Nettie's Neddlecraft: The End of an Era
Nettie has had her lease on Wilshire Blvd. longer than I've been alive. Seriously. Since I was a kid I remember driving by Nettie's Neddlecraft. Its a block west of Neimans in prime Beverly Hills retail real estate. Driving to Bonwitt Teller I remember passing that burgundy awning. So, it was surreal to go today knowing that Nettie will only be there a few more weeks.
My first foray into the "needle arts," if you will, was needlepoint. It was an easy way to keep me occupied when mom & I would visit family in Pittsburgh. Its like coloring with yarn. I still enjoy it and have an unwritten contract with family that when a baby is born a stocking is stitched. And, I've bought most of my stockings from Nettie.
Every visit to Nettie's was the same. You walk into the store and are completely overwhelmed. She's been in this business for years and her inventory reflects that history. I would only shop in one aisle as most neddlepoint is cost prohibitive; yet that one aisle could keep me occupied for an hour. Then, as Nettie would sit in the back stitching with her other clients, one of her people would help me find something or just ring me up. It was always a unique shopping experience.
Walking into the store today, I don't think I warned Regina well enough and to be honest even I wasn't prepared for the amount of stock she had on hand. Not only did Nettie have her usual overwhelming amount of merchandise but she was also emptying out her warehouse. And, for the first time, I had the pleasure of speaking to this proprietor. As it is rude to ask a lady of her stature her age, I did ask her why close, why now. She didn't answer but we did establish in the course of the conversation that she has a great-grandchild my age. Later we overheard that her landlord is aggressively raising the rent so it was just time to go.
For all of you collectors out there, look at what Regina introduced me to:
And get this, she has a sign that all the magazines are $1.50. But, while we were there assembling our stack Nettie changed her mind and said that she's charging face value for them. McCall's marked it $1 in 1975, you pay one dollar in 2007. That's right, I said it. It reads $1.25, you pay $1.25, no eBay bidding required.
You seriously need to head over there. Rumor has it she'll be there until the 25th, but I'd head over this week. You just never know what you're going to find. She really wants to get rid of those magazines. After all, they're sitting on top of a convection oven still in the box that she hasn't had the opportunity to use and she'd really like to take that home.
My first foray into the "needle arts," if you will, was needlepoint. It was an easy way to keep me occupied when mom & I would visit family in Pittsburgh. Its like coloring with yarn. I still enjoy it and have an unwritten contract with family that when a baby is born a stocking is stitched. And, I've bought most of my stockings from Nettie.
Every visit to Nettie's was the same. You walk into the store and are completely overwhelmed. She's been in this business for years and her inventory reflects that history. I would only shop in one aisle as most neddlepoint is cost prohibitive; yet that one aisle could keep me occupied for an hour. Then, as Nettie would sit in the back stitching with her other clients, one of her people would help me find something or just ring me up. It was always a unique shopping experience.
Walking into the store today, I don't think I warned Regina well enough and to be honest even I wasn't prepared for the amount of stock she had on hand. Not only did Nettie have her usual overwhelming amount of merchandise but she was also emptying out her warehouse. And, for the first time, I had the pleasure of speaking to this proprietor. As it is rude to ask a lady of her stature her age, I did ask her why close, why now. She didn't answer but we did establish in the course of the conversation that she has a great-grandchild my age. Later we overheard that her landlord is aggressively raising the rent so it was just time to go.
For all of you collectors out there, look at what Regina introduced me to:
And get this, she has a sign that all the magazines are $1.50. But, while we were there assembling our stack Nettie changed her mind and said that she's charging face value for them. McCall's marked it $1 in 1975, you pay one dollar in 2007. That's right, I said it. It reads $1.25, you pay $1.25, no eBay bidding required.
You seriously need to head over there. Rumor has it she'll be there until the 25th, but I'd head over this week. You just never know what you're going to find. She really wants to get rid of those magazines. After all, they're sitting on top of a convection oven still in the box that she hasn't had the opportunity to use and she'd really like to take that home.
posted by jenna! at
8:57 PM
1 Comments:
Oh yeah....Nettie's. I grew up within a few blocks of this shop. If we couldn't find what we were looking for at the less expensive Super Yarn Mart or at Sear's, then we walked up to Nettie's. My Mom and my aunts frequented the place in the late 60's and early 70's for their needlepoint supplies too. Sad to see an icon of Beverly Hills moving on.
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