Store Review: Wool Winders 7/10
Wool Winders
Rockville, Maryland
The Good:
- Selection. Wool Winders carries a wide range of yarns from basic (Lamb's Pride and Cascade) to luxury (merino, cashmere and cashmere blends) to novelty yarns of the nicer sort. They have a pretty extensive collection of Colinette and Rowan yarns. They don't carry much in the way of silk yarns (I think all they have is Noro Hana), but other than that they are well stocked. They also carry a large number of books and pattern collections, especially Rowan collections. They have single sheet patterns, but I didn't get a chance to look through their binders. They don't carry many knitting magizines, and the few they do have are buried among the pattern books and are somewhat difficult to find. They carry a nice assortment of needles as well, including Crystal Palace Bamboo, Addi Turbos and Naturas, and Clover straights (but sadly, no Clover DPNS that I could see).
- Organization/Lighting. The yarns are organized primarily by gauge: smaller weight yarns are towards the front of the store, and gauge increases as you move towards the back of the store. Other than that, yarns from the same company are stored in the same area, and then organized (pretty loosely) by color. The store doesn't get much natural light, but they do make up for this by having very strong overhead fluorescent lighting.
- Seating. The store has a good sized table for people to sit at and knit, as well as a couch and an armchair. As far as I know they welcome people to come in and knit (particularly on Sundays), though I have never done so. They also have a small kids' corner with books and toys.
Minor complaints:
- Their site says that they carry Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, but they stopped carrying it a little bit ago and forgot to update their stock online. I was rather disappointed about that. They do carry Koigu KPPPM, though (it isn't listed on their yarns list, but is listed on their new arrivals page).
- Their prices tend to be just a little higher than I'm used to, which is saying something since my usual LYS is in Boston. Their prices for Brown Sheep yarns seemed particularly inflated.
The Bad:
- Atmosphere/staff. In my opinion, this is the biggest drawback about Wool Winders. I hardly ever feel comfortable as a customer when I'm in Wool Winders. The few occasions where I've felt at ease have been when a particular staff member is working alone in the store; she seems to be far more personable and relaxed than her co-workers. In general, though, the staff at Wool Winders have a tendency to hover (at least in my experience), and they don't really know when to take a hint and back off.
My last visit to Wool Winders - just last night - was particularly uncomfortable. When I came in, there were 7 other people in the store, 5 of whom were staff members (but only 2 of whom were actually on duty). Within minutes of entering the store I was asked if I needed any help (which is a good thing, of course). I replied with something like, "No thanks, I'm just browsing." In the next 20 minutes, I was asked at least 4 more times if I needed any help, or if I had a particular project in mind. Every single one of the staff members in the store, even those who were not working, questioned me at least once, despite the fact that each time I responded, I was within hearing of everyone else in the store. After a couple times of being asked what project I had in mind, I finally had to say "I have plenty of projects lined up, really, I'm just looking," which seemed to do the trick as far as getting them to leave me alone. It was also pretty clear that some of the staff members were watching me and were not comfortable either with my presence in the store or my browsing. I was pretty upset by this point, and it only made it worse to see that another customer, who came in about 20 minutes after I did, was left to her own devices once she let the staff know that she didn't need any help. Needless to say, this made my time in the store rather unpleasant and factored in to my decision not to buy any yarn from them (though I did leave with some DPNs). In fairness, the other customers in the store seemed to be enjoying their experience, so I doubt my experience is universal.
- Hours. Woolwinders doesn't open until 11, and on most days they are closed by 6. Given their location in the middle of the 'burbs, this makes it pretty hard for anyone with a 9-5 job to get to them during the week (as I found this summer). They do have good weekend hours, though, including Sunday hours.
- Location. They aren't centrally located, and there's not much in the area in terms of public transportation.
- Size. The store is a bit on the small size, and it doesn't take many people to make it feel crowded.
Conclusion: On the whole, Wool Winders is a very nice store. They have a solid selection of yarn, books, and needles, and the set up of the store is easily to navigate and customer-friendly. Unfortunately, the staff at the store are not nearly as customer-friendly, based on my experience over the past few months, and particularly last night. I'll add the following disclaimer: hovering staff is my biggest pet peeve when it comes to going into retail stores. I don't like being followed around or feeling the eyes of staff at my back, nor am I a fan of 'being helpful' as a guise for 'keeping track of the sketchy customer' (which, in my opinion, is what happened last night). It's just not a decent way to treat a customer who's willing to give you money.
Rockville, Maryland
The Good:
- Selection. Wool Winders carries a wide range of yarns from basic (Lamb's Pride and Cascade) to luxury (merino, cashmere and cashmere blends) to novelty yarns of the nicer sort. They have a pretty extensive collection of Colinette and Rowan yarns. They don't carry much in the way of silk yarns (I think all they have is Noro Hana), but other than that they are well stocked. They also carry a large number of books and pattern collections, especially Rowan collections. They have single sheet patterns, but I didn't get a chance to look through their binders. They don't carry many knitting magizines, and the few they do have are buried among the pattern books and are somewhat difficult to find. They carry a nice assortment of needles as well, including Crystal Palace Bamboo, Addi Turbos and Naturas, and Clover straights (but sadly, no Clover DPNS that I could see).
- Organization/Lighting. The yarns are organized primarily by gauge: smaller weight yarns are towards the front of the store, and gauge increases as you move towards the back of the store. Other than that, yarns from the same company are stored in the same area, and then organized (pretty loosely) by color. The store doesn't get much natural light, but they do make up for this by having very strong overhead fluorescent lighting.
- Seating. The store has a good sized table for people to sit at and knit, as well as a couch and an armchair. As far as I know they welcome people to come in and knit (particularly on Sundays), though I have never done so. They also have a small kids' corner with books and toys.
Minor complaints:
- Their site says that they carry Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, but they stopped carrying it a little bit ago and forgot to update their stock online. I was rather disappointed about that. They do carry Koigu KPPPM, though (it isn't listed on their yarns list, but is listed on their new arrivals page).
- Their prices tend to be just a little higher than I'm used to, which is saying something since my usual LYS is in Boston. Their prices for Brown Sheep yarns seemed particularly inflated.
The Bad:
- Atmosphere/staff. In my opinion, this is the biggest drawback about Wool Winders. I hardly ever feel comfortable as a customer when I'm in Wool Winders. The few occasions where I've felt at ease have been when a particular staff member is working alone in the store; she seems to be far more personable and relaxed than her co-workers. In general, though, the staff at Wool Winders have a tendency to hover (at least in my experience), and they don't really know when to take a hint and back off.
My last visit to Wool Winders - just last night - was particularly uncomfortable. When I came in, there were 7 other people in the store, 5 of whom were staff members (but only 2 of whom were actually on duty). Within minutes of entering the store I was asked if I needed any help (which is a good thing, of course). I replied with something like, "No thanks, I'm just browsing." In the next 20 minutes, I was asked at least 4 more times if I needed any help, or if I had a particular project in mind. Every single one of the staff members in the store, even those who were not working, questioned me at least once, despite the fact that each time I responded, I was within hearing of everyone else in the store. After a couple times of being asked what project I had in mind, I finally had to say "I have plenty of projects lined up, really, I'm just looking," which seemed to do the trick as far as getting them to leave me alone. It was also pretty clear that some of the staff members were watching me and were not comfortable either with my presence in the store or my browsing. I was pretty upset by this point, and it only made it worse to see that another customer, who came in about 20 minutes after I did, was left to her own devices once she let the staff know that she didn't need any help. Needless to say, this made my time in the store rather unpleasant and factored in to my decision not to buy any yarn from them (though I did leave with some DPNs). In fairness, the other customers in the store seemed to be enjoying their experience, so I doubt my experience is universal.
- Hours. Woolwinders doesn't open until 11, and on most days they are closed by 6. Given their location in the middle of the 'burbs, this makes it pretty hard for anyone with a 9-5 job to get to them during the week (as I found this summer). They do have good weekend hours, though, including Sunday hours.
- Location. They aren't centrally located, and there's not much in the area in terms of public transportation.
- Size. The store is a bit on the small size, and it doesn't take many people to make it feel crowded.
Conclusion: On the whole, Wool Winders is a very nice store. They have a solid selection of yarn, books, and needles, and the set up of the store is easily to navigate and customer-friendly. Unfortunately, the staff at the store are not nearly as customer-friendly, based on my experience over the past few months, and particularly last night. I'll add the following disclaimer: hovering staff is my biggest pet peeve when it comes to going into retail stores. I don't like being followed around or feeling the eyes of staff at my back, nor am I a fan of 'being helpful' as a guise for 'keeping track of the sketchy customer' (which, in my opinion, is what happened last night). It's just not a decent way to treat a customer who's willing to give you money.