What makes a great LNS???

Service, service, service! Customers come in all shapes, sizes, genders, and from all walks of life. I've been in too many shops where I'm either ignored or followed suspisciously. I presume it's because I tend to wear jeans and t-shirts and don't necessarily appear to have the wherewithal to be buying stitching supplies. Treat all customers kindly. That's what gets them to return. When you take special ordes, be sure they are fulfilled! Until a recent change of ownership, a local shop had a terrible record on order fulfillment, with many taking months to come in (because the owner waited months to place them). The new owners are making sure that orders are actually placed and the customers are returning in droves.

I prefer to have knitting and crochet items in a different shop, generally speaking. Most stitching shops don't have enough space to provide a decent selection for all the arts you listed. Since cross stitch, punch needle, tatting, (and needlepoint, which you left off) all use essentially the same fibers, it isn't a big compromise on space to carry all those in one shop.

But to have a reasonable selection of yarn for knitting and crochet requires a lot of space and unless a shop has a couple thousand square feet of retail space it doesn't seem practical to me to try to carry supplies for so many arts.

Karen E., who knits, crochets, needlepoints, tats, and does cross stitch and punch needle.

I agree with Karen - related arts (and I didn't see primtive or surface embroidery on this list, but I would include them).

A choice of charts and kits.

Organized well so you can find things. For example, I went to my LNS today and looked through their clearance bin. I had never seen half the things in there before and I'm in the store browsing pretty regularly.

At least a smattering of accessories at reasonable prices - i.e., a few inexpensive wood or plastic hoops, some inexpensive needles, etc., for the novice who doesn't want to put a lot of money into it.

That's some of what I would like to see!

Charts need to be not just well-organized but accessible. I hate the turning racks when they are too tight so that the charts get damaged--it makes me much less likely to browse (and thus buy!)

A place to sit is great too. If I can sit down and really look at something, I am more likely to buy it (and to return to the shop.)

I wouldn't want a retail shop devoted to needlework to be selling cheap hoops from China. They are useless and give the wrong impression to newcomers. Same with needles which are made poorly. (You get what you pay for most times). I've been embroidering a kit this past week and the needle that came with it was awful. Everything else was ample and great, but I couldn't believe that needle!

We want newcomers to succeed. :-) Dianne

Knowledgeable staff on hand, openminded enough to try all sorts of needlework and willing to say they don't know all the answers, but can find out for you.

To make a financial "go" of the business, related arts would need to be included. But like someone else has said, they should all use the same types of tools, threads, materials, etc. Quilting is too far off the mark.

Phyllis Maurer

"deniseb" had some very interesting things to say about What makes a great LNS???:

I think a variety of technique choices is good. To me, the important part is friendly and knowledgeable staff, plus good selection. I like having fibers/fabric fondleable, too. :-)

Anything carried within a specific subsection of needlework; i.e. cross stitch, needlepoint, tatting, etc. I love an over-abundance of leaflets, kits, books, and magazines. Some form of sorting by designer and/or theme is great. Any books and leaflets leading into "spin-off" crafting can tempt the dollar from me as well. This could mean beading, temari, and other subjects. What I can not stress enough is the power of fabbie and fiber fondling!!! A pure plethora of cottons, perles, silkies, beads, charms, and crystals can set me to drool. I swear in the suggestive terms only and not on the actual materials themselves. Fabbies in linens, evenweaves, adias, and newly hand-dyed assortments are pure evil. I could just keep rolling with this, but the customer rapport is definitely essential. I can be classified as another jeans and T-shirts gal like Karen E., but it doesn't mean that I don't spend a pretty penny when I shop... Now, if I could only develop the capital for a business myself, I would love to open my own LNS to give us what we all want...

~Connie~

deniseb wrote, in part: But, should a stitching shop be only cross stitch or should it have crochet, knitting, punch needle, tatting etc?

I have two LNSs (I know how lucky I am, believe me!). The second one has a NP section and I actually resent the use of space that could better be given over to more XS charts (in my opinion).

But I don't do NP.

Alongside that, one of my LNSs in Virginia (again, I had two) carried XS, NP, and yarn. Again, I resented the "wasted space". However, now that I've started knitting again, I can't wait to visit the shop while we're in the area this summer.

But first and foremost -- personable sales people. Act as if you're glad to see someone, for heaven's sake! There's nothing worse than going into a shop and getting the feeling I've interrupted a private party. The owner of my primary LNS knew my name the second time I shopped there. The owner of my primary LNS in Virginia (nor any of the staff) never knew my name. (grammatically problematic, but you get the idea)

An area in which to spread out a project, either to get help with a problem or to choose alternate fibers, etc. And if the store can't stock a large quantity of fabric and fibers, a goodly supply of samples should be in stock. Ideally, I'd like to see at least a 5x7 cut of the fabric (preferably 12x18) and a full skein of the fiber. This way it would be easier to do a fiber toss, then order quantities of whatever is decided upon.

I drove past a store ... somewhere ... called Tea and Yarn. Wouldn't that be a great LNS?

Well, there's just a few of my ideas. Fun to dream!

Helen

Picture this....A setting similar to Chapter's Books. You have the fans from the attached Starbuck's coffee shop blowing the aroma of latté across the oversized comfey chairs, and all around you, instead of books, you have charts, leaflets and kits. In a separate section you have every kind of fabric known to man (or woman) to stitch on. In the last section straight ahead is "How To" books, for every type of needlework, and the books full of antique sampler charts. The section to your left has all the threads,.....D.M.C., Eterna, Anchor, Krenik, etc. Against the far wall is the bobbins for lace making, needles, ribbon, beads, knitting needles, wool, crochet hooks, tatting shuttles etc. And the whole right side of the store is frames. Lap frames, scroll frames, floor stands, ooooooh and lighting. all kinds of lamps and magnifiers just for stitching. But before you can enter, you have to accept the interest free charge card they're handing out at the door as you enter. Now THAT'S my kind of L.N.S.!! :)))))

Maureen In Vancouver, B.C.

This is a great thread!

People, first and foremost, really good people - teachers, clerks, owner, managers, orders. If you have the best of everything else and lousy people, no one will come back. I take the odd ride to an LNS that is mostly Dimensions type kits and very folksy type charts, just to buy the odd skeins of WDW's or GAST because she's nice and very friendly.

And one of these days (sorry Lucy, not until DS goes off to hockey camp), I am taking a ride down to visit Cross Stitch Unlimited. It is truly a bijou of a shop.

Cheryl

What makes a good LNS? Love of needlework Customer service Knowledgeable staff Accessibility Quality and selection Organization

A LSN no,no - put all your leaflets in notebooks, organized by topic, on a shelf. For the store racks you do have, put half of them on the floor (or close to it) and put 5-10 DIFFERENT books in each slot. Make me work for my purchase! It also helps if you put floor racks in front of counters so I stub my toes on them when laying out fibers and fabric. Sell yarn, quilting fabric, and/or scrapboarding supplies, too. Cram your evenweave material into small drawers so that when I pull it out, it is wrinkled.

I have four stores near me - three are 20 to 40 minutes away, the fourth over an hour. Two are combination stores two and are strictly Xstitch. I patronize the Xstitch only stores most and both know me by name (the best one is only 20 minutes away :-). They are also owned by women who LOVE cross stitch which is why they are in the business. My favorite store has hours convienent for people working full time. The store closes at 7:00 pm (even on Saturday) and has Sunday hours for part of the year.

It is obvious in the other combination stores that the same love of needlework is not there and that xstitch is considered a "sideline". Both sell yarn, which I'm told has a higher profit margin.

Such a strong word: resent. A needlework shop is for needleworkers of all types. It's very frustrating to me that so many needlework shops don't expand their horizons and include things like silk ribbon, surface embroidery supplies (pre-hemmed linen towels as an example), pattern books, etc. It's not that much additional inventory.

Dianne

Actually, I like this idea. Like when you go to a fabric store and choose patterns. You look in the book, then you go to the appropriate cabinet to find the corresponding number.

A shop in Provo, Utah did this (when I lived there a number of years ago), and I never saw it before or since, but I really liked it.

Only I would have several duplicate books, each sorted in a different manner. (Proper indexing is a must!)

Also, I would have comfy stools or chairs to be able to sit and browse through them at your leisure. Like at a fabric store.

You're so nice! Thanks for that. And get thee down here before too long. :^)

I'm taking careful notes from this thread, believe me. It's been 3.5 years and I'm still learning more about the industry every day. A thread like this reminds me of what matters to people when they walk in the door.

On that note, I'll get busy!

Lucy Boyer Cross Stitch Unlimited / StitchStash.com Arlington, MA USA

I will, I promise! It's just that the condo and it's repairs are harnessing me to the general area

One of my favorite things about your store is the different things you had together. You do realize that I "need" to get more of The Doors of Kew charts.

Yes, I agree with all of what Karen wrote above (been there, experienced that!) and definitely Service (with the capital S!). I believe it was Michael Parenteau, in a message about shops in MPLS, who mentioned Frames and Stitches' great, friendly staff. I can attest to that: I was in there a couple years ago with DD (15 at the time) and they asked to see her project and ooh'd & aah'd over it! :) It's a small shop but they certainly left an impression!

Nordic Needle, otoh, I have only one time been treated by a staff member in a friendly manner and that was by a young part-timer! Their phone staff is *much* nicer to deal with! *They* go an extra couple of miles for you. If they weren't my only true "L"NS ("local" being 70 miles away) I probably wouldn't go there much.

I'd like to see all the needlearts--sort of a one-shop-stop. With the decline in the "slower" needlework and the recent surge in knitting and crocheting with bulky and fun yarns, I wonder how well a shop would do with just the "finer" supplies. Variety is the spice of life! :) Please keep out fake flowers, rubber stamps and that ilk. We don't need another Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's, or Michael's.

Oh, and move to ND!!!! :))))

Joan (guess where? :) )

I wouldn't want a retail shop devoted to needlework to be selling cheap

hoops from China. They are useless and give the wrong impression to newcomers. Same with needles which are made poorly. (You get what you pay for most times). I've been embroidering a kit this past week and the needle that came with it was awful. Everything else was ample and great, but I couldn't believe that needle!

We want newcomers to succeed. :-)

I don't disagree at all, but many newcomers might also be put off by the cost of high quality products. I know when I first discovered overdyes, I wouldn't buy any because I couldn't see paying that much for thread. Same wiht needles. There are some lower to middle end choices out there, and that's what I meant :)

My thoughts exactly.

Cheryl