What really concerns me is the attitude that a lot of younger people get when shopping…they feel “ignored”, “dismissed” or worse, “not wanted!” Especially if they look in any way obviously “alternative”. They are often treated as if they know nothing about knitting, when in fact, many of them are extremely quick to learn, intelligent and accomplished knitters. Prejudice is alive and well in yarn shops, darn it!

Some of the worst offenders are the ubiquitous “regulars” and it is often not intentional. They often simply don’t understand the impact their en masse presence has on incoming traffic. The LYS owner should avoid sitting with them. It is very bad when he/she does especially when she/he can’t be bothered to stop talking and get up when a new customer enters the shop.

When I worked in one of our LYS’s I roped a friend into working there also. We had a great time but eventually left for different reasons. What we did to mitigate the impact of the regulars was ‘manage’ them. One thing to remember is that these ‘regulars’ often bring in ton’s of business and they are loyal and really care about the LYS. Our owner did not like them and could not deal. We did liek and appreciate them.

What we did is this: Anyone who came in with knitting and indicated by body or verbiage that they wanted to sit at the table was introduced to the regulars. A seat was found, a folding chair brough in, if necessary and the regulars were made to move over and ‘let them in’. We’d start conversation by asking about the newcomers knitting project – whatever it took to get conversation going and the ‘new’ person at the table ‘included’. Doing this had lots of benefits…it created a growing community where many knitters knew each other. We also heloed start knitting groups bylinking people up by geographic area. We created a culture where customers and “the regulars” interacted effectively and frequently. Regulars would help with knitting problems and often show yarn, if we were busy. We sometimes sent customers over to the table for a knitting answer if we knew of a certain expertise. Or if we wanted to open a discussion on a particular question we’d bring the customer over and open it up. We were often told our shop was fun and we generally had much lively interaction going on.

Of course this did not suit all comers, and one needs to be sensitive to what any individual customer is projecting. One also needs to qualify the customer and find out what they really are looking for, not what they ’say’ they want. If you interact with all your customers then you get to know them a little bit and can better judge how to involve them so they are happy with their experience and want to come back. I like to think we were very successful and our departure from the shop was truly mourned by customers.

Unfortunately the owner “really didn’t like people.” I know, that’s a bit of a shocker, but she actually told me that. IMHO yarn shops (and the like, such as quilt shops) are ALL about people! And she did not understand what the word “sales” actually means operated at it’s highest level. It is not about the sterotypical “sleezy car salesman” type of behavior. It is very much about short term satisfaction of your customer building and creating long term business relationships. Few owners seem to be able to bridge the gap between enthusiastic hobbyist and business acumin. One needs both to succeed. It is not enough to just love yarn!

Frankly I feel that most owners do not sit down and consider what their mission is and how to accomplish it. Is it selling a product, or building a community within which they do also sell product? If you care about your customers as people and attend to their needs they will be very loyal and work to help you stay in business. One case in point: in the early days of that LYS there was a Hurricane, customers flocked to the shop to help pack up the yarn and store it and later unpack the yarn and re-stock the shelves – voluntarily.

Owners are people too and they all have their individual idiocyncrasies, to be fogiven for them they need loyal customers who know one well enough to forgive the bad days. After we left the owner hired a shop manager and retreated to teaching and the office. Sad to say I do not currently hear the same enthusiasm expressed about the shop, nor the same care being given to customers. One has to work hard to create a warm sharing culture and to maintain it. If owners care about that they can’t take their eye off the ball!

If you need a pleater I know someone who has a used on they would be willing to part with. Me.

Perhaps it’s just me but smug and judgy-judgy doesn’t make for good business sense, and I can’t fathom promoting said attitudes in this (or any, really) economic climate. A buck’s hard to come by, and even harder to let go, right?