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Marce Edwards is the business editor. She has been at The News Tribune for seven years and has written about technology and big businesses in the South Sound including Weyerhaeuser and Russell. Before moving to Tacoma, she worked at The Idaho Statesman in Boise. She is a Northwest native who likes to garden and refuses to use an umbrella. She lives in Tacoma with her husband and two kids.
C.R. Roberts is a Tacoma native. Before joining The News Tribune, he worked as a freelance writer and part-time cowhand on a cattle ranch in Northern Idaho. He writes about small business, personal finance and other business issues.
John Gillie writes about the aerospace and airline industries, commercial development and consumer issues. During his 30-year-tenure at The News Tribune he has covered issues as diverse as the Native American fishing rights disputes, crime and the courts, the wood products industry and energy. He lived in Tacoma with his family for 25 years, but now lives in Kent because his wife heads a five-state non-profit foundation headquartered in Ballard, and it only seemed a sensible compromise to make considering their workplaces are 40 miles apart.
Kelly Kearsley has been a business reporter at The News Tribune since 2005. She covers the Port of Tacoma and international trade. Being born and raised in Spokane she’s used to living in cities with inferiority complexes and, in fact, prefers it. Prior to working at The News Tribune, she spent three years as a reporter for The Bulletin in Bend, Oregon and another year working stints for The Associated Press and Seattle Times. She graduated from Pacific Lutheran University. She lives in Tacoma with her husband and miniature schnauzer.
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For the next few days, as the holidays approach, we’ll be speaking to small retail stores in the South Sound. If you’d like to nominate a retail business for this series, e-mail c.r.roberts@thenewstribune.com.
Krazy Kat Fiberhaus
Address: 3013 6th Ave., Suite A, Tacoma
On the phone: Peggy Viney, co-owner with her husband, Joel Viney
Please give me a quick description of what your store sells.
We are a needlework and lacemaking supply shop. We sell a little bit of everything that cross-stitchers, needlepointers and hand embroidery people need. We even have some stuff for smockers and needle felters.
When did your holiday season start?
It starts in July. If you're going to be stitching presents, you're not going to be starting them in December because it does take time depending on what you're making. In the last month I have had a lot of people buying kits and supplies for stockings and ornaments. But for the most part in December it's family members coming in to get gift certificates or to buy that special frame for the needleworker in their family.
How is your holiday season going compared to last year?
We've about tripled our business. Part of it is moving to Sixth Avenue in March. We were in Freighthouse Square for about a year before that. It's a lovely little mall but we found that our demographics showed that most of our customers were coming from this end of town. Being next door to the Bead Factory has been a contributing factor to our success. Crafters don't do just one thing.
What are you hearing from your shoppers about their budgets?
I do notice that people are becoming more conscious of their budget. You can tell the economy is not affecting certain segments of my business. Needlepointers tend to have more discretionary funds than cross-stitchers. A hand-painted 4-inch square canvas for needlepoint can cost $30 to $40. It's painted by hand, by a person, almost stitch by stitch. I have some canvases that are up to $700, and that's not including the threads. Cross-stitch patterns start at $1, and the most expensive patterns I have are $35 and that's because they're Lord of the Rings patterns and Peter Jackson has to make his money – they're trademarked.
Are you having any sales?
We have DMC Medici and Needle Necessity French Wool threads on clearance. We've been giving away some needlepoint and cross-stitch patterns so people only have to buy the threads.
What's your most popular item?
Thread! We focus on threads so we have a lot of thread. Most needlework shops tent to get pattern-focused. Most people love the Weeks Dyeworks and The Gentle Art threads. They are all cotton floss.
