| In the summer of 83 I decided I was going to take a year off before I went to college. So in the fall I signed up for a small business management course. In this course we had to start a business on paper. Having been a knitter since I was four, of course my business was a wool shop.
I had some experience in this field as I had worked for Lewiscraft for many years and had been freelancing, selling my knitted goods for three years. As I started to source out the information needed for my course, my Mother had jokingly said, "Wouldn't it be fun to open a wool shop together?"
Seven weeks later, November 18th, 1983, Linda's Craftique opened its doors. (Needless to say I dropped out of the course but the professor still came around to visit and said that if he could, he would have given me a definite pass).
When we opened I thought I knew everything there was to know about knitting and yarns, being 19 and all, but 15+ years later I realize I have forgotten more than I knew then. Experience, my customers, and trial and error have taught me well.
So my Mother and I plodded along in the crazy world of retail having a lot of fun for 12yrs. She has since retired much to my chagrin (but of course she still puts in her two cents worth on a regular basis) and I have been carrying on on my own since.
Service has always been a high priority for me as it is what separates the independents from the chains. I am a self professed fiber snob and have always tried to carry yarns that are mostly natural. My credo is,"It takes the same amount of time to work with good quality as it does to work with poor quality", and your time deserves good quality! |
