So I was in NYC on Saturday to see some Mississippi kin and decided to take my chances picking a yarn store from the phone book and figuring out how to get there. I started out headed to Stitches East but found out by my lack of callingness that they were closed for renovation. On to plan B: The Yarn Co.
I figure, before I launch into this (since I don't know how long it will get), I should lay my bias cards out on the table.
Bias #5: I expect to be able to actually get into your store, even when I'm having a brain-dead day. No puzzles. Easy access is my friend. That said, I'm probably a crotchy bitch, but this store really underwhelmed me. Like, major-time underwhelmed me. Like, I regretted spending any money there underwhelmed. Like, had $50 cash in my pocket and didn't even consider purchasing anything for a good long while. (I walked out with needles and an old copy of Interweave.)
First off, it was really hard getting into the store. I understand the whole "cramped city thing" because Rosie's is in a basement. Can't get much more cramped than that. But this store is in an apartment, on the second floor of a hard to get into building. I only got in because someone was coming out. Once I got up there, I realized that when people pushed the buzzer downstairs, they were buzzed up. The really alert city dweller would be on that; but the average person? Probably not. This system sorta gave me the first impression that this store is mostly for the same crowd over and over again...not for new or visiting knitters.
After I got up, I had to figure out who was working there and who wasn't. Hard task, believe it or not. I will give them points for being friendly and normal, but I expect the staff at my yarn store to be recognizable as staff...by, I dunno...offering to help me or something. Or acting like they know how to work the register.
Their prices were cheaper than Rosie's...by about a nickel. I have no qualms about their prices, actually.
Their stock, on the other hand! Bulky, chunky, big. BIG. BIG. And every single upscale novelty yarn on the planet, it would seem! I think that maybe, just maybe, the Yarn Co caters to trendy knitters and new knitters. The staff seemed really confused that I was asking about sock yarn and lace weight, too. They almost had the "Why would anyone want to knit with those things?" look. I really didn't see much by way of practical yarns floating around, either.
I dunno...I feel like this store is over-hyped for what it really is. It's not all that great; the prices are so so (really high if you are into shopping online and finding things cheap/on sale). The needle stock isn't so hot (mostly bamboo and Susan Bates metal); the staff is mostly just there for social reasons, not because they actually know things about yarn. If you go to NYC, hit up another store first; I'm sure there are better ones.
I will say, though, that there was a staff member (I think she might be one of the owners?) who was really really kind. She was uber-helpful, climbing up and looking through the store copies of Interweave for me to see if they had duplicates of the one I wanted. She was great. Props to her.
