As I brace myself for the final day of our 2008 Fall/Winter buying trip cum mini-vacation, I’m struck with two things:  how incredibly fortunate I am to be in an industry so full of fun, funny, sincere, and sincerely talented people that I get to spend so much intensive time with just a few times […]

As previously mentioned, we’ll be off to Columbus later this week to attend TNNA’s NeedleArts Market where most of North America’s yarn shop owners and buyers purchase much of their product for the upcoming fall/winter season.  To us, that means rearranging schedules, packing up models that we’ve had on display from various vendors, getting Busby […]

A good relationship with a trusted sales rep is wonderful. They get the inside skinny from each of their vendors about what they see coming down the pike, and because they do see numerous shops in your region, they have a good idea of what’s selling, why, and very often how.

I have the image of Pepe Lepeuw’s feline paramour dragging herself to a mountain cliff… where he pops over the edge, wagling eyebrows and all.  I feel like that cat.
Life proceeds at Chez ThreadBear.  B’s become Busby.  The holidays have come and gone with the retail explosion that comes with them.  And now we prepare […]