31 Mar 2010 No Comments
Crafters help Wyoming’s Threadbender celebrate 25th anniversary – 9694th Edition
Juliane Anderson started as an art teacher. Armed with a dual major in art and education, the Hillsdale native taught in schools in Lapeer and Kellogsville. She liked teaching but found the late '70s was a challenging time for her chosen career — one of the first subjects to get axed when state funding decreases forced districts to cut…
A business milestone: Juliane Anderson, owner of Threadbender Inc., is celebrating 25 years in the yarn business.Juliane Anderson started as an art teacher. Armed with a dual major in art and education, the Hillsdale native taught in schools in Lapeer and Kellogsville.
She liked teaching but found the late ’70s was a challenging time for her chosen career — one of the first subjects to get axed when state funding decreases forced districts to cut back.
“I was laid off every year I taught,” she said, recalling her tally of four layoffs.
“The last one took.”
That’s when Anderson decided to stay home to raise her daughter. Meanwhile, she thought about a dream she shared with many fiber artists.
“I’ve always loved yarn, and I was a weaver,” Anderson said. “I thought there was a shortage of weaving shops.”
She openedThreadbender Inc., 2767 44th St. SW in Wyoming, on May 1, 1984. She sold looms and weaving yarns to weavers but also attracted a growing number of knitters.
“So I ordered more knitting yarns,” Anderson said.
Nearly 25 years later, Anderson still is selling looms and teaching customers to weave, but her business has come to be known widely as a knit shop frequented by local knitters looking for a fiber fix. Customers can take knitting classes as well as stock up on patterns and supplies.
Several other shops have opened and closed, but Threadbender’s business has remained steady for Anderson, who says she didn’t open the shop with the intention of getting rich.
“I love the products I sell,” she said. “I love the people I see, and that is probably one of the reasons that this sort o
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