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Corners of drama

Writer's picture: Rebecca (a yarn enthusiast)Rebecca (a yarn enthusiast)

Updated: Sep 25, 2024

Starting with last year's Wool & Folk debacle, I have been discovering, here and there, the "corners of drama" in the fiber arts community and have to admit, I find it FASCINATING.


Today I want to pivot off of a video by "Emma in the Moment" on YouTube who has just reviewed some issues around the "Chunky Boy" crochet hook grips. These were developed to assist with hand pain when crocheting, and the idea is a good one. In fact, I was playing around last year with some similar options and found adaptive grips for utensils, made for individuals with dexterity issues that make it difficult to hold smaller things in their hands.



These are sold on Amazon for $12.99 and you get 9 tubes, which are 8" long. I cut each one in half and was able to get 12 crochet handle grips from the yellow and red ones. I did NOT use the blue ones (yet) as the hole is too large for any of the hooks I use at this time. For context, these are foam, not silicone, and seem to be more like the softer, version 2 Chunky Boy grips as they are described.


I share this to say that I totally understand the motivation to MAKE those handles, and I celebrate the impulse to contribute, create and stake one's claim in the fiber arts world as a contributing creator. My interest, perhaps better labelled as my curiosity, around this story deepened when I learned that the Chunky Boy creator moved to a new state and opened a yarn shop (this discussion in the video begins at the 24:22 time stamp).


Based on the reporting by Emma of @MadeInTheMoment (summarized in the video linked below), I saw a couple missteps that seemed to contribute to the yarn shop's quick demise: a) a focus on posting on Social Media, and b) not enough (if any?) strategic planning with the necessary SWOT (or similar) business analysis beforehand.


It seemed to me that the Chunky Boy creator took a sort of "If I BUILD it - & post about it a lot on social media - they will come!" approach. In some ways, I don't blame her. She's young and grew up surrounded by the digital myths around ideas "going viral" and I believe, fell victim to some of that fantasy thinking.


She also has a good product idea that a lot of people like and that meets a need in the fiber arts community.


What appears to have been lacking is some good old fashioned common sense about business planning and implementation. Maybe she had people coaching her and she chose to ignore them due to all the LIKES on TikTok. Maybe she doesn't have anyone around her to act as a coach, and made the decision unilaterally. Whatever it was, she plunged head first into opening and running a yarn store in a new (to her) area that she didn't know a lot about.


It's reported in the video that the town of Amsterdam, NY has a population around 18,000 (that's not a lot). The retail space was likely affordable initially, and as highlighted in this report, retail space in areas that have a robust population, such as one that could support a yarn retail business, are very expensive.

Sadly, less than a year after opening, the Chunky Boy Yarn Shop in Amsterdam NY closed its doors. I went onto her website to check out the Chunky Boy crochet hook grip and was going to purchase one to test it out, but they are not available at this time, so not sure if that's a temporary blip or if there has been some downstream fallout from the shop closing.


My observations over the years in a couple different areas have led me to the conclusion that there is a sort of social media psychosis that can take place. People believe that if they post their talks on YouTube (or TikTok) and have a Facebook/Instagram page with LIKES, people will FLOCK to them and their product.


I saw this first in the organized spiritual metaphysics corner of the world (I have a different blog site dedicated to that topic) and it seems to be a generically human tendency that knows no boundaries.


Building a business is HARD WORK, and it takes more than LIKES and CLICKS and our inner circles oohing and ahhhhing about our idea. It requires research on the market, precise spreadsheet calculations on the revenue and expenses of the venture, as well as an honest look at the potential market for our wares or services.

Emma mentions this briefly, but here's a good way to quickly check an idea for a brick and mortar store in any area (I'll use a yarn store as the example):

  1. how many people in your circle knit and/or crochet?

  2. what percentage of your entire circle do these people represent?

    1. since we tend to hang with people who have similar interests, now divide that % in half

  3. what is the population of the surrounding area that would be considered your market?

    1. apply the % you calculated in 2a to this number

  4. how many of those (from 3a) folks will visit your store? (this is a bit harder to calculate, so hang with me here)

    1. based on your projected EXPENSES, how many of those people need to shop in your store every month and make a minimum purchase (you should have a calculation that gives you an average purchase amount that is supportive of staying in business, based on your expenses).

      1. in other words, if asked, you should be able to accurately report that "...to break even, I need X number of customers to shop each month and spend on average, X-dollars."

    2. is that number of people a reasonable amount to expect from the population?

      1. if you're not sure how to assess that, read on

  5. what is your COMPETITION for selling yarn?

    1. and how do your prices compare

  6. What is the socioeconomic climate in your area?

    1. in other words, what portion of the yarn-buying population is willing to pay yarn store prices as opposed to buying Big Box store yarn that is perpetually on sale?

  7. Calculate your base monthly expenses - BEFORE you buy any yarn or other supplies.

    1. For starters, this will include rent/lease, insurance, internet/network access, utilities, any marketing expenses and/or staffing expenses.

  8. Estimate your first purchase of STOCK to fill your store, and then calculate your NET profit on each item (or groups of items).

  9. How many PURCHASES at the calculated “ideal average purchase amount” (see 4a) do you need to break even which means just paying your monthly expenses with nothing left over?

  10. Looking at your calculations on the population and competition and likelihood of shoppers coming to your store,… how likely is it that you will make that amount each month? (keeping in mind that most of us need to MAKE money in our work and not just break even).


Let me pause here and state that I believe people open yarn stores with the BEST of intentions. I just think too many of them don’t do enough math.


AND,...we do need quality local yarn shops!


As knitters and crocheters, we should support our local yarn shops, but I will caveat this by also suggesting that we should primarily support those that are making good (solid) business decisions as they are the ones most likely to remain in business and continue to be a part of our local economy.


Owning a retail business is hard work and it takes a lot of grit, business savvy, more hard work, and a dogged effort to stay on top of what’s changing in the marketplace specific to a specific niche. And that’s all before the profit and loss calculations come into play.


Because HUMANS are involved in crocheting and knitting stories, there will continue to be drama coming from various corners. I think back to the quilting bees of years past, and remember the stories my great-grandmother shared from years of hosting and attending the many quilting gatherings in their small town. Stories, ideas, joys and sorrows were all shared around the quilting frame. Today, we continue these traditions as we meet to knit and crochet in our communities, whether in person or virtually.


Lastly, I want to share a few of the "themes" I took away from this latest exploration of drama in the fiber arts community:

  1. None of us is perfect, and we're going to make mistakes. Since that's true for ALL of us, we should be as KIND as we would want people to be to us if the roles were reversed.

  2. Life is all about learning. In this era of social media, we too often get to see all the stumbles of others' life lessons, while being able to hide our own. Let's strive to view others' stumbles through a lens of compassion.

  3. If we don't want criticism, we should probably keep our ideas, accomplishments and other personal takes off of social media. People who put themselves out there (including bloggers like me) are allowing, if not inviting, people to make comments and share opinions that we may not appreciate, but that's part of the (social media) deal.

  4. People (all of us) have short attention spans. We can pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and start over. That "goldfish-level attention span" of the average American these days has its positive aspects! Leverage this fact when needed, and keep moving forward!


I wish the creator of Chunky Boy Crochet the very best and look forward to hearing of her turnaround and reboot!


 

(C) 2024 Stitch ‘n Dish


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