L’Artisan Finds Niche Selling Yarn To Rural N.B.
GRAND FALLS – An Ontario transplant’s dream to bring good yarn to rural northwestern New Brunswick, so crafters don’t have to cross the province, is being realized as a brick-and-mortar shop in St. Leonard.
Tammy Larabie, founder and owner of L’Artisan, told Huddle that when she moved to New Brunswick, where her husband is originally from, she set to open up a yarn shop as soon as possible. That dream came true in downtown Saint Leonard in April.
“People will travel for their yarn; people love their yarn. There’s nothing like it in the area, since people have had to drive to Fredericton to get yarn from Michael’s there or in Moncton. That’s a two-and-a-half-hour drive from here. People don’t mind traveling 30 minutes from Grand Falls or 40 from Edmundston,” she said.
Larabie’s desire to open a yarn shop came from her own passion for her own creative talent with it, selling her crocheting creations at small businesses across Ontario.
“I saw how much of an impact that had on my life and I want to do that for other makers. I don’t even sell my own stuff in L’Artisan. I want to give that opportunity to other people,” she said.
“I think people want to know the face behind the name instead of a big corporation.”
In addition to yarn – the most popular of which is the Parfait Chunky-brand premier yarn – Larabie rents out space on the shelves at her perch at 622 Rue Principale to 18 local artisans and craftspeople, who pocket 100 percent of the profits from their sales.
“It’s jewelry makers, candle makers, soap makers and any type of art,” she said, noting that she’s on the lookout for more vendors.
Located near the U.S. border, Larabie sells yarn worldwide, with sales of acrylic and cotton yarn sent as far as the United Kingdom and New Zealand. She conducts about 70 percent of her sales online, through Shopify.
Larabie hopes to soon add more vendor products to L’Artisan’s online Shopify platform.
She sources the yarn she sells from a variety of Canadian and American suppliers and is looking to purchase more yarn from local independent dyers and local alpaca farms.
“That will have to come later on, because it’s a more expensive product to carry in our store,” she said.
Currently, Larabie has some of the yarn she sells shipped across the border from the United States. She noted many customers turn to her to get American brands so they can avoid duties.
“The prices are very expensive to ship within Canada but I do my best and eat up a lot of the costs for shipping,” she said.
Meanwhile, when Larabie sells to American customers, she crosses the border to ship yarn through the USPS. Larabie said she has to “eat the higher costs” of shipping in Canada.
Despite having started a business not long after New Brunswick lifted its mandatory health orders, Larabie said the only challenges she faced were the usual trials and tribulations of getting an entrepreneurial venture moving.
“I’ve never opened a store before, so it was more just trying to figure out where to get yarn from and getting some help with the CBDC – it was more just learning aspects of owning your own business,” she said.
”It’s very difficult, so I’m working with bookkeepers and accountants, since it’s a different kind of business with e-commerce as well.”
Larabie said demand for wool cools in summer before picking up as the leaves begin to fall and peaking in the winter. She plans to take her business outside, with three outdoor markets this summer in St. Leonard, in the hopes of enticing more local artisans to check out the scene and potentially rent shelf space. This will be followed by a series of courses on crocheting and knitting in the fall.
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].