Even more notable, the store boasts a cozy common room—with gas fireplace, comfy couches and children’s play area—where knitters and their families drop in to take lessons, work on projects, hang out, or use the free WiFi to access Ravelry, a fiber-arts social networking website, for ideas, inspiration and information.
Happy Knits’ owner, Sarah Young, says she knew what she wanted in a yarn store, but it didn’t exist. So she built it herself.
Once the brick-and-mortar location opened in 2009, Sarah and her staff harnessed social media to stir up business. They later launched an online shop and a blog (publicizing sales, new products, tips, contests, classes, in-store events, etc.). Sales now stream in from around the world.
“We get dozens of online orders every week, mostly from the U.S., but we also have lots of customers in Canada, Australia, France and the U.K.,” says Jessa Clark, the store’s “virtual Jill-of-all-trades,” who handles online customer support, social media marketing, website updates, and blogging for happyknits.com.