A Strand of Purls
A Strand of Purls, a yarn store located in Hickory, NC, opened in August, 2007. Prior to opening, most people had to travel an hour to find a yarn store to accommodate their needs. Laura Kraft, owner, is a knitter and felt that opening a local store was “something I could contribute to my community”. With 14 years as a purchasing agent for a local furniture company, her business skills and her love of knitting enabled her to operate the store. Following in the footsteps of her in-laws who had a Mom & Pop clothing store their entire career, Laura and her husband hope to enjoy the same success and connection to the community that they experienced.
Why A Strand of Purls turned to Micro-Solve, Inc.
Laura had contacted a Microsoft POS company, but they were never able to give her a demonstration of their product or explain the benefits of their point-of-sale system. After seeing Micro-Solve’s name in a TNNA trade show listing, “I looked at their website and saw that the product (POS•IM) was tailored to a business in the fiber industry and had many features to help control the information needed to run my business”. Coming from a corporate environment, Laura had experienced the benefits of an integrated system that connects purchasing, inventory control and sales in one format – and she recognized those same benefits in POS•IM.
How A Strand of Purls is benefiting from Micro-Solve, Inc and POS•IM
“I am very pleased with the integration of QuickBooks and the ease of inputting the information into QuickBooks”, says Laura. Laura is “able to see every day how my sales affect my accounts and where I stand financially.” She also likes the sales tax report that helps her figure her payment to the state each month.
What was most beneficial about the approach that Micro-Solve uses?
Especially beneficial to Laura was the well-spaced out training, which helped to not overwhelm her with too much at one time. “Victoria was patient and friendly in the sometimes hectic days prior to my store opening” says Laura. Micro-Solve is “up-to-date with business needs and provides that service to small businesses. As I was starting a business, this “detail” was easy to manage and I never thought twice about the decision to use POS•IM or in dealing with Micro-Solve.”
Testimonial
“Micro-Solve and POS•IM are an integral part of my business. The process of setting up the system and my database was walked through with friendly, helpful people in the staff of Micro-Solve. The system is easy to use and provides a wealth of information to be able to plan and run a small business in today’s world of up to the minute information. This was by far the easiest decision I made in the process of starting my business.”
- Laura Kraft, Owner/Manager, A Strand of Purls, Hickory, NC
