3 Kittens Needle Arts is celebrating it’s 10th Anniversary

of ownership by Julie and Laura!

When we bought 3 Kittens on 2006, little did we know the impact that the store would have on our lives and the lives of our staff and customers. 3 Kittens had been in existence since 1972, and we knew that it’s history and customer base were strong. But we also knew that we had dreams and aspirations for 3 Kittens that we just HAD to bring alive! The store has evolved, and we are so proud of it and all that we’ve accomplished. Here are some of the changes that have occurred in our ten years of business:

• Immediately, we changed the name from Three Kittens Yarn Shoppe to 3 Kittens Needle Arts – we wanted to reflect the fact that we didn’t just carry yarn, we also carried needlepoint and wanted the ability to bring in other needle arts.
• In 2008, we moved from the former Diamond Jim’s strip mall on Hwy 13 to our beautiful location in the Village at Mendota Heights.
• We introduced our 3K Club loyalty program which has grown to over 3800 members – and we can’t even begin to count how many $50 rewards we’ve given out!
• Our needlepoint business has grown and grown and grown. Because of this growth, we have had to rearrange our store many times to accommodate more canvases, threads and classes.
• We were in our forties when we bought the store – and our children still lived at home. As of this writing, both of us are empty nesters (although who knows if that will last…)
• We have been lucky to have many, many national instructors visit our store – Kaffe Fassett, Brandon Mably, Romi Hill, Laura Taylor, Melissa Leapman, Nancy Bush, Amy Detjen, Elsebeth Lavold.
• We have our own national instructor, Paula Rae Schmidt, who teaches needlepoint for us as often as she can.
• We have the most knowledgeable staff in the Twin Cities, and we actively encourage our staff to continue learning so they can pass their knowledge onto our customers.
• 3 Kittens has grown to be in the top 20% of needle arts stores in the country (by annual revenue according to the State of Specialty Needle Arts 2016 survey conducted by The National Needlearts Association).

We still have dreams for the store. Change is never easy, but we’re always willing to try something new, explore different product offerings, shake things up a bit. Thank you for being along for the ride – whether it’s bumpy or smooth, we’re always here for you.

And, we’re looking forward to the next ten years!

~ Julie and Laura