Clearance Store & Several Changes

You might want to take a minute and check the Clearance Store!! We have several good deals there.

Now, let me explain what we are doing. We have been pondering the idea of moving to more U.S. made products. You may have realized that when we put up our Made in America page. And we have picked up several more yarns in the past few months that are made in the U.S. Unfortunately several yarn types and weight classes are not available in a U.S. made yarn though. Or at least when you look at it from the perspective of price for quality. We have always tried to carry yarns that are at least a decent quality and reasonably priced. Carrying yarns that the majority can afford on a regular basis has always been our goal. After all, what good is it to carry a lot of beautiful yarns that are very pricey butno one can afford on a regular basis?? From a business perspective you have to gear your product lines to the majority.

Last week we received notification that Bernat and Patons are in a position where they have to raise their prices on several of their acrylic yarns. Their price increase will take place August 1st. And if those 2 companies are in a position where they have to raise their prices I’m guessing other companies will probably follow. Some already have raised their prices. The first of the year two of the companies we buy from raised their prices and cut the wholesale discount by at least 5%. So we’ve had to take a good hard look at what we are carrying and with a price increase would we still buy that yarn if we were the customer.

Let’s take the Bernat Super Value for instance. That is our most popular selling worsted weight acrylic. The suggested retail price is going from $3.99 to $4.99. That means our retail price will have to go up to right around $3.74 a skein. I have to be honest here. I have to question if I would pay that much if I were the customer. I hate to say that, but I have to be honest. Although with everything else going up too, I guess it could be worse. But I'm sure it would make me stop and think, "Do I really want to pay that much" Now you top the price increase with the fact that it is not a U.S. yarn. I think I might be inclined to look to another yarn that is made in the U.S. So by buying American Made it keeps our yarn companies in business and keeps the money here in the U.S. So at least if I am going to pay more it will help a U.S. company!!

Since the Bernat Super Value is such a good seller though, we have not made a final decision on it yet. You are welcome to give us your feedback on the issue. We’d love to hear what you have to say. But the other yarns that are listed in the Clearance Store we have made a decision on. We are cutting them. We either have a replacement for them or there is a replacement available. In some cases the yarn is not made in the U.S. but it is a U.S. company so the money still stays here in the U.S.

For now we will continue to carry the Lily Sugar’n Cream too. While Lily is not a U.S. company they use U.S. cotton. The Lily Company purchases an enormous amount of cotton from the U.S. So sales from this product do support our U.S. cotton growers and processors.

We have a few more yarn lines that we need to seriously take a look at. And as we make our decisions I will let you know. Or just keep an eye at the Clearance Store. Because once we decide to cut a yarn we will list it there.

I thank all of you for your continued patronage. And I do look forward to hearing from you with comments and ideas.

Thank you,
Lisa