One Year Anniversary!

 Has it really been a year since I closed the brick and mortar location of The Crafty Lady?!

March 1rst, 2020 was the day we began packing up all the stock in the store to move to the warehouse that would become the home base of the online store and, later, the pop up store. It took the entire month to get everything inventoried, cleared out and thrown into a space less than half the size of the final brick and mortar space (which also had a basement).  It took another couple of months before everything found its permanent home within that space and, as I mentioned in the previous blog, it is now getting a revamp to allow for more travel time. In fact, if I planned it correctly, ALL the yarn will be able to go with me on the road!

Inventory is nearly complete, which means that most my time going forward will be dedicated to planning the most convenient arrangement of storage containers in order to find yarn not on display as quickly as possible. This is no small feat as I have already determined that 33 Parkla units will fit in the storage space above the cab and it will be under the weight limit if I use the right yarns (i.e. no heavy cottons allowed). The bunk beds (which don't have posted weight limits!) will carry up to 44 more Parkla units. That means I am looking at close to 80 containers to keep track of, not to mention the DMC products that will have their own (very special) hiding place in the rv.

If someone had told me two years ago that this is where my business would be now, I'm not sure I would believe them. I can honestly tell you, though, that I am thankful I made this decision last year before the world got turned upside-down. And it's because of customers/followers like yourselves that it has made it through this past year and will continue to thrive for years to come. The business may continue to evolve but one thing that will never change - I have never, and will never, take my customers for granted. You all are the reason I keep going. The designer in me needs to know that there are people out there crazy enough to take on the challenges of my patterns. The teacher in me revels in the ability to pass on any knowledge I have gleaned that I deem helpful. And the yarn hoarder in me is ecstatic that there are enough people out there that share my taste in yarn that I can buy stock for me the store and know it will be appreciated.

written by Lori, happy TCL owner, who is enduring a lot of late nights making sure to get this show on the road (literally) as soon as the weather permits.