Namaste Inc.

Family. Tradition. Joy.  These qualities make up the motivation behind The Loopy Ewe; a family owned, web-based and brick and mortar knitting store located in St. Louis, MO.  The site and physical location allows shoppers to purchase and browse through their fun and colorful collection of yarn and accessories.  With such a huge variety of knitted patterns and textures, everyone can find something that fits their needs.  At The Loopy Ewe, a combination of the best quality of products and amazing customer service makes the customer experience fun and easy.

Since we (Namaste) started doing business with owner Sheri Berger at The Loopy Ewe a few years ago, we instantly connected with her and her crew with regards to our shared commitment to customer service, creatively growing our businesses, and smiling while we do it.  We’ve truly enjoyed these past few years of working together and look forward to what’s to come.  We asked Sheri the following questions to learn a bit more about the background and inspiration for The Loopy Ewe.

Kelly (Namaste): When did you open the doors for your store?

Sheri (The Loopy Ewe): August 1, 2006. We’re celebrating our fourth anniversary this summer!

Namaste: What did you previously do before opening your store?

Sheri: I was a remedial reading teacher for three years (before my husband and I had kids) and then I was a scrapbooking consultant for 15 years. The Loopy Ewe was just going to be a small side business for fun, because I really liked my scrapbooking job. However, it grew quickly and I soon retired from scrapbooking to put all of my focus on the shop! (It was a good decision. I love having this shop.)

Namaste: What do you think sets you apart from other (knitting) stores?

Sheri: I think there are a lot of great knitting stores out there, and all of us are working hard to keep our businesses going and growing in this economy. No doubt we all stand out in different ways. I can tell you what is important to us at The Loopy Ewe – we focus on providing excellent customer service, getting orders shipped quickly, and bringing in new products and re-stocks every week to keep things fresh. And we really love our customers!

Namaste: What is your favorite Namaste piece? Why were you attracted to the line?

Sheri: My personal favorite is the Hermosa bag. I have one in black and one in red. I love the size and shape, and in addition to using it for knitting, it’s also the perfect carry-on bag when I travel.

I was first attracted to the line because it was such a top quality product at such reasonable prices. One of my customers from Italy told me that when she carries her Namaste bag, all of the Italians ask her where she bought it. (And you know, Italy has really good leather!) I also love how Namaste is constantly updating colors and coming up with new products. They are great at listening to input from shops and knitters, and their customer service is amazing.

Namaste: How does the Namaste product line fit in overall with your store?

Sheri: It’s our biggest bag line. We have a big piece of furniture that my husband made, just for storing all of our Namaste products. It works well and customers know just where to head, when they’re ready for a new Namaste bag or accessory.

Namaste: What do most of your customers look for when they come into (the store)?

Namaste: What encouraged you to open up a knitting store?

Sheri: Knitting was something that my daughter and I enjoyed doing together, when she was in her early teens. When we moved from “fun fur scarves” to socks (because one can never have too many socks), we couldn’t find much variety in sock yarns at our local shops. That led to a lot of research, and then eventually led to us opening up an online shop that specialized in just sock yarns. Within a year, we had moved to a brick and mortar location and expanded way past sock yarns. It has been a lot of work, but we’re having a ball!

One of the factors that links Namaste with The Loopy Ewe is that we both built our business with and around our families. At Namaste, Mama Toni (Dawn & Clint’s mother and my mother-in law) is our warehouse manager and has been with us from the start.  Joe (my brother) manages packing and shipping as well as a host of “front of the office” tasks. Papa John (Toni’s husband) does our accounting and bookkeeping. Clint does all of our photography whether it’s abroad in Istanbul or on the streets of LA.  We’ve also “adopted” Nancy as our own, and she’s responsible for secretarial tasks.  Dawn and I (jokingly referred to as “chief” and “bosslady”) run the show, so to speak. Within the past 6 years, we’ve formed an unbreakable bond of family and friendship that goes hand in hand with our creative process for new products. We’re not businesswomen by trade, we see ourselves as regular people who were willing to take a journey towards something we believe in.  Within the Namaste workplace, positive thinking, positive energy, fun, and fur (our dogs), are all invaluable factors to the overall success of our business.

The Loopy Ewe has also been a family effort from the start. Everyone in the Berger family is able to contribute their individual skills into this project. Sheri’s husband helps with the graphics and photography, while her son puts his skills of web design to use. Sheri’s daughter is in charge of stocking up products for inventory, while Sheri focuses on keeping the business up and running. With a contribution from the entire family, the company has come to be a very well known and well respected business in the crafting community.

Additionally, the staff at The Loopy Ewe are lovingly referred to as: The Elves. Sheri told us that there are 10 gals who work there, all part-time, so that they can still keep up with mom-responsibilities and keep their schedules flexible.  She started with one gal (who was actually her assistant in my scrapbooking business, before Loopy) and then she just kept adding in more people as they grew. One day, early on, one of her customers was in shopping and he commented on “those Loopy elves, scurrying around, packing orders”. Well, the name Loopy Elves just stuck, and they’ve been calling them the Elves for the past 3 years now.  All of their customers call them that, too! (And then ask if they can BE a Loopy Elf.)  Please make sure to stock up on the best quality of sock yarn and Namaste accessories at Loopy Ewe’s online shop at www.theloopyewe.com.

The Loopy Ewe & Namaste both believe in doing business with a smile.  Sheri and the Namaste team agree that “Life’s too short not to enjoy the simple joys of each day”.  We both believe in using our platforms to do good and to help others.  To Sheri & the gang, thanks for being a bright ray of light in our days since your family came into ours.  Namaste.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 at 1:21 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.