Wool-Tyme owner Theresa de Vries is retiring at the end of August after four decades of weaving business and community together.
As the 81-year-old prepares to pass the torch to her niece, de Vries reflected on 40 years of serving Ottawa's "yarnies."
De Vries — who learned to knit as a child in Holland as "more necessity than hobby" — took over the store when the original proprietor became ill.
"Things were tough. We were an immigrant family coming over right after the war," she said.
De Vries said the secret to the small business's success was starting small and avoiding debt.
"I firmly believe that you pay your bills," said de Vries. "You don't grow unless you have the money to."
Once faced off with Walmart
De Vries' years selling yarn didn't come without tangles — she's faced challenges like the 2018 tornado and a legal spat with Walmart.
The store was originally named Wool-Mart Inc. and de Vries said when Walmart moved into Canada, they wanted her to change the name of her store to avoid confusion.
De Vries said she told Walmart to change its name as Wool-Mart was here first.
"It became a court case and everything," de Vries said. "I was being very stubborn."
Wool-Mart eventually settled with Walmart and became Wool-Tyme.
De Vries said they decided to change the name once it started causing problems.
"We were having people here coming for jobs for Walmart," she recalled. "Our merchandise went on the floor of Walmart in Peterborough."
Part of Ottawa's knitting community
The store became a hub for knitters, crocheters and crafters of all kinds. De Vries said customers often come asking for advice, and she's helped save many a project after a mistake or dropped stitch.
"That's like a life lesson. Sometimes you have to rip it out, back to the original stitches," she said.
"Not everyone has the patience to do that."
Wool-Tyme is somewhere local crafters know they could get help, Michele Pedlar said.
"It doesn't matter how crowded, how busy the store is. They always make time to answer my questions," said Pedlar, who makes and sells crocheted stuffed animals.
"It's one of my happy places in Ottawa."
Local yarn shops still trump online shopping
While many industries have seen consumers favour online shopping giants over brick-and-mortar stores, some yarn buyers say local shops like Wool-Tyme are the best way to buy materials.
"What I'm looking for is like texture and colour and that's very hard to gauge online," Ottawa fibre artist Tara Morris said.
"So it's really helpful for me to be able to walk into an actual building and like hold what I'm working with in my hands."
Morris said she likes to do a "yarn crawl" of a few different Ottawa stores to get the exact shades and textures she needs for her woven landscape art.
She said she appreciates that Wool-Tyme has such a large selection, including Canadian suppliers.
"It's like [being] a kid in a candy store but for yarn lovers," said Morris.
While de Vries is retiring, the store is still going strong. She said her niece Diana Zondag has been interested in taking over Wool-Tyme for 10 years, and de Vries is finally ready to step back.
"I have a long list at home of things that I plan to do."
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2023-08-20 08:00:00Z
CBMid2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNiYy5jYS9uZXdzL2NhbmFkYS9vdHRhd2Evb3duZXItb2YtYmVsb3ZlZC1vdHRhd2EteWFybi1zaG9wLWhhbmdpbmctdXAtdGhlLW5lZWRsZXMtYWZ0ZXItNDAteWVhcnMtMS42OTM4Mjgz0gEA
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