Word sure travels when the entire yarn stock is on sale at
50% off!!!
We arrived at
the store, saw the parking situation and got our first hint of the crowd that had gathered for this event, but we went in anyway. We had driven 2.5 hours to this great store for their great yarn at a great price, and we weren't going to turn back! Slight concern set in however, that we might not even get into the store before the 1-hour sale was reduced to 40%. But after waiting on the porch for about 15 minutes, enough shoppers left that we were granted entrance and given the precious 50% ticket.
Sardines -- that's the imagery that comes to mind -- not the smell, but how tightly packed the shoppers were in this house-converted-into-a-yarn-store. You definitely could NOT walk freely, instead you waited until someone inched over and you could squeeze into the spot they vacated. We patiently worked our way over to the sock-yarn corner where
Gaugina picked out a few skeins and I found some beautiful cashmerino & cash/silk to make a nice soft warm wrap for work.
Brilliant Plan -- we noticed that the checkout line snaked through the rest of the store entirely. So we decided to get in line now and see what else the store had to offer along the way.
See the
Red X in the diagram -- that's about where the end of the line was when we joined in.
It was hot and stuffy and the line moved VERY slowly. People actually cheered when shoppers would exit the store with their bags of goodies, because it meant possible advancement! Now, the slow pace of the line movement really had nothing to do with the employees (they were courteous and hard-working) it had to do with the sheer volume of yarn that was being purchased! By the time our place in line had moved to be near the store entrance, the line had doubled back on itself like you see in the picture. That's about when the 10:00 hour rang end of the 50% sale. Luckily everyone in the outdoors line at that time received a ticket so they could benefit from this big discount when they eventually gained entrance.
The Wait -- actually wasn't miserable, especially once we took off our coats and got a bag for our yarn and got near the fresh air from the entrance door. (
Gaugina actually ducked out to run to McDonalds for their restroom and some water while I moved about 1 foot in the line). As you may have guessed, we were surrounded by very pleasant women! We chit-chatted with the 2-in-front and 2-behind for our entire wait -- which turned out to be.... (drum roll)... 3 HOURS!
Impulse Buys -- You know how the grocery store has gum and candy in the checkout lane. You don't really plan to buy these things, but somehow they catch your eye as you wait in line. Well, that's how the entire store beckoned to us -- "feel me" "buy me" "what's a little more" "such a bargain at this price" -- or was that our new friends in line encouraging us? Anyway, we succombed a bit and picked up a few items along the way, and the looking and touching was WAAAAAY better than gum and chapstick.
Finally -- we reached the register, made our purchase, and said goodbye to our line-mates, with best wishes and hopes of re-uniting at the same sale in a year with stories of finished projects made from these new purchases.
Time to go to lunch!
Johnny Carinos == YUMMY! A Bellini, yummy food, knit time and coffee did wonders to recouperate our weary bones so we could head off to Yarn Tasting....
