Another LNS rant--or not--I'm not sure.

This may turn into another rant, and if it does, I apologize in advance.

We have had discussi ...they only sell to brick'n'mortars, in order to keep the LNS species off the endangered list, so I would not be able to order in quantities sufficient for my Build Your Own Kit idea. I could order CONES, which I could then cut off and kit myself, but I don't kit the major designs. I only sell the components of exactly what I used to make a model.

Well, my overriding mission in the Build Your Own Kit is that I offer exactly what I used to make the model AND the customer is free to buy each component, or not. If one is in the boondocks and doesn't HAVE an LNS, but likes the model and wants the stuff--boom--instant accessibility for that person. That allows me to use what materials I like (okay, love) without fear of putting off someone who may want my design but knows she can't get the stuff for it so would not buy it for that reason.

So my question is this: Do any of you have such an overabundance (or even abundance) of brick'n'mortar shops that you don't have to shop online? Do you WANT to go from shop to shop to shop (even on the phone) trying to find something you really want, and end up having to buy it on the internet anyway?

Am I missing something here? Am I missing some principle that I HAVE to be a brick'n'mortar shop to offer a product to a customer (other than that's the company's policy, which I respect, but don't understand)?

Oh, that was 4 questions. My apologies. I'm kinda disappointed, really. Not that there's no alternative--I just thought I'd try something new. If it's hard to get, it's not getting used in my designs.

Reply to
LizardGumbo
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Sounds like they are shooting themselves in both feet. The big question is do they sell their product to brick'n'mortar stores that also sell online? If those are likewise banned, they might as well just close up shop now. You are correct that there are enough stitches who just can't get to an LNS so those people will never see this product.

If they are giving all designers such a hassle, why would any designer wish to use their product? If no one is using it in designing, then there will be very little demand for it. What LNS wants to tie up space and money in an inventory they can't move? How long has this company been in business? More to the point, how much longer do they want to be in business?

Reply to
Brenda Lewis

I have one small (new) LNS. She carries DMC but that's it so far. She doesn't carry any fabrics or specialty threads. Most of her product are kits. Michael's still has the best selection for me. Fortunately, I am often near a brick'n'mortar that carries pretty much everything, but I still usually order from a fairly local INS since her prices are good and the gas is really cheap that way!

Reply to
Addie Otto

Yes, they do sell to stores that are brick'n'mortar that also sells on the internet. However, I know of one they sell to that is in the process of becoming an online store ONLY, so it'll be interesting to see how that shakes out. And I know of a brick'n'mortar that closed and is NOW (and has been for a while) an internet-only store, so I'm not getting it.

That's why I don't understand their stance. They wouldn't sell to me BECAUSE I have an online store, but it is extremely limited in scope--the store ONLY exists because the designs do.

longer do they want to be in business?

They're very well known, but in an urban legend sorta way. You know of someone who's used their stuff, you've heard tell of a shop selling the stuff, but you've never actually used it or seen it yourself--and neither have your friends, but they've heard the rumors, too. They must be making money somewhere, though.

I personally found one card of one thing once in an LNS and used it for something and that was probably 10 years ago. That LNS doesn't carry stuff like that anymore because they've switched to all-primitive and mostly all-yarn (now). Until yesterday, I didn't know of any place in town that carried them and I've got one LNS and 4 other VERY-NOT-LNSs.

I sent them a note back saying my policy was to not design with materials that are hard to obtain for either me or stitchers who don't have LNSs (or convenient ones, even). My particular concern are people in rural areas and outside the US, but I forgot to say that part.

Teegs, side note: I may have to go to That Other Place in Overland Park. Wanna plan a day and go with?

Reply to
LizardGumbo

Is it possible to order the product from another wholesaler? I had that difficulty but soon learned how to find other sources.

Dianne

Reply to
Dianne Lewandowski

Thanks, Dianne! I'll look.

Reply to
LizardGumbo

LizardGumbo said

I don't mind going to different stores for several reasons. First, I rarely do someone else's design. On those occassions when I do work from a chart, I try to use what I have on hand. One of the few times I went with the designer's suggestion for speciality threads for a 4 x 4 xs, I was appalled when I got the bill -- more than $50 for the chart, evenweave linen, and the threads!!! Second, I'm very sensual because I like to see and feel fibers. OTOH, when someone recommends a fiber that's only available online or when one of the online shops that I deal with is having a sale, I have no problem spending money ;-)

Is it possible that the wholesaler you contacted rejected your business because your orders might be too small?

Reply to
anne

I don't think so, as I didn't get a chance to order anything.

I'm very sensual, too, and like to see/feel/touch/goo. BUT my LNSs have mostly the same old same old that I either already have or don't like, but in most cases, they're things I've seen/felt/touched a zillion times before.

I'm looking for new and different--things that spark my imagination and give me pictures in my head.

Reply to
LizardGumbo

The only shops that carry a good supply of cross stitch supplies (Nordic Needle and Shakespeares Peddler) are both in Fargo, 70 miles away. AFAIK, they are the only true needlework shops in the *state*, so Arliss (former rctnr), who lives in Bismarck (which isn't even as far west as you can go in the state), lives 200 miles from a B&M store! Luckily, they're also INSs .

sigh. I wish there *were* more B&M stores a bit closer!

Joan

Reply to
Joan E.

Ha! I can't take credit for it. It's from an old Dairy Queen advertising campaign.

Also, I'm a medical transcriptionist by trade and I very rarely have to type ANYTHING out fully. I have software that makes it so I can type in "shorthand," so to speak, and I have a rule that if I type it out more than twice, into the expander it goes!

I type sdys, and I get scrumpdillyicious. Cool, huh?

Well, I must say, though it was long ago, the best-stocked LNSs I've ever been in were in England. There was that one in Thirsk, right next to James Herriott's veterinary...

Reply to
LizardGumbo

I love that word - but isn`t it a PITA to type? ;-D

Oh dear - I had a mountain of scrumpdillyicious yarns from my knitting machine days - and recently put it all in sacks and gave it to the British Heart Foundation. What a SHAME you are so far away! Loads of full and part cones Mohair, silks, Shetland wool and loads of others in all shades and thicknesses.

Pat P

Reply to
Pat P

Replying online so not quoting text.

I do have what I consider to be a relative abundance of LNSs, and I've discovered that each one has their own separate strengths. One shop is awesome for threads but carries no CXS at all. Another store has a great fabric room and several models on the wall, but trying to browse for patterns is nearly impossible. A third store has the best selection in my area (IMHO of course) in CXS, but their customer service stinks. And there's a fourth store that's open Sundays, has a decent variety of CXS but organization is sorely lacking and the ladies working there definitely turn their collective noses up at anything but needlepoint. And my fifth store is about to close, but they were primarily a yarn shop with a small selection of fibers and canvasses, no CXS.

If I know exactly what I want, though, I prefer to order online and not have to drive all over the place. If I truly needed to go to each of those stores to get all the components for a project, or if I were running a shop-hop with another stitcher, I'd spend most of a Saturday shopping and burn up about a half tank of gasoline (which is currently at $3.29 a gallon, or nearly $35 a tank for my little Honda). And if I don't know quite what I want and would prefer to see it in person and in my hand, I usually wait until other errands take me into the vicinity of the particular store I want anyway. I consider the cost of shipping and handling a bargain compared to the time and fuel involved, and in order to maximise my online shopping, I keep running wishlists at both SNT and NN to supplement my "I just *need* this one item for this particular project" and get more value for the shipping costs.

Reply to
Jenn

Dang, where do you live? You just described my exact situation, right down to turning noses up at anything but needlepoint.

Reply to
LizardGumbo

Erm, yes. Probably 6 within a half hours drive (say 4, as I know at least one has since closed). Of those 6, 5 have given me atrocious service in the past and I have interest in entering their doors ever again (OK, the one that closed was of the bad service shops).

Since I'm down to 1 anyway, I will stop by if I really need something. But I usually make a list and visit a store about 5 hours away while we are in that area for vacation. Granted, I do have a lot of stash.

Tara

Reply to
Tara D

The prices of DMC and Anchor have gone up so much recently that I find it MUCH cheaper to shop on line. Online shops don`t run out of just the shade you want like our LNS does, either!

Pat P

Reply to
Pat P

Y'know, I could always toss in a few skeins of whatever you'd like with your next candy fix..... :) Or even in an envelope and that would get to you pretty fast....

Joan

Reply to
Joan E.

Well, after our visit to PTP, I'm forbidding myself ANY shopping trips for a bit. I dearly want to go find where Aunties Beads is located at, since it's in the same neighborhood as The Other Shop. But since I have a night Out coming up (my young Studly Scot is going with me to see Little Feat at the Beaumont Club in Westport on the 24th), and I know I'm footing the dinner bill (he's buying drinks, so it works out), I need to be a bit miserly with my funds over the next couple of weeks. And I'm reasonably sure I can find something I "must" have, even at The Other Shop. Especially since Laura tells me that's where she's found those project bags we like so well, and I need at least two more.

Maybe next month? Tegan

Reply to
tegan57

LizardGumbo wrote: (snipped)

Hello Elizabeth,

There are people who buy a chart and all the materials exactly as specified. They make exactly what is shown because that's what they want.

Me, I'm a needlework weirdo. I find many of the shadings too gross (like shades of grey in flowers where nature uses shades of beige, yellow or green). So I tend to pick and choose the materials until I am satisfied with the balance for each project. If somebody offered me the chance of buying a chart and the oddball fibres as I chose, I would be overjoyed.

There is one LNS in Woodbridge ON (on the TTC) that stocks a wide enough range to be my one-and-only B&M. Their prices are reasonable too. And they have a stitching night once a month, what else do I need? FYI it takes a place like the former World in Stitches (was in NH) with an owner who buys a lot of European stuff to keep oddballs like me happy. I have never been to Nordic Needle but I imagine the LNS experience with them is a whole lot better than the mailorder version.

So I would be happy to write a polite letter to those neanderthal wholesalers to tell them why some of us need to buy from INS as well as LNS.--Irene

Reply to
ellis_chem

I didn`t know that there was a Woodbridge in Ontario! Our old Woodbridge, here in Suffolk, is only a few miles away, and is a lovely little old town on the river. What is yours like?

Pat P

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Reply to
Pat P

Irene:

Can you tell me where the shop is in Woodbridge? I use Gita's (Port Credit) and The Sampler (Brown's Line) as well as Stychen Thyme (Whitby), but didn't know there was a shop in the northwest end of the GTA (Greater Toronto area for those no from around here). Of course, the DH no longer works in Woodbridge - sigh.

Marg

Reply to
MargW

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