

We just moved to the Concord area a little less than a year ago, and I was so happy to find a yarn store less than 10 minutes from my house. I've been to Needle Arts twice, and both times I could not believe how incredibly rude the women working there were. I had a similar experience when I worked at a knitting store in Cambridge which shall not be named - both in how the staff were treated and how the customers were treated. It is mind boggling to me that people in the retail business would behave this way - it seems antithetical to how one who hopes to make a profit would conduct themselves in a niche market.

Wow. That's pretty bad. I've encountered cranky shopowners, but this is waaay worse. Wow.

Why are yarn store owners so unfriendly? Knitting is such a social activity! I've never understood the yarn-store-owner-chip-on-shoulder issues. I too work in a LYS and have never been snarky like that (there have been times I've been tempted surely). I think we should start an etiquette guide for yarn store owners/employees - seriously!
BTW - babies are supposed to squack - has she never seen a child before?!

I am sorry you had such a bad experience. It is so unfortunate to find a bad yarn store! I went to my LYS twice and both times were treated rudely, and now only order my yarn online or go to Michael's.

Wow.

That would result in no sale from me either. Why be rude to the people who are your bread and butter?

Actually, one store here I don't go to (I have yet to try the other ones ;) ) but I never felt quite welcome there. Not unwelcome exactly, but not really welcome either unlike the one I go to (which is out of my way!).

Oh well.

Wow. Just, wow.

I think I would have been very tempted to take the yarn I had gathered up and start throwing it at her head, then make a break for it!

That's what I feel like doing right now, and I wasn't even there. I know I wouldn't have been able to bite my tongue, in any case.

You know, I had noticed that while those who work in the yarn shops I frequent are very nice, the owners are really NOT - but I had never said that to anyone, ever. How happy I am to know now that it wasn't/isn't just me who has had that experience!

That being said, I am so sorry to read about your diasterous trip to that sale. I do not understand why people feel the need to be rude - it's so stupid. And besides that, you were there to GIVE HER MONEY! HELLO!!!

Oh well, I am happy that you and your baby had fun in the quilting store! Thanks for helping me learn that I am not crazy for thinking yarn shop owners can be rude!

ugh, i've had a similar experience with a lys in my area. they'd give me the evil eye every time i went into the shop! i usually shop with my boyfriend, who's an avid crocheter, and i don't know if it's because we're both young (in our early 20s) or what, but twice when we've gone in they've actually started up conversations LOUDLY about shoplifters.

it's their loss. if they knew exactly how much we spent on yarn a month, they might treat us a little better.

You guys should all come yarn shopping in the UK. I have never met a nasty LYS owner here. We have 3 LYS in Leicester, (a very small city) with at least 5 more in easy driving distance, and in every one of those I have never had a bad reception. Nor have I in any other LYS in the UK. Even as a beginner, buying yarn for the first time, I was given good honnest advice, and told not to buy the expensive yarns! Our SnB group always advise new knitters to ask for help in stores, how else can they learn about all of the different yarns out there.

Being rude to people is a sure fire way to ensure that your business doesn't succeed, not just because people won't come back to your store, but newbies will assume that all knitters are like this. I had this issue when trying to buy a spinning wheel recently, from a lady who felt that there was no point buying a wheel for less then £500 ($1000) good job I knew better! oh well, their loss.

Our LYS has one very nice owner and one less than nice owner. The less than nice owner opened the store because she does not want to be home with her aging husband and just wanted a place to go knit. She is rude and scarsastic. I have chosen not to go into the store when she is there that leaves me only 1 day a week. If she shows up I make an excuse and leave. Unfortunatley her attitude is this is HER knitting space and if you don't like it leave. Many do. The incredible thing is she does not realize how her attitude affects their bottom line.

It is amazing how bad some owners' business sense is. But I guess if you are independently wealthy, you can do what you want!

my lys horror story. yep, local. as the one who taught the owner how to knit a sock,etc.. you can imagine my shock when i would attempt to buy "the good stuff" and be told i wasn't allowed to, but could buy the crappy stuff. or as the store teacher no longer having my classes promoted, ideas discouraged..which she is now implementing 6 mons later. thankfully she is no longer promoting the "pimp" vest. shew!
the last straw was her asking other people to complain about my baby to keep me from bringing her (i was breastfeeding so baby came with along with a tween to babysit)
so i took my money else where. there is a big difference between a knitting shop and a novelty yarn store.
i am much happier! :-)

I am lucky in that I have two LYSs here and although I shop at one more often than the other, it's because the LYSO is my friend and I know she needs the custom. I shop at the other one, and she knows that I do, but only because they carry items that she doesn't, and doesn't want to. As she is my friend, I am always treated very well there. But I enjoy the other LYS because the ladies there are so very friendly and helpful. I have been taught new techniques there, even on yarn I hadn't bought there. They know I do buy enough there to make it worth their time to impart their knowledge. But there is a shop 50 miles away that I don't go into very often, because although they have a much bigger selection than both of my LYSs combined, I never feel like I'm welcome. It's a very cold store, although it's very beautiful. I've only bought needles there, never yarn. But I am taking Donna's advice and shopping at Fringe in Aurora when I go to Chicago next week.

what a nightmare!
talk about a bitter woman!
thank goodness her store is closing! what a terrible way to run a business--especially a yarn store! ugh. i'm sure the rest of your weekend will be much more enjoyable!
and kudos to you and your peeps on being so polite and kind, even in the face of such (inner) ugliness.

Us quilters are usually a nice bunch. I've met a number of nasty knitters in my time but rarely a mean quilter. Maybe because quilting can be really solitary with a machine whizzing and blurring out any social sounds we make up for it elsewhere. I'll keep Quilter's Way on my list of shops for when I'm ever in the area.

What a shame. I went to that shop last year and while I had no bad experiences, I was asked a lot if I was looking for anything particular. I said, "Nope, just browsing". But the treatment you received is unjustifiable! It certainly isn't easy, I'm sure, to run a small retail business, but if you're frustrated and burned out, why take it out on customers? Getting out sounds like the best thing to do.

It was a totally horrible experience! Thank goodness for the lovely quilt shop, and thank goodness we were there together! Good riddance. Next time we visit a new to us yarn store we'll have to tell them that we live in that town... or better yet, just not talk to them at all. Friendliness will get you nowhere!

I just called Needle Arts to inquire about the sale (Yeah, I'm moving in a week and I'm going to load up on yarn. Not likely, but she didn't know that.) But I mentioned on Johanna's blog that I would, so I did.

As soon as she found out that I was inquiring about the sale, the woman said "Yah, we are. Look I gotta run." AND HUNG UP ON ME. HUNG UP ON ME!

There are three things you need to have to successfully run a retail business. 1) Knowledge of your subject matter; 2) money to get started and maintain operations; and 3) good business sense, including customer relations. (This is a gross simplification, of course, but it serves my purpose.)

You can't get by with only two of the three. For instance, fail to understand your subject, and it doesn't matter how much money you have or how good you are with business and people, you won't be able to support the product with knowledge. (This happens sometimes when people open a certain type of store because they've heard they can make money with it, not because they know much about it.)

My own bead store failed because, while we had 1 and 3, and started off with 2, a few months after opening my husband wound up being out of work for 18 months after his company closed their local offices. The bead store could have supported itself fine, but it was too young to support us as well.

This woman at the store in Concord is clearly lacking in #3. It's no wonder she's going out of business. I, too, would have put everything down and left the store without making a purchase. Then, I would have calmed myself with a certainty that karma would, indeed, provide the rude owner with whatever was deserved.

I might, also, have made a big showing of walking slowly past the yarn store's windows with huge bags full of stuff purchased at the quilting shop, just to show her what she missed. Karma, after all, doesn't usually take effect while you're still there to see it. :)

I used to play soccer down the street, Needle Arts was always closed. No evening or weekend hours that I recall. After the treatment you received, sounds like the owner did think of it as a private club rather than a public business.

That's crazy! I definitely would have put the yarn down, made a snarky remark to my friend about not being welcome here (loud enough for cranky-owner-lady to hear), and left. If she only wanted to give discounts to "loyal" customers, she could easily have made those precious postcards into coupons that must be presented for the discount. I'm pretty lucky--I absolutely love two of the three LYS in my area (and I haven't been back to the third since having been treated rather rudely), and there's another nice shop near where I work. Your Concord lady's a mystery. I guess some folks just don't get it. It amazes me she made a go of her business as long as she did...

I think we know why the yarn store is closing. Have had a similar experience here in Canada, where I made the decision to stop going out of my way to give a particular store my business because of their "we could care less" attitude. Even the owner of the shop started acting like a princess. Funny thing, got a note last week in the mail that reminded customers that contrary to what we may have heard, they are still open for business.
You can have the best supply of materials, but without some humility and kindness you won't make it in the yarn business.

Wow, that's horrible. I don't think I'd have been able to hold my tongue. Gee, I wonder why she's closing?

I've only had one truly bad yarn store experience, and thankfully not one of my local LYS and when I travel there, I do have other yarny options when I go there.

I taught myself to quilt 2 years ago! The only part of it that takes patience is the binding, otherwise it's easier then knitting a sweater IMHO for sure! It's not like you have to start with triangles. I like an irish chain which is 9 squares in a sqaure. Super easy and super cute!

What a terrible experience! We've got a LYS like that around here, too. Concord is such a cute little town, and at least you got to end the day at Concord Teacakes. They have the best scones!

I think you were quite right not to take this personally. She sounds like someone under a lot of stress, which may explain her behavior but doesn't excuse it.

Good for you that you could take the high road.

You're a better woman than I. I would have ostentatiously dropped all my about-to-be-purchased yarn and said something like, "Fine. Keep your out-dated inventory, I was just doing you a favor anyway," and walked out . . . Why, oh why, are LYS owners often so nasty? And thank heaven I've got a couple of local shops that are NICE to counteract the ones that aren't!

Hi.. I have a lot of yarn bit don't want to sell any? WTF??

In situations like this I just keep telling myself "karma will come back and bite her - hard." That said, I wouldn't have bought anything and probably would have commented that it was a good thing she was going out of business since she couldn't follow the sales laws (at least here in MN all products have to be clearly priced).

Kudos on keeping your cool.

Wow, that's real depressing, and even more depressing how well we can all relate. I'm pretty tired of the rude service in Chicago LYS's, I'll definitely have to check out Fringe... That's not the first time I've heard such a good review of that shop!

I was recently in one Chicago shop (not Fringe), one I mostly avoid because of the rude, snobby staff and crappy selection, and had to withstand the incredibly vapid, bitchy, and LOUD conversation the woman working was having with two of her friends about how Sarah Jessica Parker is "just not that pretty" and "smokes like a chimney in front of her baby." I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried - it was like the worst unflattering caricature of bitter old women gossiping in a yarn store. I was completely embarrassed!

I support a great many yarn shops in southeastern Connecticut, all the owners and workers are friendly and all the shops that I have been to are baby friendly. I am sorry that you had such a horrible experience in Concord. Boo. Sounds like someone needs a happy pill.

I'm shocked at how many of us have had such similar experiences. Mine were in Freeport and Cambridge and were confirmed by friends who were also treated rudely there. I boycott another LYS, too, because I once heard two employees talking insultingly about the previous customer's knitting project while I was standing right in front of them! I've been treated right at KnitWit, Halcyon, Yarn Basket and fiber events.

My local LYS is closing down this month, too. (Selma's in Southbury, CT.) She's doing 25% off until June 19, then 35% off and then closing her doors July 1. I think her personal strength is the ability to figure out yarn substitutions. Her stock is varied and her prices are posted near the yarns. And sometimes she rubs people the wrong way. I've run into complete strangers who've talked about yarn shops with me and nobody ever failed to say something unfortunate about her. I could never deal with the public in a consistently positive manner myself, so I see it as the market weeding out people who, like myself, really aren't suited to that job. It's really sad to see. She's put a lot of herself into it for many years. I feel sorry for her. But that didn't keep me shopping in her store, either.

I'm blessed to have a myriad of LYSs near me here in the Seattle area. My favorite is Renaissance Yarns in Kent and close second is So Much Yarn in Seattle. They both have FABULOUS staff working there and at both places, any time I come in, they remember me (and I hardly ever go to the second one!).

Unfortunately, there are a couple that don't make you feel welcome. Not sure why they'd do that when there is such a selection of yarn stores to choose from around here (I mean you, Hilltop Yarn!). :)

I had a very bad experience in a local yarn shop as well. I was humiliated by the owner in front of several other customers. I left the shop in tears and have not been back since. I will never step foot into that shop again. A new shop has recently opened closer to my home and the owner is such a lovely person. She is so friendly and eager to please her customers. So, I guess we can't put all the yarn shop owners into the same basket.

This is the value of the blog, in my opinion. You get instant reporting for all to see...if only the yarn shop was aware of just that!

What a terrible thing to have to live one's life that way--so angry and bitter and rude (to complete strangers, no less).

Obviously there's no stereotyping the reason why *some* yarn shop owners are crabby (and, can I add, have TERRIBLE hours). Most of all, they have in common that they are just stupid because they are competing with the Internet and need to get over themselves. The golden rule would work REALLY well here, store owners! Do you think you'd want to be treated this way? Hell no!

Unbelievable. Having never had a similar experience in a yarn shop, I find it hard to imagine someone being so rude. In my experience, the knitting community is caring and generous. What is the deal with rude LYS owners/employees? The closest shop to me is 1.5 hours away. I visit them frequently in the summer months and am always treated very well, whether I spend a lot of money or not. The owner and employees remember my name, ask how I am and what I'm working on, and are always helpful. If you are visiting the Delaware shore, I highly recommend Sea Needles in Bethany (www.seaneedles.com).

I'm Brazilian, and this is common here, too. Specially if you have a baby with you.
Once, a shop owner (man) yelled at my son, who was almost 2 years, because, he's trying to catch a little brush. Just trying!!! And then after me. He yelled a lot telling not so good things, and nothing happened to the $ 0,20 brush. I felt terrible, specially for my baby who was scared.
It's a big shop here and they have a lot of cool craft stuff (yarns for me) and I used to buy a lot there but I'll never come back there again, neither will my friends.

Kisses
Ana
(Hope this bad felling inside, passes quickly)

OMG! That is outrageous! How sad to be such a miserable person.
Who on earth discriminates against BABIES??
Madness.
You know, I used to work in a coffee shop and you can get some intentionally difficult customers. Whenever people were even half way polite I was thrilled. That coffee shop was a quiet little place and if I (or the owner) only bothered to treat return customers decently it would have folded. Hmmmmmm...doesn't take a genius to figure out this shop's problem.

I am pretty lucky with yarn stores. The one in town is very friendly, it is a gelato and yarn studio and a community hang out/stage for musicians and singers and artists. Always friendly.
The LYS 45 mins from my home is so friendly. My dog is allowed to roam the shop. She is in heaven because she loves to sniff yarn. I cannot even believe some of the experiences people have shared here. Atrocious. Following children about - makes me want to visit and plunk my little dog down in their store. All of the ladies who work there are friendly, helpful and sincere.
The other yarn store I shop at where I vacation is a Quilt/Yarn shop and they are always friendly too. Little dog is allowed in there as well.

Thank goodness for the other yarn shops - or soon enough we will only be able to buy yarn online!

Wow, that's just so wrong. Pity it takes such a long time for these shops of horrors to dry up and blow away.

Wow, sounds very much like what Lime & Violet went through last year. I feel lucky in that I have not been treated that way. I'm pretty shy though so if I walk into a shop I've never been in before, I am perfectly happy to be ignored. My friend has though. She went into a shop in Manhattan where nothing was priced either. As she picked up yarn she'd turn to the woman and ask how much it was, the woman said, 'If you have to ask it's too much' or some such thing. I think it was in a fairly affluent neighborhood where price didn't matter to most of the people who walked in. But what it comes down to is, you can't judge people by what they look like. My friend had a wad of money in her pocket, just because she didn't look the part didn't mean she couldn't afford anything. I think she just walked out with a set of needles and two skeins of yarn because they were in her hands. I would like to think I would've put them down and just walked out but she was desperate to just knit.
If the woman you encountered was the third owner, I wonder what were the first two like? I'm sorry if she was upset that her shop was closing, but she shouldn't have taken it out on you. I say good riddance. Hopefully she'll be happier in her next life.

Wow. That kind of thing just boggles the mind.

oh, dear. You hadn't heard ahead of time that the Needle Arts lady is too rude to be believed. It's not the sale, it's not stress, she's always like that. I went ONCE. I have never heard of any knitter being treated in any other way than with astonishing rudeness. I am not the least bit surprised the shop is going out of business - what I am amazed at is that it hung on so long.

Oh wow!
firstly let me just say that when you write:
"I still feel so taken off guard by her inexplicable meanness that I can't work up much outrage. "
that so reminds me of Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail. She was taken off gurad by Tom Hanks...
at work they tell me evenone has his package...she does sound bitter, who knows what's behind her closeing...doesn't warrent this behaviour towards a customer...but maybe she figures since she's closing she doesn't need to worry about people coming back.
Sorry you had to expirence that.

Totally unreal!

The knitting community should be glad that that shop is going out of business. More business for the friendly shops!

We had a bad experience one day when we went on a yarn crawl to check out shops that were new to us. We got to the area where the first shop was in Rockville, MD and it still wa snot time to open so we spent some time in a local coffee shop. By the time we went to find the yarn store, all of the street parking was all full because they hold pre-opening classes. We circled and circled until a spot opened up, and let me tell you it was not even worth the trouble. When we went in, we were not greeted, there was a class going on and we couldn't even get to half of the store because the class table was up tight to one whole wall of yarn and two half walls. The woman at the register was all huffy and waiting on people and chatting away with people she seemed to know, probably people from her classes. After about 8-10 minutes we just left because it was so unwelcoming.

Conversely, we had a wonderful visit to a very new LYS in our area. If you're in the Eldersburg, MD area - Check out "Knitters Nest" across the road from the Panera. The owner is very sweet and will even stay late if you're still browsing. Some Trekking XXL follwed me home. Shhh!

Sorry for your bad experience. I think you handled it very well.

I'm sorry for your horrible experience. I'm nowhere near that area, but if I was I wouldn't go based on all you had to say about your experience. I'm all about letting others know about poor customer service in hopes people do not support these types of businesses. At least you are lucky enough to have other wonderful shops close to you!

well, I guess she was like that beforehand, too. That's why Karma's doing some works on her and closing down the store. If she continues to be like that, well, then it's her own (bad) choice.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, but such is the case at that shop. Why? Who knows. I think the woman is just downright miserable. I've been in that shop twice, and was treated so poorly, I've never been back, even though it's a couple of minutes from where I work.

As a new knitter (very new and self-taught so far) I was very surprised by the lack of helpfulness in the only 2 yarn shops in my immediate area. I did have lots of questions, but was also prepared to buy and to enroll in various classes... BUT haven't been back since I don't like to be made to feel silly about what I don't know. I've not been able to find many knitting resources where I live in NC so was extremely disappointed that the yarn shops did not share my enthusiasm for learning which would have resulted in money for them. I definitely don't understand the attitude.. Especially since the knitting blog community seems so outgoing and friendly, you would think shop owners would be the same...

I just wanted to let you know that I've been to that store a few times in the past 5 years and its *always* been that way! My thoughts - some poeple open stores because they love the item their selling, but they don't really like people. As time goes by, their bitterness spills over and poisons their business...

If you want a friendly store experience come on up to *Concord, NEW HAMPSHIRE* and visit The Elegant Ewe! (I'm not personally affiliated - just happy to shop there). The last Saturday I went in, the ladies were eating lunch and invited me to sit down and share the meal with them! Wow. (great yarn too :)

I've never commented before (love your blog!!) but I have to agree about Needle Arts in Concord too. In fact I've wondered how they stayed in business this long. Maybe they thrive on needlepointers. I hope next time you foray into the western suburbs you try Woolpack in Littleton and Fiber Loft in Harvard. And give me a shout - I'll come along. Your loyal reader in Stow, MA.

I have been given the cold shoulder at a YS before, but never treated in such a terrible way. I HIGHLY recommend Taming of the Ewe in Jacksonville, Al. Pam the owner is extremely helpful and friendly. She is also welcoming to toddlers and grumpy husbands!

Hey you,

I completely believe it. Been there before and was also treated very rudely both times - once alone, looking for a pattern. Obviously an intrusion. And once, when I had my daughter with me, who's completely fine in a yarn store. She's 7 and a knitter too. The owner made no bones about the fact she didn't want us in there. She even said something about kids in the store. We loudly said we were going to Lexington 'Where they LIKE us" and left. Never went back. The bitterness is not an isolated incident, but I am surprised how open she was about it - and for what? For not living in Concord??? That's not even a valid complaint!

Hey you,

I completely believe it. Been there before and was also treated very rudely both times - once alone, looking for a pattern. Obviously an intrusion. And once, when I had my daughter with me, who's completely fine in a yarn store. She's 7 and a knitter too. The owner made no bones about the fact she didn't want us in there. She even said something about kids in the store. We loudly said we were going to Lexington 'Where they LIKE us" and left. Never went back. The bitterness is not an isolated incident, but I am surprised how open she was about it - and for what? For not living in Concord??? That's not even a valid complaint!

To counter all this bad yarn karma with some good: I was visiting Chicago a few weeks back and stopped by Chix with Stix, and I couldn't have had a better experience! The ladies were friendly and helpful, and it was an overall great experience, and I ended up buying waaayyyy too much.

Not that my LYS in Milwaukee (Ruhamas) is unhelpful. On the contrary, they're friendly, they always answer questions, even the most basic newbie questions that someone might have, and they have a great selection. But you never know what you're getting into when you visit a new shop.

I am reading with shock all the comments about yarn shop owners. I used to own a shop in the UK and was in business for over 30yrs and not only did we welcome children we had a much loved huge teddy bear who all the children loved so much he finished up being called Threadbear for obvious reasons.
I used to stock very economical yarn as well as the expensive ones as not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to afford to purchase the exact yarn for the patterns. To me a sale was a sale no matter how much a person spent and I welcomed strangers with open arms. Sale goods or normal. It's all still business and if a person is happy with the service they come back again.
Now I sadly no longer have the shop due to ill health and I have to search for yarn but I have a good local shop in Ramsbottom whose elderly male owner comes around with bags of sweets (candy)offering one to anyone in the shop. He is a very sweet man always got a chat and a smile. Probably why they have been in business for such a long time.

I'm happy to see you have been able to exact revenge by reporting your experience on your widely-read blog!

Sadly your experience pretty much was typical of how one is treated in that store. I've always assumed there must be some customers she likes and treats well, but was never able to work out how they became "favored" customers after the intial hazing. For my part, when confronted with that kind of experience I have learned that ranting back doesn't help, but neither does saying nothing. So I tell them the truth, "I think you are very rude and I will leave now since you clearly don't want my business". In all but one case where I have done this the person smirks or says something ruder as I leave but in one case (at a shop in Cape Cod that is now my LYS when I am there for the summer) the owner stopped, took a breath and told me about what a bad week she had had and apologized for being so unpleasant. I chatted with her a bit andf she invited me back for stitch night and I met a lot of great knitters and found another great store.
I hate making generalizations, but I am also a quilter and have never, not once, been treated rudely in any quilt shop I've been in. I'm not sure what's up with that, but there you go!

good job of not lowering yourself to her level...besides more "damage" is done by posting in a forum such as this. And shame on her for taking issue with wee ones, especially one as cute at L!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You know I lived not to far from there for a time and never even heard of that store.

People always urge knitters to support their LYS, and God knows I've tried, but I've experienced my share of eye-rolls and rude comments and now purchase almost exclusively online. I didn't know how widespread this problem is, though. I thought I was just unlucky that both LYS's in my area are lousy.

I did email Gloria - I wanted her to read her poor review and the crafter community's response to such atrocious treatment. There is no excuse for such bad behaviour!
Alison, I am sorry you, your wee one and your friend went through this. Thanks for posting about it.

You should totally pull a Julia Roberts from Pretty Woman. Fill up some bags from another yarn shop with loads of yarn, just stuff from your stash. Go into that dump and say, 'I was here yesterday and you didn't want to help me, big mistake. Big.' It probably wouldn't change her attitude, and she's going out of business anyway, but it would make me feel better.

Also kudos to you for coming right out and saying the name of the store. I don't think there is any need to protect lousy stores by allowing them to remain nameless. Come right out and tell us which ones they are so we don't have to waste our time. I think people need to stand up for themselves more, if everyone simply walked out of stores with terrible service and rude employees they would get the picture. But if they're rude and people just put up with it and complain later they still get the business. We are in a time where there are choices, let them know that you don't have to shop there, you have choices and you are going to tell all your friends not to shop their because they are so horrible. Everyone is so amazed that this woman stayed in business so long; I'm sure it's partially because every time someone went in and was treated poorly they still bought something. I say tell them how rude they are, don't buy anything, then do just like you did and put it all over the internet how horrible they are.

I also love all the people who are posting which stores are great. We need to hear that as well, I love forums like this where I can see which stores I should go to and which ones I can completely skip. All of my LYS's are very good and I love them. I've never been treated poorly and I'm always left to look around and touch as much as I want, which is exactly what I want. Then when I need help someone is there to point me in the right direction. Congrats Greater Seattle Metropolitan Area I would recommend any one of your stores to someone visiting.

I'm so sorry to hear about your LYS experience. My SIL lives in Concord and while I've never visited the shop in question, and never WILL now, she always spoke so highly about Concord and of supporting local businesses. I've frequently experienced rude behavior from yarn shop owners but didn't realize that it is more typical than not. My LYS in Pennington is about 50/50. Some days I'm not even greeted when I go in, ignored at the cash register, and just generally ignored while looking around. There is one wonderful woman there who would bend over backward to help and I jump for joy when she is there when I go to shop. I don't want to be hounded or followed, but I *DO* want some attention! Another shop in Princeton is a whole other kettle of fish. It's quite obvious that I'm not a regular there (yarn selection isn't large enough) and I have found myself waiting at the cash register while the two shop attendants (I don't know who the owner is) talked between themselves over at the yarn bins!!! It's not a large shop and I wasn't hidden or anything!!! I go there only when necessary.

As for quilt shops, same thing happens there. The LQS in Pennington invariably fails to greet me when I go in, ignores me at the cutting table, and has failed to give me the 'finish the bolt' discount. Now, I'm the customer...and you're the shop clerk...do I REALLY have to tell you how to do your job??? Then again, the best quilt shop in my estimation is Budding Star Quilts in Lebanon, NJ. The owner is the best woman in the world, helpful, knowledgeable (sp??), and just a fine person. Her clerks, however, frequently leave someothing to be desired.

Alison, as for patience or time to quilt...you can do it!! If you can make all these wonderful knitted projects, organize sockapalooza not once for at least FOUR times, write a book, AND raise three wonderful children, you can do ANYTHING!!!

Gloria is well-known for being rude to her customers. I was a frequent customer until several months ago, when her rudeness to another customer, in front of a storeful of knitters, was more than I could stomach. I swore that I would give her no more of my yarn money, unless she had something I simply COULD NOT GET ANYWHERE ELSE. The 50% off sale met that rule, so I did go back on May 31st for the big sale, for which I had gotten a postcard.

I paid $421 for needles, books, and (mostly) alpaca yarn (all supposedly worth $842). The books and needles were marked; none of the yarn was, and she has taken all the prices off the shelves, cubbies, and bins. After she rang up the sale and I signed the charge card slip, I asked for my itemized receipt, which was coming out of the register. She refused, saying everything was on sale, so she did not need to give me a receipt. I asked for individual prices of the yarn, but she refused, saying I could create my own receipt (at home) if I wanted.

So I did. But no matter what I guessed for prices (based on web searches of other yarn stores' prices, I added a dollar to the highest price I could find on the web), I could not get the figures to add up. With a significant shortfall between what I guessed things cost and what she charged me, I brought my spreadsheet back to Gloria on June 1st. When she said she did not need to disclose the prices to me, I explained that Massachusetts law disagrees with her. (Under 940 CMR 3.13, merchants must place a price on EVERY ITEM they sell.) Since she had no prices on the yarn and no prices posted on the shelves and no prices shown on an itemized receipt, she could at least tell me the prices, I replied.

At that, she said, "Leave your spreadsheet and I will have my accountant look at it, and we will call you."

I have not heard from her yet. I guess, after one more friendly request, my next call will be to the Massachusetts Attorney General. Sale or no sale, retirement or no retirement, Gloria does need to comply with the law and does not honesty in pricing. (I also went across the street after that, and I too love Quilter's Way.)

Yes, I paid less for everything than I would have at full price. Yes, I am glad to have saved some money. But the principle remains, as well as the rule of law: a merchant cannot claim a false sale, and no one should rip someone else off. I keep track of what the yarn in my stash cost, so I know what a project has cost me.

If she ever does give me a listing of the prices I paid, I assume she will be sure to have the prices add up to the $421, even if it means listing prices that do not reflect what she was selling the yarn for a day before the big sale. (That too, by the way, is a violation of the Massachusetts pricing law.)

My husband says to just forget it. Perhaps I will. I am glad to hear that it was not just me. I am sorry to see that Gloria is ending her career on such an unpleasant note.

I'm horrified by all these tales of rude LYS owners. In Coventry (UK) we have two shops that deal almost exclusively in yarn (plus other needlecrafts) and they are both lovely. Our local craft megamart (Hobbycrafts) is managed by a lovely lady called Helen, who is also an avid knitter. Rugby's new LYS owner (also a Helen) is lovely, and always stops to chat, even if she's busy! She's also dog-friendly as her pet dozes behind the counter.

As the craft of knitting re-emerges from the doldrums of the 90s, let's hope that market forces weed out the rude, couldn't-care-less-about-new-customer owners!

Surely if she's closing she *wants* to get rid of her stock, to whoever? If it's not sold, it's money tied up, right?! Weirdo woman or what?!

About the being followed? An ex of mine used to have long hair in dreadlocks and looked a bit scruffy, he was a rock musician. One day he visited a big department store to buy some clothes. He realised he was being followed none-too-covertly by a store detective. He made a big show of picking stuff up, trying it on, putting it back, led the guy a merry dance around the shop, which is on 7 floors. Finally he made it to customer services on the top floor. Went to the desk. Slammed a big wad of cash on the desk, in full view of the detective, and said "I was going to spend all this in here today, but your store detective has been following me around for the last 45 mins, just because of how I look. I want you to tell the manager I'm taking my business elsewhere!". Now, that's the way to do it! :)

It makes absolutely no sense to me for LYSOs to act that way. A knitter with a baby probably makes a lot of projects, no?
I travel a lot and always make a point of visiting LYSes wherever I go. This is a sweeping generalization, but I've found that the weird/nutty/just plain bad service happens in towns where there are competing stores. Like the big name NYC store that told me they don't "do" sock yarn, or the one in Chicago whose owner pops out for smoke breaks, then stares at customers through the window. I can and do take my money elsewhere, and I have the stash to prove it!

I work around the corner from Needle Arts and went in there on my lunch break exactly ONCE. I didn't have anywhere near as bad an experience as you've described but I did find that the salesperson (owner?) was pretty rude and unhelpful (and there were no prices anywhere). Your story is just shameful - she deserves to be going out of business!

I posted earlier but after reading the new comments, I have to write again. I applaud Susan in the comments for following up with the pricing issue--I hope you DO call the Att'y Gen'l! And now I feel that I should name names. Grace Robinson in Freeport, ME is rude and condescending and manages to kick it up (down?) a few notches if you come in with children. Avoid it at all costs!

I am sorry that you had a bad experience, it is very unpleasant to be treated in such manner. It also saddens me to see so many people who have had similar experiences. I don't own a yarn store, but I have worked in them. It is a difficult business to be in.

i was crazy intimitated the first time i went into a yarn store (re: not michaels), but it turned into a really nice experience. the woman who runs "the wool emporium" (in saskatoon) gave me all kinds of suggestions for yarn (i was trying to make a baby blanket). she was nothing but helpful and kind and, as i've learned reading the comments today, incredibly rare!

That behavior was absolutely typical for her, for as long as I have been going there--many years! Her good employee opened a store of her own-Knit Purl in Sudbury-and it's fabulous!
I also love Wild n Wooly, so stopped going to NA completely, even when I was already in Concord and desperately needed something she would have.
Quilter's Way, however, couldn't be more wonderful, as are so many of the stores in Concord. I don't know how Needle Arts stayed open for as long as it did.

I've already commented but I have to ask Melissa further up the thread, how "wild" did she think two newborns could get? I'm sure that at

All that is beside the point though, people have a right to blog about whatever they please and the fact is that today, being rude or snarky to someone you think you'll never see again can come back to haunt you. I believe 100% that Jenna and Allison were treated rudely and it's a shame but it was a concious choice on the part of the owner to assume she didn't need to be nice to "non regulars".

I've been there exactly once as well. It was excruciating. My husband and I were waiting for my MIL and husband's grandmother to do some shopping at a nearby clothing store and I couldn't resist a dip into an unknown yarn store.

I was disappointed to find nothing priced. I hate having to keep asking. And the owner followed me around asking what I was looking for and wouldn't take "Nothing in particular, but thanks." as an answer. She was clearly annoyed at my presence, so I couldn't help but linger a little longer just to watch her shuffle and dance around me, trying to herd me out like a frantic Border Collie.

It was an entirely unpleasant experience and I wasn't going to buy anything, but then I remembered what I really wanted. My inner Nelly Olsen kicked in and I asked if they had the latest issue of Knit 1. I bought it and made sure to mention that there was a review of my book in there and got the hell out of Dodge.

The Five and Dime next door is awesome, though. They have lots of cool stuff and they didn't seem to care whether you have nickels or dimes or nuthin'.

I just can't IMAGINE why she is closing down!!!!!!! and I would give my eye teeth (ummm yes I do still have them!!) to have a decent yarn store near me......the UK is not blessed with so many....bad or good.

Clearly you hit a nerve with your comments. My nickname for our LYS is Crabby McYarnypants! I first went in there 7 years ago and inquired about classes, the owner told me that classes are offered to current students first, which typically fill up the classes each time, thus they never open up to newcomers. Now that I have taught myself to knit & spent hundreds of dollars in her store, the owner is somewhat friendlier to me, although still not very nice. But she has a great selection of yarns, and sometimes you have to see colors in person vs. the internet, so I continue to frequent her store.

I'm blessed in Seattle to have so very many stores to choose from. There are a few that I won't visit ever again (the one in Madison Park? yes, I mean you) because they treated me like I was dog poo someone tracked in on their shoes. I miss the previous owners of Skeins in Bellevue as well - ever since Hilltop took over they seem to think I'm in there to shoplift the novelty yarns. Having participated in the Dulaan-a-thon last night though, I'm glad Village Yarn & Tea is my new LYS. They were fantastic, and very welcoming.

I think it's another (if sad) bonding experience for knitters to get together and compare notes on the LYS that have treated them in a less than stellar manner. I think it sucks that you'd made a special trip there only to face such awful service. I do think it's good you posted your experience on the blog though!

My name is David Botten and, together with Gloria Shifrin, we own Needle Arts of Concord.

Alison’s experience at our store last Friday is regrettable and, while we freely apologize to anyone who leaves our store dissatisfied with the service they have received, it is not the norm.

We have owned the store for ten years and Gloria worked under the previous ownership for two years prior to that. Since becoming owners, we have trebled the store's turnover, moved to a location twice the original size and serve more than 7000 customers on a regular basis. This hardly seems possible if we treat all our customers as poorly as you imply.

We recently decided to close the store and retire. For the past ten years Gloria has worked six days and three evenings a week to serve the local, loyal knitting/crocheting/needlepoint/rug hooking community. She could do this only because she loves the crafts and has received the support and friendship of the great majority of our customers. Believe me, it was not for the money !

We decided to start the closing process with a special 50% sale to our customers in appreciation of their past loyalty. Postcards were mailed to our list – but no other sale signs are posted. I guess we underestimated the knitters “bush telegraph” since some folks, like Alison and her friend, heard about the sale and came along to take advantage of the bargains. Although it wasn’t our intent, we honored the prices to them.

We welcome well behaved children into the store and, like all grand-parents, adore babies. We even have a stock of toys to amuse them while their mothers shop. The store was packed with frenzied shoppers last Friday (not a kid-friendly situation) and Alison’s friend chose to bring in a large carrier. We had several customers complain that it was inappropriate.

From tomorrow onwards, the sale is extended to everyone and we hope that all of you reading this will drop by and save some money. We can assure you that you will be treated with the same courtesy we extend to all our regular customers.

The comment by David Botten would have been more heartfelt coming from Gloria herself. As "nicely" as Mr Botten composed his letter his use of such words as "imply", "bush telegraph", and "take advantage" indicate Needle Arts would really prefer that all non-regular customers just stay away.

There is such a thing as going up to the customer and having a one-on-one conversation about "Would you like to park the stroller?" As for being business, asking customers to present said postcards would have cut down on much of the frenziness. And notice how David doesn't go near the issue of not providing a receipt for sale purchases. (Yes, this should be brought up to the Consumer Affairs bureau or even the Tax Collector - how do you pay your businesses taxes if you are making up prices as you go along?)

As for Alison's post -

I have found that many yarn owners *think* they are running a business where as what they really are doing is "letting" you buy out of "their" yarn stash. Yes there are owners who treat the store stock as their personal yarn stash. With that they really do think it's ok to make whatever rude comments because "you're in their store". There is one store in lower Manhattan that is famous for its rude owner - an owner so rude that she treated the regulars badly. She'd yell at you, make rude comments and the worst offense, gossip about the other regulars. But being a regular you are expected to understand that reason a,b,c, or d is causing her to be rude.

Tha doesn't happen anymore since the regulars have found another wonderful yarn store that welcomes the group for the hospitality and friendliness that they bring to the shop. There have been many a time after taking knitting lessons, newbies have joined the group for "more" knitting and become part of the group.

Alison, bully for you for writing about this. If you are in a business serving customers there is no reason (or explanation Mr. Botten) for rudeness.

weird-
i have been in needle-arts of concord many many times and have only been treated with respect and graciousness. why else would i go back? not only does gloria stock the highest quality yarns but she and her staff are always very helpful and willing to special order. i think it's very nice of her to have a corner with toys for the children as my children have accompianied me to needle-arts on a number of occasions.

I'd like to respond to David's comment about my baby. I was the friend with Alison and I had my baby in a sling. She was carried the whole time, never out of my arms. If carrying my child was inappropriate I don't know what the alternative would have been, other than to leave her in the car on a 85 degree day.

From all of the other comments you can see that this is not out of the norm for customers to be treated like we were. If it were, people would be defending the store, not adding in their horror stories. Is there a response to the discount being only given on half of my purchase and on another commenter's purchase as well?

This is a really interesting discussion, and I'm glad that Alison posted about this. I don't think I've been to NA, but I've gotten that unwelcome feeling at times in various stores, and this sounds like a particularly blatant example of retail craziness. It seems like they could have avoided this problem by making the postcard a coupon!!

It's funny how different people have different perceptions of the same place in situations that might not be so blatant, though--I live in the Seattle area, and I really like Hilltop Yarns (both branches) and the Madison Park stores that were called out in other comments. They aren't my most frequent stops because they're pretty far from where I live, but I haven't ever felt unwelcome. Out of place, maybe (I'm a little low-brow for Madison Park), but not unwelcome. We're definitely lucky in this area to have so many yarn store choices, it's very easy to find a store that meets each knitter's individual needs / preferences / style. I don't think that every yarn store needs to meet every knitter's needs, and I'll try to people slack if they seem to be having a bad day or are overwhelmed, but everyone has a different limit (and I certainly have mine).

That behaviour is unexcusable ! That woman is mean and rude, she should not work in retail.

This is a really sad story-what a crummy reception, and so glad you opened up the topic. My real concern is if this Gloria is moving and opens up another yarn store in another city, is there any way we can be buyer beware or warn future yarn shoppers. hopefully, she has retired.

Wow, what a response I've gotten here! It seems like there are other - too many - yarn stores out there where this sort of thing happens. I'm glad that I've only been in a few of them and that most all of my LYS's and yarn crawl destinations have been wonderful.

In response to the comment from the store owner, Johanna's baby was in a sling and my baby was in her infant car seat - not in a stroller, not a snap & go, not a "large carrier" by any means - and she was always on the floor tucked in corners either by the center table or near the back where no one else was shopping and I moved her whenever another shopper came over to where she was. Moreover, the store was not overcrowded when we were there. There were maybe five other customers in the store with us. I can't imagine that "several" people complained about the size or inappropriateness of the carrier. (Hell, I used to have to go into stores with a double-wide stroller with the twins!) In fact, one person in the store actually expressed surprise, when wee one made some baby sounds, to discover that I even had a baby with me!

And in response to what is the "norm" for their treatment of customers, I think the comments above by others who have visited the store speak for themselves. I only want to say that I have been treated badly at other stores and I and my children have been made to feel unwelcome at other stores, but I have never mentioned any of them by name on this blog before. (Seriously, read my archives. You'd think I'd never met a store I didn't like!) At this store though, the treatment was so unabashedly rude I had to write something. It was completely uncalled for and incomprehensible to me.

i have conflicting feelings about my LYS. the owner taught me to knit, so i will always feel some loyalty to her for that. but i have friends who will not go in there because they have had bad experiences. they have heard the owner on the phone badmouthing other customers. one time a friend went in to get lamb's pride to make the fairly easy fair isle from stitch'n'bitch nation, and the employee refused to sell her the yarn, telling her that there was no way she could use that yarn for fair isle and that she would just hate it. to make matters worse, the owner also owns 2 other area stores, making somewhat of a mini-empire. thankfully a new store has opened in hillsborough, just north of chapel hill, and the owner is amazingly friendly and very receptive to any suggestions you might have.

to dawn who commented above: if you read this, please feel free to contact me about knitting resources in NC. there are some really great shops around the state!

I believe in Karma..it comforts me, when I hear about folks who are so caught up in their own bitterness and lack of joy, that they attack innocent people. And try to suck the life out the rest of us by being these nasty dried up old prunes.
I hope that somehow she sees and reads through this post and the subsequent remarks. Perhaps it will help her become more welcoming to strangers in the rest of her journey through life. Can you imagine? Having to live that way? Nuts... Strangers bring us the best surprises. Think of all of those sockapalooza's.

My favorite revenge is being so sickingly nice to folks like this that they have no choice but to be nice back. Otherwise they are forced to see the little black cloud above their heads. Terrible huh!??

I am very sorry that such a lovely individual had to deal with this kind of treatment.

Well, that is darn rude! And quite unbelievable. She must be personality-disordered -- the behavior makes no sense.

Had a similar experience at a yarn store sort of near my house. Brought my 3-year-old, who is generally absolutely perfectly-behaved, but that day tried to entertain herself my jogging around in circles. Of course I had her stop. One would have thought she was peeing on the yarn, judging by the store-owner's instant disinterest in helping me. WOn't go back.

How sad. I live in a town that, sadly, has no real LYS although it does have about five stores at which I could buy yarn. I discovered a wonderful "L"YS about an hour away from me and they have been wonderful beyond words. I was there last week with my four kids and they found puzzles for the kids to play with, offered us food, said nothing about my kids running around and pulling down skeins of very nice wool. In fact, they calculated the yardage I needed for my project, offered to wind the skeins into balls, and let the kids run the ball winder. No one in that store said a negative thing about the kids, who were making me want to tear my hair out. In fact they told me how cute they were and what a brave mom I was. Wish I could move them fifty miles closer!

I am so sorry at how poorly you and your family and friends were treated. Let's just pretend she was not herself because she had to close the store.

In response to the responses: a stranger's money is just as good as a friend's money. I've done enough craft fairs and whatnot to know that it is just bad business not to accept someone's money! We knitters/crafters stick together and share our collective knowledge of where to find good stuff and good prices and good service. It's our grapevine and it's made all the easier and more comprehensive by blogland. And to quote Jimmy Buffett in his intro of "Coconut Telegraph" found on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays: "If you don't want it printed, don't DO it!"

Wow! I didn't even know that yarn store owners had a reputation for being impolite. I kind of would hope that yarn store owners, being knitters, would be possessed of the lovely temperment of the knitters I've met online.
So when you said they were known for being rude, well, it kind of put things into perspective. I haven't been to a lot of yarn stores. I can't seem to find many near where I live, but once on holiday in Yorkshire I went to a LOVELY yarn store and the lady there was so frosty and strange with me that I became very uncomfortable and after piling my arms high with yarn I put everything back except a set of DPNs I needed and left!
This lady sounds horrible!! No wonder she's closing!

There was a little yarn shop where I did my undergrad, and old-fashioned German one with lots of sockyarns. I went in once to ask about prices, and they snubbed my and whispered among themselves about how I wouldn't buy anything anyway because young people don't knit. Right, whatever.

There is a cute out-of-the-way knitting shop near-ish to where I live now - I can highly recommend them. We went by car one Saturday and spent the best 2 hours ever. The owner/staff were lovely and chatted to us for ages, they gave us cookies and offered discount cards. Ace! They also do very reasonable and incredibly quick online-stuff - esp. UK-relevant. Oh, and they're called Twist Fibre Craft Studio, based in Newburgh, Fife.

I read the comments from the shop owner and can only think of one more thing. If the shop was such a going concern and earning so much money how come he did not sell it on? If it was such a thriving business as he claims surely someone must have been willing to buy the business from him and continue to run it or do you do things differently in the US? My father taught me 3 things to succeed in business 1) The customer is always right (at least whilst in the shop) 2) NIFC - Not in front of the customer ( in other words do NOT discuss a customer whilst people are in the store, they could know them)and 3) One dissatisfied customer spreads the word faster than any advertising can do. We were in business for over 30yrs using this code and customers cried when I had to sell the business due to ill health and 15yrs later I still get stopped in the street by customers who recognise me.

I live near enough to Concord that I have been to the Quilters Way there but had heard that the LYS there was not a "friendly environment" and have steered clear of that store. There are enough stores that I would consider welcoming, friendly and wanting my business to waste my time on a place where I may not be wanted. The idea that someone would cheat regarding a sale is so sad to me. I think this is why so many online stores are doing better than their LYS counterparts. When I spend my money I like to feel like the people making money from my yarn addiction are treating me with respect. There are too many stores both cyber and brick and mortar out there to waste too much time on one cranky place of business. Thanks Alison for the public service announcement regarding this store. I appreciate it.
Sharon

I visited there as a new knitter several years ago and never went back. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. The vibe was bad, as if by merely stepping into the store, I was invading her personal yarn stash. I've since heard many others voice this same reaction, so you two are not alone!

What gets me is her husband's response that non-regulars are “taking advantage” of the sale! Funny how it doesn't occur to them that perhaps they are taking advantage of their customers by not posting prices and refusing to give itemized receipts?

I love the other shops in West Concord, it's such a nice place to spend the afternoon.

You know, I thought I'd had my last say on this but there is one thing that's still bothering me.

When Johanna and I first heard about the sale, we had decided not to go. We have yarn, we didn't know much about the store, and if we want to get sale yarn, the Wild & Wooly annual clearance sale (which I never miss, because I loooove that store) is just next week! But then Johanna checked out the shop's website and listened to their phone message. She read and heard exactly what the store owner wrote here, that they were long-time owners, devoted to their customers, etc. This sounded so great that we decided we had to go. We were excited to find such a store, even if it was closing. It's better to meet a good friend just before they move away than to never meet them at all, right?

And then we get there, to this place that promised to be your friendly local yarn store, and are treated as badly as we could ever imagine being treated. The fact that we expected the very opposite made everything that much worse.

I'm sad to say that we have a grumpy LYS owner here too. I used to live in a yarn store metropolis, with approximately 6 stores within close driving distance. I now live in the deep South with a single yarn store to service a 60 mile radius. I suppose that if you're the only game in town you don't have to be nice, but it would seem that basic civility would improve overall profits.

well, at least you got their attention, people.

But on a positive note, we're lucky to have some great ones around here (only a few miles from NA) with lovely staff, great selection and a welcoming atmosphere - Wild and Wooly in Lexington (who's about to have a sale where they welcome all...), the Knitting Room in Arlington, and Black Sheep in Needham for example - maybe we should all go on a little binge and show THEM the love??

You'll find much more of the same at a friend's blog - www.yarnfamily.com - as it seems that yarn shops the world over only offer good service to their regular customers. Well... How do they think we'll become regular customers without good customer service from the first moment we walk into the store?

You are going to get a million comments about how horrible that woman is. I used to live in concord and shopped there 3 times. She is horrible!!!!

I've been to a LYS with the same kind of atmosphere--I went only twice, and both times I heard the owner berate customers quite rudely for what she thought was a stupid question. One time she even told a mom who was knitting a sweater for her slender teenage daughter that if the girl had a size 32 chest, she must be anorexic! :-O She also only sold circular needles and DPNs....she told a new teen knitter quite frostily that she shouldn't waste her time learning to knit on straight needles but should use DPNs to knit a hat instead. Who uses DPNs to learn to knit, for heaven's sake?

Anyway, I think a lot of people lack self-awareness to the point where people like David (wasn't that the co-owner who posted above?) genuinely think their behavior is perfectly acceptable. It's mind-boggling but true!

Plus, I'm mystified at why they would be mad that people were coming into town for the sale. Do they really think their regulars would be able to buy all the sale yarns? Unlikely. Don't they WANT to sell their inventory prior to closing? Very strange.

Ultimately, though, given their pricing and sale practices, as a lawyer I genuinely hope they get a visit from the state attorney general's office. Being a small business owner is no excuse for not posting prices and fudging advertised sale prices and not giving itemized receipts....it's fraud, plain and simple. You can't put lipstick on that pig!

"From tomorrow onwards, the sale is extended to everyone and we hope that all of you reading this will drop by and save some money. We can assure you that you will be treated with the same courtesy we extend to all our regular customers."

Thanks, David, but no thanks. I'll go over to Wild and Woolly instead. (Love that place!)

Wow, I'm sorry you had such an awful experience! I've been to a few yarn shops that made me feel unwelcome, but never one where the staff was downright rude and mean. I'm surprised that everyone else has been able to chime in with their own horror stories. As a shop owner, wouldn't you draw more business treating customers well?

Sorry to hear about the rude shop owner! I don't know what it is about that lot of people, but I've rarely (if ever) had a positive shopping experience at a yarn store. So much so, that I feel far more comfortable about getting things online than dealing with the attitudes.

And I'm not sure what the owner means by saying that your friend's carrier was too large and inappropriate. I mean, you guys were shopping, not going to an opera!

Seinfeld's Soup Nazi may be gone, but Alison, I think you have discovered the Yarn Nazi.

I have been a customer at Needle Arts of Concord since before Gloria purchased the shop and have never been given such great service. Gloria has always been helpful with helping to pick out patterns. She also has a "flair" for choosing great colors that go together. I have never been treated rudely. I have plenty of LYS between my home and Needle Arts but choose to travel the extra distance (even with the gas prices) because of the way I am treated at her shop. I am very sorry that Gloria has chosen to retire and close the shop. I will miss my trips to pick out new patterns etc...
Also, I too have young children who have come with me and they always have great fun with the toys. As a business owner I can understand how it can be frustrating to have wild children getting into things and touching everything they are not supposed to. Customers should be watching their own children so business owners don't have to. It's not a daycare.

I work in a yarn shop, too, and we love to get out of towners! I can't imagine slagging anyone off who is giving your business money. Doesn't matter if it's a sale or not, money is money. I wouldn't have gotten a thing from that shop. As soon as she started I would have turned and walked out, most likely with some not-so-nice comments right back at her.

Yes, mellissa, I'm sure Alison's and Johanna's tiny infants could easily be mistaken for "wild children" who were "getting into things." LOL! What prodigies!

Sounds like the "bush telegraph" or whatever David called it is getting around on the other side! ;-)

Shame on all of you. How dare you say such things about such a wonderful woman. Gloria has worked in retail most of her life and her clients/customers typically can't say enough great things about her. If she has been so rude to all of you then how come her shop has been so successful? You all know she's not the only LYS. She has thousands of repeat customers who love her and the shop. Now she has decided to start a new chapter in her life by retiring so she can enjoy her grandchildren and it's ending on such a sour note (thanks to all of you). I hope you are happy with yourself Alison.

I'm sorry about your experience. I'd like to share a positive experience in shops where I will not be regularly. Recently I shopped for a specific yarn in two different yarn shops in a town 2 1/2 hours from home. In both shops I was greeted, welcomed, helped, and included in the on going conversation in the store. It made me wish I could live in their community, Redlands, Ca. The shops were the Enchanted Unicorn (had lots more than yarn) and The Yarn Deli (had coffee, tea, cookies and a very warm, friendly owner). Incidentally, a woman brought in a baby while I was in the Yarn Deli. Everything stopped. Everyone gathered around the child, cooing, talking and giving the baby love. May all your yarn shopping experiences be as friendly as these two!

There's a shop around these parts that is notorious for rude behavior. I thought it was just me, but apparently even online reviews of the shop mention the owner's bad attitude and general nastiness. I have always made it a point to avoid her shop and frequent the shop where the owner is friendly and even held my baby and showed him a toy to free me up to write my check. (I once saw her set up a little boy with the swift and the ball winder, so he could wind up a couple of balls of yarn for his first project.) Kiwi Knitting Company, Tucson AZ - check them out.
I make it a point to go to an LYS or two when I travel, and let them know that I found their store by whatever means, and that I'm there for souvenir yarn and a new experience. So far it has been pleasant, but I wouldn't hesitate to turn on my heel and walk out if I'd been treated like you had.
I guess you AND everyone else learned something from it - don't mess with bloggers!

I'm sorry you had such a horrible experience. I think the owner of one of my LYS's is Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. You never know what kind of treatment you'll get! Funny thing is - someone in the comments above recommended the shop and raved about the great help she got, but more often than not, people tell me that she's snobbish and rude and completely unhelpful.

That is insane! I've also always noticed that yarn shop owners are bitches on needles. Not always, I hasten to say, but more times than not. I choose to only visit stores where the people there seem to WANT to be there. My dream is to someday open a yarn shop and I think I may have to call it something like "The We're Actually Friendly Yarn Shop."

Anyway, I came to this post because one friend mentioned the sale, then another friend forwarded your post to me after I said we should make the trip to Concord, but now what I want to do instead of saving a bunch of money on great yarn and needles, I want to make the trip out there, grab a bunch of her most expensive stuff, make it look like I'm about to drop hundreds of dollars, then be as snarky as possible about how "oh, wait, I'm not a REGULAR of yours... I wouldn't want to take advantage of you" then put it on the counter and leave.

And I'm not really that vindictive of a person, I just feel your pain...

This is almost funny. I wonder how she stayed in business for so long. I would have told her to keep her yarn that you would prefer to pay full price from someone nicer. LOL!

To Caroline (six comments up):

I will not be shamed by you!

I was treated terribly, yet I was polite to the woman in question. I have described my experience here honestly and fairly. I have not attacked her personally and have not implied that she doesn't treat a certain select group of customers well.

After reading the other comments, you cannot deny that she has treated many potential customers very badly. Be thankful that you were one of the chosen group and understand that there are a large number of us who were not treated as you were. You are more than welcome to share your good experiences with her here, but do not try to make me feel ashamed for speaking the truth.

I think it's clear who should be ashamed of their behavior here.

I've been there exactly once as well. It was excruciating. My husband and I were waiting for my MIL and husband's grandmother to do some shopping at a nearby clothing store and I couldn't resist a dip into an unknown yarn store.

I was disappointed to find nothing priced. I hate having to keep asking. And the owner followed me around asking what I was looking for and wouldn't take "Nothing in particular, but thanks." as an answer. She was clearly annoyed at my presence, so I couldn't help but linger a little longer just to watch her shuffle and dance around me, trying to herd me out like a frantic Border Collie.

It was an entirely unpleasant experience and I wasn't going to buy anything, but then I remembered what I really wanted. My inner Nelly Olsen kicked in and I asked if they had the latest issue of Knit 1. I bought it and made sure to mention that there was a review of my book in there and got the hell out of Dodge.

The Five and Dime next door is awesome, though. They have lots of cool stuff and they didn't seem to care whether you have nickels or dimes or nuthin'.

(my apologies if I double-posted this comment)

Martha commented about The Yarn Deli in Redlands, CA. That's my LYS! I absolutely love it. The owners are so friendly and kind, I have never felt pressured or unwelcome. They even offer help with projects that were not purchased at the store! I had never encountered this level of customer service before and it makes me a very loyal customer. I truly think twice before making any other yarn purchases, online or otherwise - I want to support them and help them be successful in my community. They also carry truly beautiful yarn and have cookies and tea too! :)

Alison was only recounting her experience as it happened. It seems it was a good thing because others who were treated the same way have had a chance to tell of their experiences and not feel that it was only them. From reading these comments, there are far more people who were treated badly than not. It seems this person picks and choses who she is friendly with by what standards, I don't know and don't care. If you are in business, you should be friendly & helpful to all customers. It only makes sense business wise and why would you not care if you ruined someone's day and for what - trying to give you business?

All I can say is WOW! I read this post with great interest as I grew up in the area. My first job was right down the street; my grandparents lived just a couple blocks away. In fact DH and I just ate at the 9's (99 restaurant) when we were "home" in October.
I currently work at Full Thread Ahead in Los Altos, thank you to Chialia for saying such nice things, it made Hollis' (the owners) day. I can't remember ever shopping at Needle Arts, but I didn't start to knit until after I moved to CA, but my grandmother knit a lot and since the store has been in business for most of my life I have to say we probably were there. I think I walked in once to browse but really don't remember if it was a positive or negative experience. They will be fully closed before I visit home again, so I won't be able to see what would happen.

On a positive note, it was very nice to see the Quilter's Way. That used to be the Carl J Hayes Shoe Store and that was the only place we bought our shoes when I was little. His wife Chrissy would usually wait on me and then help me blow up a balloon, I got to pick whatever color I wanted and always felt so great and that I got extra special attention. Carl and Chrissy were the nicest people and I was happy to see "their store" is still filled with positive energy.

And the 5&Dime was such an awesome place too. My dad always went there, and they've been in business most of his life, if not longer! And I HAVE been to Knit & Purl in Sudbury. We were returning the rentals from my brothers wedding and noticed it. We went in and DH ASKED for sock yarn because he liked the colors they had. They were very nice and I would visit again.

It's too bad Alison, and apparently many others, had such a terrible experience. But I enjoyed reminiscing of home :-)

A friend told me about this thread--wow! I will never forget my experience at NA. I learned to knit as a 5 year old, and always looked young for my age, and awhile back I popped in to buy some yarn. I was appalled at the treatment I received there--yes, I didn't exactly look like Ms. Moneybags, and yes, I looked like a younger teenager, but in fact I'd just saved up quite a bit o' cash and was ready to drop it on a major big-time purchase. That Gloria woman followed me around incessantly, making me acutely uncomfortable. I high-tailed it out of there, never to return. I even plopped my would-be purchases on the counter before I left. I'm surprised she didn't frisk me on the way out!!!

Hi Alison.
I was interested to read your comments... I have, fortunately, never been in a yarn store that treated me that badly. Even shops I went into in Italy & Germany, where I couldn't even communicate well with the owner & employees were very welcoming.
I'm sorry you had to deal with such lousy treatment. As a yarn store employee myself, I do my best to make everyone feel welcome, & out-of-towners are definately some of my favorite customers.
Remember, those shops that treat you badly don't deserve your business anyways.

sadly, our LYS is owned by a dishonest woman. she claims that she knits, but she gives out the most BOGUS, incorrect knitting advice to unsuspecting new knitters. she owns a yarn shop and yet she'd never heard of elizabeth zimmermann or the baby surprise jacket-- now, i'm not trying to be a snob, but doesn't that seem kind of impossible?!?!?!

she sold a friend of mine a pattern for a GARTER STITCH SCARF for $5.95 (before i met her-- now that she comes to our knitting group, she's gotten more experience and can spot ridiculous cons like that one). she's got a lot of questionable business practices, and like so many of you have said, it's led me to simply shop online where the customer service is friendly, the selection is good, and i can shop whenever insomnia strikes. By the way, if anyone is looking for a new market to search-- try www.etsy.com. there are so many great fiber artists there selling their hand-dyed and/or hand-spun yarns as well as handpainted rovings, etc. hours of browsing fun!

What an unfortunate incident. I cannot say that I have ever experienced an unpleasant yarn shop owner. Here in Seattle, everyone has been just peachy. Perhaps it's because there are so very many yarn stores...whatever the reason, I highly recommend a yarn crawl in Seattle's shops. I can't vouch for the surrounding area, as I haven't explored outside of the city yet. Happy trails!

And I thought rude yarn shop owners/staff belonged to Germany only... the two largest yarn shops here in Munich level each other out pretty much: the first one has the largest variety of yarns in town, but also (until recently) quite a rude staff (I've been ignored frequently; they must have a different policy now as I went there last time, staff actually came up to me and asked if I needed help). The second-largest shop has nice staff, but the yarn range is limited.

However, a couple of weeks ago I found my favorite yarn shop. Even though I've lived in Munich for a few years now and that shop has been there for more than 30 years, I only found it by chance as it's not in my usual area. The place is tiny (the owner also sells needle art stuff and a bit of fabric, plus she runs the store by herself), the yarn range is fairly unusual but good and the lady is totally friendly. She also gives advice as she absolutely knows what she's doing, and she's going out of her way to satisfy customers (I wanted sock yarn she didn't have, but she phoned around and organized it for me). Only disadvantage is that the yarn and needles are behind a counter, and I'm not sure if I'm allowed to go there, but the owner is absolutely willing to help. Every time I was in there, we had a little chat about this and that. Granted, she doesn't know much about the internet, let alone the knitting that's going on there, but at least she's open to new stuff and always on the look to do what her customers want.

Holy cow. Sorry to hear you had such a horrid experience, Alison.

I could say a ton, but I'll keep it zipped ... good for you, though, for standing up for yourself. One should never be ashamed of speaking ones feelings.

I have to speak up here. I have never been to the yarn store in question. However, I know both Alison and Johanna in "real life" and know them to be honest, kind people. I know that neither of them would post something about a store without carefully weighing the consequences. The fact that they have written up their experience alone speaks volumes about how they were treated.

They are both cognizant and respectfully aware of their babies and how they are interacting with the public. It sounds as though the knitting community is better off without this nasty store owner.

On another note, this reminds me that I have to post about my incredible experience with one of the owners of Yarns in the Farms in Beverly, MA...Alison you all should head up to the north shore again!

Wow. What a saga, as I read the comments.
Maybe it's Midwestern Nice, or the kinds of knitters who choose to run yarn shops here, but I've never had a bad experience around here in Wisconsin/Minnesota with LYS, even travelling. Our LYS's are small, so have a limited selection(and we've only had more than one for a few years!), so I do a lot of online shopping, but when I need something that the one closest to me has, I make a point of going there in order to support local business. As soon as I come in, someone approaches me and asks if they can help, are happy to make recommendations, search for patterns, tell me straight out what I need even if they don't have it -- very friendly and helpful even though I'm not one of the regulars. (They probably know me by sight now, though, as the woman who lost her car keys right at closing time . . . . again, very helpful!!)
This helpful store, for anyone in the area, is Fitting Knits in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The other two newer stores have good report cards as well.
Thanks for allowing people to vent, Alison! I'm with you -- I would have been so taken aback that I would have been speechless! Aren't we all fiber lovers together? And isn't the store trying to sell its inventory? Sheesh!

After much consideration I have decided not to keep quiet any longer. Let me tell you something about this amazing woman you call the Yarn Nazi. She is my mother. While nearly all of you have posted negative comments about her based on one or two encounters you all know absolutely nothing about her. She raised 4 children (2 of them adopted) in a loving and caring environment virtually on her own. All while dealing with the very long illness and subsequent death of her first husband (my father). She was fortunate enough to find and marry David (who is also an amazing person) and together they have run this shop. She is a very strong woman and although your comments have hurt her they have cut me to the very core. Alison, I'm sorry your experience (and others experiences) were unsatisfactory but let me ask you this... How would you feel if you had to read all these slanderous things about your mother? Since the shop is closing does it really make any difference if you never go back? Was it really necessary for everyone to say such horrible things? Again, I ask what if you were reading about you mother? Think about that before you post something that may snowball like this again.

It's not slanderous if it's true!! Instead of trying to guilt-trip someone for telling the truth about a bad store experience, some introspection would be appropriate. Just because she's your mother and a fine person otherwise doesn't change the fact that she has been extremely rude, and not just this once. She would be better served by apologizing and thinking about how she could be more polite and have better business practices (like clearly marked prices), particularly if she wants to be able to sell the rest of her stock before retiring.

My LYS just recently closed, but it wasn't because of rudeness on employees/owner! While they had their store closing, the owner's husband walked about the store talking with customers. Up to the last closing days, they were helpful and kind to customers. One of the ladies remembered a project I had purchased materials for back in November (and I wasn't THAT frequent of a shopper either). My final purchase came to $1 over the cash I had on hand, and one of the ladies went back to her purse and got a dollar for me (in spite of my protests!). I will greatly miss this yarn store, but thankfully there is another store with great customer service that isn't too much further from my house than this store was.

Oh that is so horrible! I am so blessed that my LYS is so friendly and laid back. They have 3 dogs that hang out in the "living room" where everyone piles on couches and in chairs to knit and chat. They always want to help and even if you just buy a $1.50 notion they thank you and are interested in what you're making. We need more yarn stores like that from what I'm reading in the comments here.

Tiffany, nobody MADE you read the comments here about your mother. Blogs are personal journals where the owners are free to comment on THEIR lives and experiences. If you don't like what they have to say, go to someone else's blog, or better -- start your own!

I honestly thought I was the only one who had such negative experiences in the LYS. I used to feel guilty for not buying my yarn locally, but the treatment I received in the store was so discouraging, I hated going in. I understand that LYS employees and owners may not appreciate questions about projects using yarn purchased somewhere else, so I never asked those questions. I went there to search for yarn I could buy from then, and also to pass some time with others who, presumably, were as crazy about knitting as I am. I never really understood why they were so stand offish and sometimes out right rude to a fellow knitter and potential customer. Why spend energy being rude to anyone, anytime? I just don't get it.

Well I no longer feel guilty for buying all my yarn from the internet. I have dealt with some of the nicest people that way. I always get a personal thank you from the merchants sending me the yarn which I will make into a personal object for myself or a loved one. How is it that "strangers" on the faceless internet are so much more pleasant than the "real" people who staff a couple of my LYSs. If I need knitting advice, I turn to the always reliable "bush telegraph" of the internet knitting community. It has never failed me and I'm proud to call myself an internet knitter.

To the family, friends, and well treated customers of the LYSO in question: I'm sorry it's difficult to hear your loved one discussed in this way. Fact is in every moment a person has the choice to act well, and in the moments Gloria spent with Alison (and several other commenters here), she chose not to. She chose to make rude comments and vent some unattractive inner feelings. You may never have been shown that side of her, but it's obviously there. She now has the choice to learn from this experience, or continue on as she has.

hmm.. have to comment on this one. my closest local shop also treats me like i am not worthy of their time. not helpful at all and they have a rewards program that they never offer to me, i have even taken a class there. i do not know if it is reverse ageism- being young and shopping with children or what. are some of the older shop owners unhappy that knitting has been taken over by younger crowd? as much as i like to support local shops, i find it more relaxing and easier to shop at knitpicks!
peace

I, too, have only been to this store once because of the rudeness. There is a new shop here in Sudbury (just next door to Concord) called Knit/Purl. The owner is very nice. (full disclosure: she is the mom of a friend of my kids) I made a comment about Needle Arts being unfriendly and she agreed.
Check it out!

I too have had some great shopping experiences online--my personal faves are Full Thread Ahead (CA) and KPixie. Both are super fast, and they always include a friendly handwritten note. And good prices, too! I live over an hour away from the nearest LYS, but if I had a LYS right next door that treated me poorly, I'd have no qualms about shopping online.

I've been knitting for less than a year and have had mostly pleasant experiences at LYS. However, I remember saying that people at yarn stores are all nice and the response I got was incredulity. There is really only one store in the Denver area that I had consistently bad service and/or attitude and it is one of those stores that lots of people are devoted to so go figure.
However, The Lamb Shoppe http://www.thelambshoppe.com/ is wonderful. One of the owners definitely has fewer people skills but isn't out helping customers much and the other owner is fabulous!!! I think they probably have a good mix of talents between the two of them. And they hire the nicest and most fun staff. One of the employees came up with a Pajama Party where you come in, bring some food, and knit with a ton of others in your jammies until midnight. The store itself is beautiful and has a nice selection of yarn -- heavier on the pricey stuff but lovely. And they encourage you to stay and knit and have always been willing to show you how to do something. And they have a coffee bar so you can just stay and stay. And most amazing is they are open until 9 many nights. The first time I visited it was almost closing time so I thought I'd just look around quickly but they wouldn't hear of it and stayed open 45 minutes longer for me.

Hi,

I just read your post about Needle Arts of Concord. I live in Colorado, but I've been there once with my mom who lives in Concord, and the woman was not pleasant when I was there. My mom has also not had many pleasant experiences there and she lives in Concord. At this point, Mom prefers to take the train to any other reachable yarn shop.

I can't believe the shop has been in business for 30 years, and that it's closing! Maybe some new and positive shop with bring good energy back to that space!

If you're ever in the Hill Country(Austin TX area) you must visit The Old Oaks Ranch. Everyone there is so wonderful and friendly but especially the owner Sue. I just adore her!

http://www.theoldoaksranch.com/

So sorry to hear you had a bad experience. I too have walked out of a yarn shop because they were so incredibly rude. People like that don't deserve your business.

Ugh! No wonder they're closing down. What is it about selling yarn that breeds such nasty people? Good riddance to them!

Just read your story on the yarn store today. How come the shop owners are rude? Why is that? My LYS has it's moments depending on which lady is in, but it's a crap shoot when I go there. And I, too, try not to take the kids (weird feeling when I bring both in). Anyway, I thought your story was great --I wouldn't have known what to say to her either, but I probably wouldn't have bought anything -- that spite thing! Have a great day!

I have been reading all the comments about the yarn shop in Concord. I really feel badly that there are knitters who were not treated well as I have found knitters to be very friendly people who naturally have questions and concerns about the projects they are working on. 30 years ago I worked in a yarn shop called Kulturi's that was located in Mill Village in Sudbury. I tought needle arts there for several years and met many wonderful knitters as well as customers who did embroidery. They eventually closed and I too was looking for a place to purchase yarn as I live in Marlboro. My sister worked in a yarn shop in New Hampshire so I would go there to buy my yarn as I found that some of the local yarn shops did not have a good selection of yarn. I shop in Sudbury quite often and was so happy when I discovered Knit Purl - located on rt. 20 in Sudbury. The people there are friendly, they have a wonderful selection of yarn and are always willing to help you with your knitting questions. I hope that those of you who have read all the unfurtunate comments about yarn shop owners being unfriendly, will not think that that "is the norm" as there are so many shops that are wonderful to visit. I like being able to shop in a yarn shop so I can see and touch the yarn. Often shopping over the internet it is difficult to see the true color of the yarn or know how soft it is etc. At Knit Purl, you can see the yarn, touch it, ask questions, take lessons, and speak with friendly people. Try them if you live in the area and if you are not from the Sudbury area, it is really worth the trip to see what they have.

I have been reading all the comments about the yarn shop in Concord. I really feel badly that there are knitters who were not treated well as I have found knitters to be very friendly people who naturally have questions and concerns about the projects they are working on. 30 years ago I worked in a yarn shop called Kulturi's that was located in Mill Village in Sudbury. I tought needle arts there for several years and met many wonderful knitters as well as customers who did embroidery. They eventually closed and I too was looking for a place to purchase yarn as I live in Marlboro. My sister worked in a yarn shop in New Hampshire so I would go there to buy my yarn as I found that some of the local yarn shops did not have a good selection of yarn. I shop in Sudbury quite often and was so happy when I discovered Knit Purl - located on rt. 20 in Sudbury. The people there are friendly, they have a wonderful selection of yarn and are always willing to help you with your knitting questions. I hope that those of you who have read all the unfurtunate comments about yarn shop owners being unfriendly, will not think that that "is the norm" as there are so many shops that are wonderful to visit. I like being able to shop in a yarn shop so I can see and touch the yarn. Often shopping over the internet it is difficult to see the true color of the yarn or know how soft it is etc. At Knit Purl, you can see the yarn, touch it, ask questions, take lessons, and speak with friendly people. Try them if you live in the area and if you are not from the Sudbury area, it is really worth the trip to see what they have.

As an owner of a yarn shop (Purl Diva in Brunswick, Maine), I am saddened by all these stories of negative experiences at LYSs. I guarantee that if you come to my shop, it will be a positive experience!

I have never known you to say a bad word about anyone, so this experience must have really upset you.

I would rather know where the good yarn shops are, so thank you for letting us know.

My name is Nancy and I am the owner of a new yarn shop, Knit Purl in Sudbury, Massachusetts. I too am saddened to read all the negative experiences at LYS. Please stop by and "check us out". I can guarantee you that you will be treated well by myself and my staff. We are all experienced knitters and crocheters and LOVE to help and teach our customers. Our goal is to make your shopping experience a fun and pleasant one.After all isn't that what this wonderful hobby is all about?

My name is Nancy and I am the owner of a new yarn shop, Knit Purl in Sudbury, Massachusetts. I too am saddened to read all the negative experiences at LYS. Please stop by and "check us out". I can guarantee you that you will be treated well by myself and my staff. We are all experienced knitters and crocheters and LOVE to help and teach our customers. Our goal is to make your shopping experience a fun and pleasant one.After all isn't that what this wonderful hobby is all about?

In contrast:

Yesterday was the monthly sale day at my LYS, and boy, was it a doozy. 20% off all non-sale priced yarn. Yowzers.

Yes, I did pick up quite a bit to add to the stash.

Yes, the store was crowded.

Yes, folks were clamoring for attention.

And yes, I watched as one of the harried shop-workers carefully talked a customer through casting on to some new needles, cheering her on through the first tentative stitches.

(Mind you, I thought the customer had picked a less than wonderful time to ask for this kind of personal attention, but her request was honored.)

Check out Hill Country Weavers in Austin, TX. They're good people.

Oh, it's awful that you had an unpleasant experience. I was lucky to find a yarn shop in my town that was lovely and friendly and kind to a novice knitter, and I love going back. I never knew there were yarn stores who presented a less than friendly atmosphere; knitting is such a happy hobby, it seems crazy that these things exist!

As for friends and family who dismiss your valid complaints and try to shame you: have they not ever heard that first impressions are the most important? The behavior was uncalled for, period. That it has happened to multiple people is unconscionable. Of course these folks are basing their opinions on one or two experiences - would you go back more than that if you'd been treated as nastily as they have been?

I have read the above posted comments with great shock and sadness. I have known Gloria and Needle Arts for over ten years. My first trip into the store was on the spur of the moment as I was walking down the street. Gloria was eating lunch and jumped up to help me and answer my questions about her needlepoint and knitting workshops. She was so friendly and welcoming that I started the workshops in mid-session.

Over the subsequent ten years, I continued with her workshops which afforded me with numerous occasions to watch her deal and interact with customers.I have never seen her be rude or unfriendly with customers, whether they be regular or new ones. She is utterly aware that her business is a service one and accordingly, she has always gone the extra mile to help those who are fortunate enough to have found her store.

Gloria is immensely talented with all of the "needle arts" and has a unique flair and ability to work with color and fibers enabling her to create exqisite combinations for patterns and canvases. She has never posted prices for her yarns and other fibers and she, or one of her employees, has always been more than willing to look them up. She certainly wouldn't expect her customers to guess what they were. Moreover, accusing her of taking down her prices (or raising them) for the sale merely speaks to a lack of familiarity with both Gloria and Needle Arts.

Sadly, Needle Arts is closing after a long and successful presence in West Concord. There is no doubt that Gloria will be missed by so many of the people who had the amazing good fortune to know her. Without a doubt, I will miss her friendly, welcoming and bright smile as well as her expertise, her continuing willingness to help and to answer questions, her incredible and tireless service and her quality merchandise. I know that both she and her husband, David, will have great success in all their future endeavors.

I am so in the mood to go to Needle Arts now and see the reception I get. Motorcycle riding chick with all the paraphernalia that goes along with it: helmet; noisy textile pants (sounds like I'm in snow pants when walking); big, armor-filled textile jacket ... I think I have a side trip tomorrow ... ;-)

rats ... doesn't look to be open tomorrow ... will find another day to see if I can push the wrong buttons ...

call me ... Karma.

A friend from out of state informed me of this blog and what has been going on. I was not at all surprised. I have taken classes at NA in Concord, initially because of the closeness of the store to my house, but ultimately because I met some nice people in class and the instructor (not Gloria) was great. I only ever bought what I needed for a class project there because I honestly didn't want to give the store any more business than I needed to. On more occasions than I can count on my hands have I witnessed rudeness to both customers and class members. It honestly amazed me every time! I realize that some people want to defend their friendship with the owners, but I cannot believe that long time friends and customers can truthfully say that they have NEVER observed any of the behaviors described above. I am certain that they are all true. Oh, and for the record, I wasn't even tempted to stop by to take advantage of the sale (yes, I received a post card). I would rather contribute to someone else's retirement and get a receipt for it too!

I go to West Concord often, although it's a somewhat lengthy drive for me from Boston, to go to the wonderful health food store Debra's Natural Gourmet nearly next door to Needle Arts. Needle Arts I've visited only 3 times because I have never felt comfortable there.

Gloria has been there each time, and I got the feeling that she's unhappy either in herself or somehow unhappy because I'm not doing something that meets with her approval. Yes, I would call it an air of dissatisfaction she exudes. Obviously many others have felt it too.

All knitters know it can take time to plan and pick out fiber and pattern etc. for a new project, but somehow Gloria seemed to find that looking and thinking and pondering somehow irritating.

I'm sorry that she and her family bad about reading all this feedback, but it is honest. No matter how you all know Gloria, you cannot deny truthful expression of our experiences in this store with her.

Dozens of times I've passed that store and had no desire to go in...imagine a knitter not wanting to go into a seemingly well stocked knitting store.