What: Yarn and fiber store catering to knitters and crochet enthusiasts.
Where: 9301 N.E. Fifth Ave, Suite 120,
Online: www.urbanwolves.net
Michael Arrington spent much of his career in the high-tech world. But since he was laid off earlier this year, Arrington has moved in a decidedly low-tech direction.
Today, as owner and manager of Urban Wolves Fibre Arts, Arrington has a shop full of yarn to sell. Ask how he navigated the transition from studying three-dimensional computer projections to working with spun wools and silks, and you’ll soon learn that Arrington also has a yarn to tell.
It started with the layoff.
When he and his wife, Christine, founded Acacia Research Group back in 2000, the video game industry was a different place. The Arringtons got to know dozens of small businesses, and sold in-depth reports that examined the challenges and opportunities those companies faced. “Then the software guys that used to buy from us got consolidated into one company,” and Acacia Research found itself without enough clients, Michael Arrington says.
Both husband and wife joined global research firm IHS Inc. as high-tech analysts, but Michael missed working for himself.
“Then I got laid off,” he says. “At that point, I hated my job so much that I was actually happy. I felt like I was an inch-and-a-half taller. For a long time, I wanted to try work in retail. Now I had an opportunity, but I did not know what kind of store it might be.”
Arrington’s mother ran a craft store when he was a teen. His wife, Christine, loves to knit. Two longtime Vancouver knitting stores closed during the recession, forcing many Clark County fiber enthusiasts to buy online, travel to Portland, or make due with craft stores and big-box chains that carry limited selections. And, according to IBIS World market research, the $4 billion sewing and knitting industry is rebounding nationwide, after being hit hard over the past five years. Add it all up, and Arrington saw an opportunity.
“So we started looking at retail facilities,” he says. “And I started learning how to knit.”
He developed a vision for Urban Wolves Fibre Arts based on numerous visits to yarn shops he’d made with his wife over the years. Christine, who co-owns the company and leads workshops when she’s not working as the family breadwinner, also often weighed in. They named the business for the two dogs they own, huskies, which they like to jokingly refer to as urban wolves.
“You can buy Red Heart acrylic yarn at Target, but there’s much nicer, higher-end yarn available. That’s what we wanted to offer,” Michael Arrington says. “We also wanted to carry brands that would move, so our shoppers don’t feel like they’re looking at something that’s been on the shelves for 25 years.”
In addition to stocking high-quality — and often costly — finished yarns from Uruguay, Mongolia, New Zealand and the Pacific Northwest, Urban Wolves also sells undyed yarns that customers can color themselves at the store. And through a spinning workshop, fiber enthusiasts can learn to make their own yarn from wool or wool-and-silk blends.
So far, Arrington has been pleasantly surprised by the reception Urban Wolves has received. He and Christine funded the store by drawing down their retirement funds, and negotiating a short-term break on rent that allowed them time to build a customer base before sales took off. Even so, Arrington expected to have to pay out of pocket to keep the company afloat to start.
Daily revenue has been about five time higher than forecast since the store opened in September, Arrington says, though he also noted he is covering costs but not yet paying himself. Instead, he’s investing revenue in new yarns and in developing an online store that he hopes will also contribute to company profits.
As a new knitter who has spent more of his career analyzing businesses than thinking about yarn, Arrington thinks Urban Wolves has an edge that will allow his yarn shop to succeed where others have failed.
“A lot of people who open yarn shops are hobbyists, and then they’re surprised at how much work it is. Running the business can take away from the joy of knitting,” he says. “I’m here six days a week, 10 or 12 hours, and it is a lot of work. But even though I appreciate yarn and am learning to knit, even though I enjoy it, it’s not my hobby in that sense. So I have the ability to pull back at the end of the day. And I’m still happy for the chance to run this business.”
