Namaste Inc.

Jimmy Beans Wool is a fantastic retail location that fully stocks the Namaste line of products in Reno, NV.  Laura Zander, owner of Jimmy Beans Wool, took the time to let us get to know the people behind JBW.  I found the interview with Laura to be insightful and entertaining and just loved getting to know Laura and the story of Jimmy Beans Wool.  Introducing, Laura Zander and Jimmy Beans Wool ..

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

Laura (JBW):  Our doors first opened in 2002.

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

Laura:  In 2002, after 2 years of marriage and a life-changing move from San Francisco to Truckee, CA, my husband Doug and I emptied our savings account and I opened Jimmy Beans Wool. We had both had worked as software engineers during the early dot com era, but when the bottom started to fall, we opted to turn our Tahoe vacation home into our permanent one. I had learned to knit just 6 months prior and was obsessed. While trying to figure out how to make a living in our new hometown of 14,000 people, I secured a job creating a website for a nearby hand-dyed yarn company, Lorna’s Laces. Lorna acted as my first advisor and supported my need to combine my newfound passion for knitting with my passion for creating a market-leading business. She then introduced me to my future mentor Diane Soucy of Knitting Pure and Simple fame, a brilliant Truckee resident that had created a successful knitting pattern business… Together, Lorna and Diane convinced me that I could turn my passion into a business!

Namaste:  Wow!  Going from freelance software engineer to yarn shop owner is quite a fun twist.  Can you tell us a bit more about how that all came to be?

Laura:  Once we moved to Truckee, I started doing freelance software – I started “Castlepeak Solutions” – and ended up doing the website for Lorna’s Laces and an espresso cart maker as well. I traded my work on the website for yarn and a got a great deal on an espresso cart (hence the “beans” in Jimmy Beans Wool). Freelance software in a small town wasn’t enough to pay the bills, so Lorna convinced me to open the shop. The “trigger pulling” moment was probably meeting Diane Soucy from Knitting Pure and Simple. That relationship is what really convinced me that I could do this. In fact, I was a pretty new knitter when I first opened and it wasn’t uncommon for me to call Diane 2 or 3 times a day, asking for knitting advice: ”so….I have a customer here that wants to know how to do a 3 needle bind off? Can you explain that to me over the phone?”

Those were the days!

As for Doug, he’s still is a software engineer. He’s responsible for creating every single thing you see on our website, as well as all of our internal systems: pos, inventory, etc.!).

Namaste:  That’s great.  We still remember the beginning days of Namaste when my garage was our warehouse!  Do you have a physical location in addition to your online store?

Laura:  Yes! The first location was a 500 square foot space in downtown Truckee’s train station that served as a combination yarn/coffee shop. It only took about 6 months before we had to get rid of the espresso cart and couches to make more room for yarn! When we outgrew the space in Truckee, we opened a second shop in Reno in July 2004. As the business continued to grow it made more sense to have just one location and we closed the Truckee shop in March 2007.

Namaste:  What is your favorite thing about your store?

Laura:  I love yarn. I love our customers and our vendors. But the thing I love most about this business is the family that has been created as result. There are more than 20 of us working at the shop now and I never could have imagined that we would all become so close. It truly warms my heart to know that all of the girls have become friends – and spend time together outside of the shop.

Namaste:  This is so sweet, and I totally understand what you’re saying.  We feel so grateful at Namaste that we can come to work with our friends and family every day- and we make sure to make time for fun!  Can you tell me a bit more about the dynamics of your “work family”?

Laura:  Everyone on staff  (and there are 20+ of us now!) has a great work ethic and the uncanny ability to keep a positive energy going even when stress levels are at maximum. There can often be heard the melodious vocals of Sandy as she pulls orders and spontaneous dance parties have been know to occur. Every couple of weeks the girls organize a theme day such as “Flash Dance Friday” and “Socks With Sandals Day” which always result in some crazy outfits and amused looks from our in-store customers. Just about everyone has become a frozen yogurt addict and afternoon pick-me-ups (if needed… or not) usually involve a quick run over to Honey Treat Yogurt just a few doors down from the shop.  In addition, the girls try to get together outside of work and have a knit night, rotating between each others’ houses. When I say that our team is a family, I mean it. We truly are.

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

Laura:  My personal favorite is…wait, do we have to pick just one?  We love ALL of your products!  If pressed to choose, I’d say the “Oh Snap” bags. I absolutely love to have things organized, and these make the task so much easier.

We were attracted to this line because the products were practical and straight forward in design and yet the colors ranged from playful to classic!

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

Laura:  The Namaste product line is fresh and fun.  We love it for the sleek designs that are so well thought out.  Namaste products really complement this craft as they offer chic, yet very practical products.

Namaste:  Who are most of your customers?

Laura:  People like you and me.

Our customers are young adults, men, moms, grandmas and some grandpas too!  Our customers are also business people who love to knit and crochet to relax, those who knit to give to their family and community and those who knit for the sheer joy of it!  There are probably many more that I am forgetting to mention!

Namaste:  What lesson has opening JBW taught you?

Laura:  I’ve learned it is important to follow your instincts in all aspect of business (and life!): whether it’s buying inventory, treating customers/co-workers with respect, or creating a business based on the vision you have (of the way every other business out there should be run).

Namaste:  If you have a motto, what is it?

Laura:  JBW, your local yarn shop…online.

We don’t want to be the biggest yarn shop out there; we want to be the best.  To put it simply, we are trying to do more than just sell yarn. We are trying to develop relationships that will last a lifetime.

Namaste:  This is a really nice statement.  Can you elaborate?

Laura:   We really strive to treat our customers the way we would want to be treated as a customer. Our goal is to give customers the feeling that they are shopping at their LYS no matter where they are. A huge part of that is providing superior customer service, lightning fast shipping 7 days a week, and making as much knitting and crocheting information available on our website. Another important part of building lasting relationships is just listening , whether it be a suggestion for making the website more user friendly, ensuring an order goes Priority shipping instead of UPS or the lastest updates on the grandbabies. It really is attention to detail and going that extra step that customers appreciate. We are also commited to giving back to the knitting community with programs such as our Beans For Brains Scholarship, Landscape Collection Pattern Contest and Knit for Charity Scarves.

Namaste:  Sounds like the ingredients for success to me!

I’d like to thank Laura and team at Jimmy Beans Wool for chatting with us, and letting everyone get to know them better.  After interviewing several successful businesswomen in the needle arts community for this blog, I am beginning to notice some common characteristics among them.

1.  Most of the business owners I’ve interviewed didn’t start off doing this.

2.  Guiding principles are less business oriented and more people oriented.

3.  Feedback and relationships with the customers and employees is extremely valuable.

4.  Don’t forget the fun!

That’s my 2 cents for today.  Once again, thanks a million to Laura and the fun folks at Jimmy Beans Wool.  We appreciate you.

Namaste,

Kelly & the gang

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 30th, 2010 at 1:52 pm 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.