from http://www.mindseyeyarns.com/2013/03/28/shop-for-sale/ , posted 3/29/13:

Shop For Sale

Dear friends,

Today, I have some bad news. After a great deal of thought, I have decided that the time has come for me to get out of the yarn business. As many of you know, my life has changed drastically over the last two and a half years. After spending my entire adult life single and childless, I gained custody of my now eleven year old nephew in the fall of 2010. This event changed everything in my life. Time, love and energy that I had always been able to fully commit to the shop is now needed by my nephew. I didn’t and don’t begrudge it to him one bit. He is the light of my life. However, the shop began to suffer.

Last spring, it became clear to me that the shop was not going to be able to support us in a way that allowed for any kind of savings for college or retirement. For that reason, I began a graduate program in accounting over the summer. This took even more of my time and energy from the shop. My plan at that time was to eventually get full time work as an accountant and hire people to run the shop for me. Unfortunately, for various reasons, sales have continued to decline and have dropped precipitously since the first of the year. I can now no longer afford to pay anyone to replace me. This is especially a problem since I am looking for an accounting internship and need to be available to take whatever opportunity comes along.

Therefore, rather than try to keep the shop going at great cost to myself and for little return, I have decided to move on. Rather than close immediately, I would like to take the month of April to offer the shop for sale to anyone who would like to purchase it and keep it going. I am happy to discuss the details with anyone who is interested. Please email me or give the shop a call. Just to warn you, running a business like this is a huge job and you have to be good at many, many things. I would recommend that a group of people with a variety of skills and interests would be the best bet for turning this place around and making it successful again. I, of course, would help you in any way I can.

I cannot keep the shop on the market forever. If I do not receive a very serious offer for the place by April 30, I will begin the process of selling off everything and closing up. So, if you are interested, don’t waste any time. I would ask all of you to spread the word among your networks to make sure as many people as possible hear about this opportunity.

I want to take this opportunity to thank you, my loyal customers, for all the wonderful years we’ve had together. Owning this business has been my dream job and I’ve enjoyed it very much. Being part of your creative process has been eye opening and delightful and I thank you for it.

No matter what happens, I will continue to dye yarn under the Mind’s Eye Hand Dyed label and sell it on Etsy. Also, all of this year’s Sock Club members will receive their remaining skeins on schedule.

All my best,

Lucy