It is hard for anyone who considers themselves more than a beginning knitter and with a modicum of Internet search skills not to know about the online yarn, needle and fabric shop call Jimmy Beans Wool. Lots of people on knit chat rooms and on Ravelry talk about them. And even though I have known about Jimmy Beans I haven't really ordered from them nor was I particularly familiar with them, until now. I would have never guessed they have been around for just over 10 years.
Lee was kind enough to recently send me the link to a New York Times article about Jimmy Beans Wool. (Lucky for me I have readers and then people who share their reading in my family.) Click here to read all the details in that article.
Should you not wish to read the entire article let me summarize. In 2000 the couple Laura and Doug Zander, a husband and wife dot.com team, left San Francisco after they decided it was time to get out of software engineering. They moved to Reno, Nevada and decided to become Web consultants, but that business didn't quite take off as they had hoped. In the mean time Laura learned how to knit and became totally obsessed. A consulting customer, an owner of a hand-dyed yarn company, convinced Laura to open a yarn shop in 2002 and that's how Jimmy Beans Wool came about. The name is a combination of a beloved childhood character and beans for the coffee once served in the store. These two Web consultants, however, put their talents from the dot.com industry to good use since then creating a now $7 million business.
Jimmy Beans Wool developed an entire catalogue of YouTube videos on "how to" starting in 2008. Their offerings have expanded into product reviews of all sorts as well. The interesting part of these videos is that they are so unprofessional. It is as if you are in the Reno store talking to a sales clerk to get advice, and many find this approach very endearing. The store also puts out a blog, newsletter and of course operates a very active and customer-orientated online mail order business.
The small Reno store has become a mecca for yarn artists across the U.S. and visitorship to the city has increased because of Jimmy Beans Wool. I strongly recommend your taking a bit of time to look at what this reputable online store has to offer. Their website has the potential to keep you busy for hours. Oh and if you are in Reno you'll have to stop by and crawl into the tub of yarn like these two.
Lee was kind enough to recently send me the link to a New York Times article about Jimmy Beans Wool. (Lucky for me I have readers and then people who share their reading in my family.) Click here to read all the details in that article.
Should you not wish to read the entire article let me summarize. In 2000 the couple Laura and Doug Zander, a husband and wife dot.com team, left San Francisco after they decided it was time to get out of software engineering. They moved to Reno, Nevada and decided to become Web consultants, but that business didn't quite take off as they had hoped. In the mean time Laura learned how to knit and became totally obsessed. A consulting customer, an owner of a hand-dyed yarn company, convinced Laura to open a yarn shop in 2002 and that's how Jimmy Beans Wool came about. The name is a combination of a beloved childhood character and beans for the coffee once served in the store. These two Web consultants, however, put their talents from the dot.com industry to good use since then creating a now $7 million business.
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| The Zanders in front and their employees in the Jimmy Beans Wool warehouse |
Jimmy Beans Wool developed an entire catalogue of YouTube videos on "how to" starting in 2008. Their offerings have expanded into product reviews of all sorts as well. The interesting part of these videos is that they are so unprofessional. It is as if you are in the Reno store talking to a sales clerk to get advice, and many find this approach very endearing. The store also puts out a blog, newsletter and of course operates a very active and customer-orientated online mail order business.
The small Reno store has become a mecca for yarn artists across the U.S. and visitorship to the city has increased because of Jimmy Beans Wool. I strongly recommend your taking a bit of time to look at what this reputable online store has to offer. Their website has the potential to keep you busy for hours. Oh and if you are in Reno you'll have to stop by and crawl into the tub of yarn like these two.
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