Jimmy Beans Wool announced today that the company has been acquired by Local Crafts (formerly Premier Needle Arts), a division of the private equity firm Blue Point Capital Partners. Jimmy Beans is a purveyor of yarn, tools, and patterns for knitting and crochet. The terms of the agreement were not made public.
Jimmy Beans Wool history and growth
Founded in 2002 by software engineers Laura Zander and her husband, Doug Zander, Jimmy Beans has evolved to become one of the largest retailers of yarn in the US. The company is based in Reno, Nevada.
Jimmy Beans began in Truckee, California, originally selling both coffee and yarn. The company was early to e-commerce. It began selling yarn online in 2002 when buying anything online was still fairly rare, including craft supplies.
In 2014, Jimmy Beans was a featured case study in the New York Times. In that series, Zander explained how the company had explored expansion into fabric and quilting as a growth strategy, but sales flattened. Zander decided to double down on yarn…