Keepsake Needlearts

"Joan E." wrote in message
...
On Jan 18, 1:39 pm, Maureen Grace-Miller
wrote:

I wonder if there are so few stitchers around then, or if the big box
stores (Michael's etc) have killed the small LNS in most towns.

If the Michael's is like ours, there wouldn't be much competition!
They have the same Leisure Arts kits that they've had for, seriously,
*years*, which are the same LA kits that Joann's has (and Wally World
had, until they eliminated stitchy stuff from their crafts section).
No wonder no one cross stitches anymore...it's always the same old
stuff. That's why I love to go to Fargo to NN!

Joan

I do have a Michael's and a Joann's at a reasonable distance but I think of
them only as places to get DMC floss and not much else.

Lucille

On Jan 18, 6:55*pm, "Lucille" wrote:
"Joan E." wrote in message

...

On Jan 18, 1:39 pm, Maureen Grace-Miller
wrote:

I wonder if there are so few stitchers around then, or if the big box
stores (Michael's etc) have killed the small LNS in most towns.

If the Michael's is like ours, there wouldn't be much competition!
They have the same Leisure Arts kits that they've had for, seriously,
*years*, which are the same LA kits that Joann's has (and Wally World
had, until they eliminated stitchy stuff from their crafts section).
No wonder no one cross stitches anymore...it's always the same old
stuff. *That's why I love to go to Fargo to NN!

Joan

I do have a Michael's and a Joann's at a reasonable distance but I think of
them only as places to get DMC floss and not much else.

Lucille

Me too. Our Michael's and Joann's are literally across the road from
each other. I'll use Joann's when looking for backing for ornaments
and sewing notions, etc. but not much else. I only go to Michael's
when Joann's doesn't have the DMC color I'm looking for. Both have
downsized their stitching in recent years.

Nancy

Gillian Murray wrote:
On 1/18/2011 1:54 PM, Lucille wrote:



"Maureen Grace-Miller" wrote in
message ...

bobbieviorritto wrote:

On

HOWEVER, they basically sell kits. Also the "doorway" seperating the
Quilt shop (awesome, even though I don't quilt) has been replaced by
an"arch". It is all part of the same shop, and you pay for it all in
the
fabric side.

The yarn shop is great fun..........I helped them too. Scrapbooking
left
me cold, so they can scrounge for scraps.

The addy is http://www.keepsakeneedlearts.com/

Gillian back in chilly Florida ( well it is if you are in shorts and
sandals!




I went up there in November for their Open house. I found some lovely
yarn at their sister store Patternworks to make a baby shrug for Eva.
I went into Keepsake Needlearts, but the signage is replace with a
Clearance sign. I did find a couple of things(more yarn) there though
and had to check out at Keepsake Quilting. The woman there said that
the catalog sales will continue, but all clearance from all three
shops and past catalogs would now be consigned to that shop area.
There were PLENTY of kits to be had and the prices are really good.

I have since ordered from the catalog with no problems and will
continue to do so, but I thought you should know. I was going to post
this earlier, but life got in the way. TYSK

Bobbie V.



Thanks everyone. I love the things they have in this catalogue I have
and can't wait to receive the new one. Although I prefer to work from
just charts, I'll take anything I can get these days since the sources
for needlework of any kind seem to be as scarce as hens teeth in my
neck of the woods.

Maureen



I have the very same problem. The last LNS closed last year and I miss
it terribly.

Lucille


Maureen and Lucille,

I would be more than happy to fill out any lists you have from my LNS,
and mail them to you. She is in the same town..............takes about
25 mins to drive there, but it always lands up as a friendly visit for
an hour or so! I was in yesterday, and picked up a small piece she had
framed for me, two gorgeous plush fingertip towels, which I hadn't seen
before, and replacement clips for my Q-snaps.........and came out with
change from $30.

Gillian


Thank you Gillian. I was hoping for a close by LNS for things like
thread. I prefer DMC, but the piece I'm working on right now calls for
3 shades to be in ANCHOR. I couldn't find Anchor so checked their site.
Their store locator told me I could get their embroidery thread at
Michael's and Walmart in my town. However, clerks in both stores told
me they don't carry them. So I e-mailed Anchor and was given a phone
number for the other end of the country to 'discuss' my problem. My
problem is that we need our LNS back with lots of new stock and plenty
of the old stand-bys to keep us all coming back.

The downside is, I also wanted Dimenions Gold 'Jewels Of The Orient'.
It was $85. at my LNS $50.00 at my local Michael's, and I bought it at
Michael's '50% off first item' sale. That was a $60.00 price difference
that I couldn't afford to pass up so I had to go with Michaels.

Maureen

Karen C in Calif wrote:
Lucille wrote:

"Maureen Grace-Miller" wrote

I wonder if there are so few stitcherts around then, or if the big
box stores (Michael's etc) have killed the small LNS in most towns.
If I thought that, I'd be tempted to start a small mail-order
business myself just to keep the supplies out there and the needle
arts alive.

Maureen



With my store the owner just got tired of it. She was getting older
and wanted to travel and do more fun things then owning the store
allowed. She tried to sell it, and even to give it away to her
daughter, but couldn't get anyone interested.

L


Big box stores do not carry what the DEDICATED stitcher wants, so it's a
myth that they kill off small businesses. No, you can't beat WalMart on
price, but you can easily beat them on selection and customer service.

For example, I like MLI angels. WalMart didn't sell the charts, didn't
sell fabric large enough, didn't sell the beads, didn't sell the
specialty fibers -- if it cost $75 to kit one up, only $10 of that was
the floss that I could get at WalMart. The vast majority of the stuff,
of necessity, had to come from a specialty needlework shop.

The occasional stitcher, the one who buys one or two kits a year, is
perfectly satisfied with WalMart's limited selection, but her $10 a year
outlay isn't going to make or break the small LNS.

What has been killing small LNSs is the economy. If the owner is lucky,
she can pay herself minimum wage after paying the shop rent, utilities,
hired help, etc., so she'd better have a husband who earns enough to
indulge her hobby, because she's not going to be earning enough to
support herself. Then have a bunch of your clients get laid off and
decide to stitch from stash, and that minimum wage paycheck goes down
even further.

Our LNS closed about 5 years ago (10+ years after WalMart moved to town)
because the new owner (the previous one got older and retired) had a
chance at a good-paying government job with a secure pension, and had
discovered that "playing store" was fun but wasn't going to pay her
bills in her old age. She simply needed more money than a LNS was ever
going to produce.



I agree to a point. Many LNS may have closed down for any number of
reasons. We had only one LNS to supply stitchers over approximately a 60
mile radius, so although some might only purchase $10. in supplies per
month, you have to multiply that by all the stitchers within that 60
mile radius. Many of us are very dedicated and spend much more while
there. Either way though, that's a lot of stitchers. I think the LNS
have to look at versatility to survive in today's economy. Yes, the
chart I chose cost much less at Walmart. The DMC floss I use is .30 per
skein there as well, and that same skein is 1.00 at my LNS. If they have
to price themselves out of the market to survive, then bring in other
needlearts such as knitting, crochet etc. to attract a more diverse
clientele.

Maureen

"Maureen Grace-Miller" wrote in message
...
Karen C in Calif wrote:
Lucille wrote:

"Maureen Grace-Miller" wrote

I wonder if there are so few stitcherts around then, or if the big box
stores (Michael's etc) have killed the small LNS in most towns. If I
thought that, I'd be tempted to start a small mail-order business
myself just to keep the supplies out there and the needle arts alive.

Maureen



With my store the owner just got tired of it. She was getting older and
wanted to travel and do more fun things then owning the store allowed.
She tried to sell it, and even to give it away to her daughter, but
couldn't get anyone interested.

L


Big box stores do not carry what the DEDICATED stitcher wants, so it's a
myth that they kill off small businesses. No, you can't beat WalMart on
price, but you can easily beat them on selection and customer service.

For example, I like MLI angels. WalMart didn't sell the charts, didn't
sell fabric large enough, didn't sell the beads, didn't sell the
specialty fibers -- if it cost $75 to kit one up, only $10 of that was
the floss that I could get at WalMart. The vast majority of the stuff,
of necessity, had to come from a specialty needlework shop.

The occasional stitcher, the one who buys one or two kits a year, is
perfectly satisfied with WalMart's limited selection, but her $10 a year
outlay isn't going to make or break the small LNS.

What has been killing small LNSs is the economy. If the owner is lucky,
she can pay herself minimum wage after paying the shop rent, utilities,
hired help, etc., so she'd better have a husband who earns enough to
indulge her hobby, because she's not going to be earning enough to
support herself. Then have a bunch of your clients get laid off and
decide to stitch from stash, and that minimum wage paycheck goes down
even further.

Our LNS closed about 5 years ago (10+ years after WalMart moved to town)
because the new owner (the previous one got older and retired) had a
chance at a good-paying government job with a secure pension, and had
discovered that "playing store" was fun but wasn't going to pay her bills
in her old age. She simply needed more money than a LNS was ever going
to produce.



I agree to a point. Many LNS may have closed down for any number of
reasons. We had only one LNS to supply stitchers over approximately a 60
mile radius, so although some might only purchase $10. in supplies per
month, you have to multiply that by all the stitchers within that 60 mile
radius. Many of us are very dedicated and spend much more while there.
Either way though, that's a lot of stitchers. I think the LNS have to look
at versatility to survive in today's economy. Yes, the chart I chose cost
much less at Walmart. The DMC floss I use is .30 per skein there as well,
and that same skein is 1.00 at my LNS. If they have to price themselves
out of the market to survive, then bring in other needlearts such as
knitting, crochet etc. to attract a more diverse clientele.

Maureen

In the case of my LNS, when I asked about it I was told that the store did
make a profit. Not an enormous profit, but it more then paid for itself
with a little left over. It was located close to Jupiter Island, one of the
most affluent areas in this country, and got a lot of its business from the
residents there. She carried a lot of needlepoint canvases, all kinds of
specialty threads, fabric, cross stitch kits and charts, gorgeous knitting
yarns and every kind of thing one could want that was needlework related.
She also did wonderful framing and finishing and charged a fortune for that.
People would come in and spend hundreds of dollars at a clip. She did
classes and they were always filled. Her prices were steep but if you were
looking for anything unusual/different that was the place to go.

I too used to try to go to Michaels or Joann's for DMC and the things I
could get there to save a buck, but if I wanted special, it was to Stuart
Stitchery.

She still couldn't find a buyer for the shop.

Lucille

Maureen Grace-Miller wrote:
Does anybody know if Keepsake Needlearts in Center Harbor N.H. is still
around? I just uncovered an old catalogue of theirs (2005) and fell in
love with their kits all over again. However, when I'm clicking on their
links on their web page, I keep getting 'bad request'. I hope they're
not gone too!

Maureen In Vancouver, B.C.

When I first hit the panic button on Keepsake Needlearts, I also
e-mailed them. I got this reply this morning.

Hi Maureen,

Thank you for your inquiry. No, we are not either dropping needlework
or going out of business! We no longer carry the full NeedleArts
catalog of merchandise in our Keepsake Quilting shop (that's been for a
couple of years!), but other than that everything is the same here!

Regards

Laura
Customer Service