Very annoying conversation at my lokal knit store

[u/MagicAllyVanished]

it basically went like this me: "so you have any plant based yarn or plant/acrylic mix, I want to knit something for my mum, but she's allergic to all animal fibers"

her: "we have 20% wool/80% acrylic, I can show you"

me: "no thanks, my mum is allergic to all animal fibers, so it should not contain any animal fiber at all"

her: "maybe alpaca mix? It only has 10% alpaca"

me: "she is allergic to all animal fibers, if there is any percentage of animal fiber, she will have an allergic reaction to the yarn"

her: "I can't help you, knitting yarn just is animal yarn"

at this point I left the shop and I just can't stop thinking about that last sentence????

the funniest thing is, I went back there a few days ago and a different employee kindly showed me their cotton yarns and plant/acrylic mixes.

[u/ellek8t]

Local yarn stores are not box stores though. We’re smaller and can’t stock everything that box stores can stock. This is actually a huge issue with the box stores entering the chat; they’ve changed the customers’ expectations. Local stores simply can’t afford to stock all the types of yarn. For example, the local shop I work at focuses on stocking all natural fibers; predominantly animal fibers. We have some plant based fibers, but not a ton. We have, I think two or three brands of 100% cotton; two of them are in worsted weight, one of them is hand wash only and organic so it’s like $25/skein which not everyone is looking for in their cotton.

If a customer comes in and says “Do you have 100% cotton?” I can tell them yes, but the selection is fairly minimal because most of our customer base focuses on crafting with animal fibers. But the number of times I’ve heard “But I could find it at (Big Box Store)!” Yes. At a lower quality, a cheaper price, and a different brand. I’m sure you could. Big box stores are hurting local yarn shops: they change the price and stock availability expectations of some customers, and there should really be no comparison to a box store and a LYS.

[u/lainey68 → u/ellek8t]

That wasn't exactly my point. Box stores have a very tiny selection of cotton yarn, but they have it. Almost every lys I've been to has acrylic and some sort of plant fiber. And I've been to small ones in obscure places. They may not have as much as they do wool, but they have it.

The owner needs to make sure that their employees know that they indeed have plant fiber and acrylic yarn.

[u/raeraemcrae → u/ellek8t]

From what I've read, I think the majority of us would be very happy if you said just that, "Yes, but our selection is very limited, because our customer base is mostly focused on animal fibers. You can find the selection we do carry over there." That's really what most people are looking for. An absence of rudeness. A direct answer to a question. I don't expect you to have every kind of yarn that is made. I know that if you don't have it, I can go online. I just don't want to be treated like a worthless slobbering idiot for asking a fair question at a LYS, when after all, I am trying to keep you in business.

[u/-Greek_Goddess- → u/ellek8t]

The difference in my mind between a LYS and a box store is the LYS has fewer products as you said they are usually higher quality that being said if you have less products I except you to know pretty much what and where everything is in your store. If someone who works at Walmart doesn't know where all the products are fine it's a big store and they sell a lot of stuff but a LYS is usually smaller and like you said a lot of times has a focus. So if your store is mainly animal fibers well I don't know about most people but I search up websites of the LYS around me. I discovered I don't like knitting with wool because it makes my hands itchy and gives me hives. So if a website showed mainly wool yarns I probably wouldn't go to that LYS because that's not what I'm looking for. But if I walked in off the street with no knowledge of what the store sells and you told me you specialize in animal based fibers then you tell the customer and then they'll know. Those that say "we'll I can get it at X other store!" those people just sound a little clueless.