Farewell, Lewiscraft - a reader responds.
July 6th, 2006
If you haven’t read my Knitty article about the recent demise of the craft store chain Lewiscraft, please do–and then set a moment aside for this impassioned and altogether excellent response from a young (former) Lewiscraft employee. It expresses many things that I wish I had said in my piece, responds to some of my criticisms, and gives us all some insight into some of the issues at play behind the scenes:
While I was initially excited to see your new Knitty article about Lewiscraft, it ended up being a rather harsh eulogy. I’m 23, I was an assistant manager of a Lewiscraft, and I assure you, not all stores fit into the “tacky and taste-challenged” category. Junior management was in charge of the yarn department, ordering, arranging, samples, the whole shebang. I did the best I could with what I was allowed to order, and we had a decent number of young knitters browsing and buying, and liking what they saw. I taught countless teenagers and twenty-somethings (and older!) to knit from behind the counter. But no one ever remembers the good, do they?
In the last few years, Lewiscraft had branched out a little, yarnwise, albeit reluctantly. European yarns from Lang and Stoeller, among others, were brought in, but think of our main customer: the older person who’d been knitting since they could read. Are they going to shell out ten dollars for a ball of mohair blend from Germany? Probably not.
A lot of the blame, which you didn’t mention, belongs to Spinrite, the distributor for Patons, Bernat, and Lily. Shortly after taking over Patons they outsourced the work overseas, to China and Turkey. The yarn quality took a real nosedive afterwards (to say nothing of the regular quality control. Knots everywhere!). Acrylics that used to be matte, and really rather high quality, turned out shiny and loosely plied. One woman brought back a sweater she had knit, fresh from the washing machine, and it was completely stretched and warped. She had been knitting the same sweater with Astra for years, back when it was still Beehive Astra, and had never had that happened before. She’d called Spinrite, and they told them “Oh yes, we know about the problem.”
The next day, I had three women turn down yarn because their friend had made a sweater with “that stuff from Turkey” and they didn’t want to use it. Patons used to have beautiful yarn, at least within the medium price range. There was a rash of discontinuing shortly after Spinrite took over, yarns that had been around for decades and that people knew, and trusted. (I wouldn’t dare say people trust yarn with anyone other than a knitter; I get enough cock-eyed stares as it is.)
I know I shouldn’t really take the article as personally as perhaps I did, but, I loved that store. Before I worked there, I was a customer, since age five, when I used to buy wooden shapes to glue into raccoons for the fridge. When I went away to college and didn’t know where there were any yarn stores, a trip to mall revealed a Lewiscraft, and I felt a little more at home.
I can honestly say at my store, we tried to shed the image that you perpetuate. I had great plans too, had she not gone belly up. I worked at a yarn store, afterwards, for a few months, but found it too snobby. They had the same image of Lewiscraft as you do, and I was never allowed to progress beyond stock.
Another interesting thing happened; older women drifting in, on fixed budgets, looking for inexpensive, but quality yarn, for projects they’d knit for years. Of course the high-end yarn store didn’t have Spinrite yarns. I watched in horror as an 80 year old woman was directed away from the moderately priced Sirdar acrylic in favour of a merino/cashmere blend for a waistcoat. This after she’d explain she didn’t want to spend over thirty dollars, and didn’t need anything fancy.
That was possibly my favourite part of working at Lewiscraft, helping people who didn’t have a lot, but wanted to knit something lovely. Keep in mind that not having a lot and coming into the Lewiscraft is different than the “not having a lot” type person who would walk into a yarn store. I feel bad for the people who’d been shopping at Lewiscraft for years, and now have to brave a whole new beast at the high-end yarn store.
So, you can see by my rambles, it’s not just a loss of the “old fusty Lewiscraft.” It’s a lot more.
–Janis Hotham
Thank you for writing, Janis, and I apologize if my column came off as more flip, or critical, than I had intended. Despite its gradual decline in recent years, I do see the closure of Lewiscraft as a true loss to knitters and crafters everywhere.
I heard that the chain was ‘bought out’ but I don’t know by whom. (Spinrite? Shudder!) If any of you knows more about the situation, I’d be curious to hear. Also, if you have any thoughts on Lewiscraft past and present, or any fond memories you’d like to share, feel free to post them here.
PS: We all were at the celebration of Lettuce Knit’s reopening/Amy’s emancipation from day-job slavery last night–and Stephanie has some pictures up in her post here. Notice how my big bald head keeps poking into the shot. Nice.
12 Comments Add your own
1. Janis | July 6th, 2006 at 5:20 pm
I should have mentioned the “buy out” thing.
Bentley Luggage didn’t exactly buy Lewiscraft Corp out, but aided us with the liquidation, and a bunch of other business things I don’t understand. Basically, they got to merchandise their products in our stores (Hence the dollar-store look if you’d visited a Lewiscraft near the end), and they gained all of our leases, I believe.
And they offered most of us jobs afterwards, as well. Which is nice, of course, but I’m a KNITTER, what do I know about luggage?
2. david_demchuk | July 6th, 2006 at 5:26 pm
Bentley? Bentley Luggage?
Okay, apart from the generosity they displayed in the broadest sense of the word, that makes no sense. And sucks.
3. Christine | July 7th, 2006 at 11:16 am
I too will miss Lewiscraft, I was pleasantly surprised to see your piece on it in the most recent Knitty. I always enjoyed going there after school or after work later to pick up first embroidery thread for friendship bracelets, then for actual cross stitch and embroidery, and eventually yarn.
I found it to be a great place to shop, although I think I was pushing the upper bounds of the yarn I would buy there even with my Patons Classic Wool merino for my winter sweater. It was always the perfect place to go pick up inexpensive sock yarns or acrylic to teach people to knit from. And the convenience of the locations was great too, as my LYS is hardly local.
I will miss my local Lewiscraft, even though I moved away to school two years ago. Even when I’d been away for a term or longer the staff there still remembered me, and were as helpful as the inventory would allow.
4. Heather Cameron | July 7th, 2006 at 3:32 pm
I hardly ever went into a Lewiscraft but stumbled into one right near the end, as it was the only place in Vancouver where I could be assured of finding DMC embroidery floss. (Isn’t that crazy? Everybody must be buying online.)
Anyway, I was shocked to see that they were closing and asked the clerk if it was because of Michaels. She said that’s what everybody assumed, but that Lewiscraft had been bought by a liquidator and they were selling everything off. She also said that prices at Michaels seemed to have taken a jump since it was announced that lewiscraft was closing. But she was optimistic too, and felt that now was a good time for small neighbourhood craft supply stores to develop and grow.
I left with about 30 skeins of embroidery floss, at 75% off. Somehow it didn’t feel like a great bargain should…
5. rita balboni | July 7th, 2006 at 6:53 pm
I was a manager for Lewiscraft on Vancouver Island and know that Bentleys bought our Lewiscraft during their bankruptcy. Bentleys has over 200 stores and purchases stores for liquidation all the time. Unfortunately Lewiscraft failed because of poor upper management, also because of the continuation of opening stores while their stores were failing. They also failed to listen to managers who worked with customers every day and listened to customers\’ requests and complaints. Lewiscraft also failed to keep up with the changes in hobbies - eg. scrapbooking, beading. They also didn\’t see the changes in style of knitting and younger generation who needed younger styled patterns. Unfortunately losing Lewiscraft has left a large hole in the crafting world.
6. Adwin | July 8th, 2006 at 6:48 pm
First, I’d like to say thanks to David for sharing this letter from a Lewiscraft employee. I can’t say exactly why it means so much to me, but it does. So thank you kindly. ^_^
As for the buy out: As far as I was told via emails and through my store manager, Lewiscraft was indeed bought out by Bentley, for the simple reason that it was profitable for them to liquidate us. We were told that the owner of Lewiscraft (who apparently purchased us about ten years ago - however I don’t know how true this is) wanted to retire, and couldn’t find anyone who would purchase a struggling company. However, we could never get a firm answer from anyone, and our staff and our customers were left wondering.
I think I can speak for the majority of the employees when I say that we were very disapointed at how things ended with this company, and we were all left feeling a little bitter. Our store was one of those kept open as a liquidation store after the official “take over” on June 30. None of our staff were offered jobs, and we ended up working in rather nasty conditions for the last few months. If anyone wants horror stories, lemme know, lol.
7. Ed | July 11th, 2006 at 9:07 am
Sorry to hear about the closing Dave. I hate when that happens…you have a favorite specialty store and then the close. That was the case here recently when my favorite shop that stocked TONS of wool roving just shut down…no notice…just gone. So now I plan on stocking up at the Michigan Fiber Festival next month. BTW…progress on the hat is slow…homework is sucking up all of my time!
8. david_demchuk | July 11th, 2006 at 10:19 am
Well homework probably *is* more important. (Or so I’ve always been told!)
9. Steph | July 11th, 2006 at 2:34 pm
Thanks for the Lewiscraft story. I bought most of my first yarn and Paton’s there and at Eatons and I’m sorry that both are gone. Living in a town without a yarn shop (pre internet days) these were the only places to buy yarn and get help with my knitting.
And as a downtown Torontonian I shudder to think I’ll have to drive to suburbia to a Michaels to pick up some craft supplies for the kids instead of just biking to Yonge and Bloor.
10. Beverly | July 25th, 2006 at 12:39 am
I’m in the same boat as Steph. I don’t drive and my LYSes seem only to stock higher end - and higher priced - yarns and wools. Lewiscraft was always nearby, and for someone who hasn’t progressed beyond rectangles (*blush*), a great resource for reasonably priced yarns to practice simple projects on. Are there any alternatives?
11. Cora | November 27th, 2006 at 10:41 pm
I am currently working at one of the last “Lewiscraft’s” that Bentley left open. It is only one of 10 left open. It, indeed, has a dollar store quality to it. I am saddened that an era has ended.
I read Adwin’s comment and I had overheard this from a manager, however, my experience was very upsetting. I know for a fact that it was mismanagement from higher up. The staff on the floor were more aware of what customers wanted. I see what we have left to sell of the Lewiscraft product and it is items that just don’t make sense.
For instance:
1,000,000 hair clips
old, outdated Delta Glass Paint
over 1,000,000 stud findings
just to name a few items. This is crazy!
I got a promotion of Assistance Manager for a company that doesn’t exist. Will I continue with Bentley Leather? No. I just wanted to close Lewiscraft with the dignity and care that was needed.
As for Spinrite, they are having difficulties of their own. The quality of their yarn went downhill very quickly. I was very lucky and have found a LYS that has treated me with dignity and respect.
I am sorry to see this chain disappear as I have known them since I was a little girl.
Sincerely yours
Cora
12. david_demchuk | November 27th, 2006 at 10:59 pm
Hello everyone–and thank you so much for responding to this post regarding the closing of Lewiscraft, and to my article at Knitty. I don’t think anything I’ve written in the past year has elicited such a passionate outpouring of emotion.
In the months since Lewiscraft as we knew it ceased to be, I continue to hear from people all over the country about how important the store was for them and how greatly they are feeling the loss. While I had wished for a refreshed and renewed Lewiscraft, I too greatly miss the store–both as a nearby and inexpensive craft supplier and as a Canadian institution. Quite some time has passed, and nothing has arrived to replace it.
(And the Bentley stores are ghastly. Period.)
I do hope you’ll continue to come and visit. I’m always happy to hear from you, as is everyone who mourns Lewiscraft’s passing.
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