Winner: StitchCraft
Nicholette Hoyer, owner
20 percent of sales driven by crafting classes
Nicholette Hoyer's craft shop is less than a year old, but plans for it were in the works far longer.
"I've had this business formulated in my mind since I was a teenager," said Hoyer, a former knitting teacher and pattern designer.
The shop sells upscale supplies for knitting, crochet, embroidery, spinning, sewing and quilting with organic yarns, fabrics and wallpaper.
"I predicted success and I knew it was something we needed here because you hear about people going to Portland to get these types of things," Hoyer said.
Since StitchCraft's opening in May 2008, sales have grown monthly throughout the year. Hoyer declined to share revenue specifics, but said there was enough growth to support her first part-time employee in October, and a second in early 2009.
Hoyer had a careful business plan, but was surprised in 2008 by the recession and serious challenges to her family's physical health, she said.
"On a personal level, we've had big, huge changes but have still somehow managed to open the doors every single day," Hoyer said.
The shop was busy in 2008 because people turn to crafting when they're pinching pennies, she said.
"This is a time when people are staying home more," Hoyer said. "Instead of spending $50 on a dinner, they're spending $50 on making a sweater and it's not just gone in an hour."
Crafting classes drive at least 20 percent of revenue, Hoyer said. She and seven teachers, paid as independent contractors, serve about 35 students per month in group and individual lessons.
"As soon as you create a knitter, then you create a customer who continues to come back," Hoyer said.
Ironically, she has less time for knitting since opening the store.
"I always have something on my needles or in my sewing box, but I work on it very slowly," she said.
– Charity Thompson
Finalist: Tully's Coffee
Owners: Sandee and Al Kirkwood, Kelley and Dean Gaylor, and Melissa and Daniel Kirkwood
Opened two locations in 2008
The Kirkwood family sort of stumbled into the coffee business, said Daniel Kirkwood, vice president of Vancouver-based Kirkwood and Kirkwood.
The investment and development company built Eastside Spectrum on 164th Avenue – next to one of the company's other businesses, Big Al's – with space for a coffee shop and drive-thru. Starbucks had pulled back the reins on expansion, so the Kirkwoods contacted Tully's Coffee. The Seattle-based company liked the site but didn't have a franchisee in the area, and likewise, the Kirkwoods checked out Tully's and were interested in franchising.
At the same time, Gramor and C.E. John Co. built Hazel Dell Square with space for a coffee shop and drive-thru, and when the two companies discovered Kirkwood and Kirkwood were investigating Tully's, they, too, expressed interest, Kirkwood said.
He was familiar with the company, having lived in Seattle, and appreciated its handcrafted product.
"It's the only company that still handcrafts coffee on a large scale," Kirkwood said. "The coffee still transfers through inspections through the hand, to ensure it's roasted to perfection."
The Kirkwoods bought the franchise rights for four counties – Clark, Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas – and opened the first coffee shop at Hazel Dell Square in October, and the second in Eastside Spectrum in December.
The goal is to open three more locations in the next three years.
Sales have been better than expected, and although he declined to share specific financial figures, Kirkwood supposes people wanted a new coffee experience.
"Starbucks is almost the fast food of coffee," he said. "Our experience is a little different. It's a neighborhood cafe, where we encourage people to sit down, relax in front of the fire, play some games, use Wi-Fi."
– Megan Patrick-Vaughn
