"You're Not Open Yet" Update

I am hearing a lot of "you"re not open yet?" So, I will try to explain.

We are locating in a retail strip center which has meant we have been working with a commercial realtor, a large retail entity, a commercial/retail attorney and a contractor. The 38 page lease was negotiated for approximately a month before we signed the lease. The contractor was in the space for a month doing cosmetic work. We just hired an architect to get the required Fire Marshall's occupancy permit - this included 3 blueprint drawings of the floor space of the shop. I went to Conroe (from Magnolia) TWICE today trying to get the documents delivered to the right place!

An alarm system is in place which means we can now write the insurance company a check.

Next on the list is signage. There are pages of sign criteria from the strip center owner, AMReit. Sign companies have been contacted for proposals/bids. Once a company has been selected and provided the necessary sign criteria to go by, their proposal has to be submitted to AMReit and The Woodlands for approval before the work can begin. I would like for the sign to be up before we open but I don't know if that is possible!

In the meantime, most of the larger yarn companies won't talk to you until you have a signed lease, a business phone, a DBA or LLC and some even require a photo of the sign on the front of your shop! Some of the larger yarn companies require large first-time orders - some as large as $5,000 - they want a good representation of their yarn in your shop. When you are opening a yarn shop with a descent inventory; that is literally a drop in the bucket. It has helped that we had a yarn shop before - some have re-opened our old accounts under the new shop name. Some have not.


I am waiting on the the arrival of software that we will use to scan inventory. It will also be used for our transactions virtually eliminating checkout errors. This software was selected after many days/hours of research. When it arrives, I have to learn the software before I can use it and teach others how to use it.

Opening wholesale accounts and working on orders is my primary work now. Think about all the yarns just one yarn company has to offer. Try to decide which yarns you think knitters/crocheters will want to buy. Is this yarn going to be a staple for the shop or is it a new seasonal yarn or a new trend in yarn? What fibers? What colors? How much should I buy? What is my budget for this particular yarn company? There are many decisions to make in working up a single yarn company order. The same goes for needles, hooks, knitting bags and accoutrement! How quickly merchandise comes in determines when we will open.

Now, you know what I am doing when you look in the door and see me in front of my iPad or Mac, pencil and spiral notebook on the table and a Bluetooth in my ear. Waiting for deliveries, alone in a quiet shop is the perfect time to do this.

As you can see, it has been a very involved process that has taken considerable time. We are hoping to open iPurl mid June but it may be more to the end of June. Right now, it's our best guess!

Unless, you buy a shop already full of yarn, it's gonna be awhile!