Jan 6, 2010

Off the Beaten Path Yarnery moves closer to customer base on East SideBy Jane BurnsMadison.com

Karen Baier’s store isn’t off the beaten path anymore, it’s right along it.

In November, Baier moved the yarn shop that had been in her and her husband’s Monona farmhouse into a storefront on Williamson Street. Despite a new address, Off the Beaten Path Yarnery found an instant home.

“I did a poll in my old location and found out that 85 percent of my customers lived over here anyway,” said Baier, who had opened her original store on Femrite Drive in 2005. “So we just moved into our own neighborhood.”

The store specializes in natural fibers, selling organic and sustainable yarns. It also sells patterns, books and tools. Some fibers are locally produced.

“Now that we’re on Williamson Street, we’re seeing much more business,” Baier said. “This is a wonderful neighborhood. It’s a walking neighborhood, it’s an involved neighborhood. It feels good. It fits our mission.”

Baier is committed to her store’s mission, and spells it out on the website, www.knitmeone.com. The priorities for the business are service, community, stewardship and serenity.

“If you meet the first three, you get the fourth,” she said.

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