Louët Announcement
As you may know this year has been a big change for Weft Blown as I have changed the business to being online only and moved it home so that I can continue to run the online sales of weaving looms, spinning wheels, etc. as well as give me time back so that I can get back into designing and weaving again which I've not been able to do for a few years due to the workload of running a physical shop and online business.
This has involved a lot of thinking about how I can run Weft Blown in a sustainable manner so that I can give the best service that I can to my customers, as well as achieving my aim of getting back into the enjoyment of spinning and weaving again.
Since the move home I have still been struggling to find time and space to be able to get creative again and it has become apparent over the past few months that another change has to be made.
So, it is with a heavy heart that I have decided that Weft Blown will no longer be a Louët dealer.
After receiving my Louët Delta floor loom in late 2015 (which I had purchased for weaving my own handwoven designs to sell directly from the factory) I had made the decision with my husband Rob that Weft Blown would branch out and start to become a dealer in weaving looms and spinning wheels. This fitted in with the teaching I was doing at the time and it rapidly became a main part of the business. Over the years Weft Blown has expanded to include Schacht and then Ashford whilst at the same time expanding into yarn, fibre, books and other accessories.
Weft Blown has become one of the main dealers of wheels and looms in the UK and is increasing sales across the globe too. I am really grateful that you have all helped to make this happen.
However, keeping all this going on my own now is tricky and having made the decision to close the shop and not have any part-time staff it has been a struggle the past few months in being able to manage admin, orders and stock on my own and still not getting much free time to do the fun things of designing and weaving and spinning.
After taking a long hard look at where I want to focus on my design skills (mainly on small looms up to 8 shaft) our stock holding, the amount of admin time spent, sales and the change in buying behaviour of our customers, it has become clear that it makes sense to end our dealership with Louët. I do still love Louët products and their quality is still great which is why this has been such a hard decision to make over the past few months.
I know a lot of our customers have come to us as we stock Louët and I know this will not be news that you'd like to hear and I am very sorry about this.
However, I do need to make Weft Blown work so that I am able to manage it on my own and have the time and space to run the business effectively while at the same time giving me the creative freedom to design patterns, kits and books to help weavers and spinners get creating too. This was always the aim for what I wanted to do with Weft Blown from when I started to sell equipment and with our 10th birthday coming up I want to keep it going and continue to spread the fun of weaving and spinning.
There is no change at all to any of our other dealer arrangements and this will mean that I can give them more time and focus which I have been struggling to do.
The website has been updated so that all Louët products listed are the items that I have physically in stock here.
I will not be placing any more orders with the factory so please do not ask for anything that is not in stock. I will be removing products as they become sold out.
If you do have any queries about Louët equipment you have bought from Weft Blown in the past you can still get in touch or I do recommend Louët's Support website that is full of useful tips as well as somewhere you can ask Louët directly for help.
There are a couple of ex-demo items for sale which you can find more information on here:
https://www.weftblown.com/pages/demo-kit-sale
As I have said, this has been a difficult decision as Louët do make great products, but I do need to change how Weft Blown is to be able to take it forward into the future.
I hope you understand and your continuing support is greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Ange