09/03/2026
This is a long post, but it’s an important one. Please stick with us. ❤️
For 33 years, this community has chosen us. You have walked through our doors, brought your families, told your friends, celebrated milestones with us and kept a small independent business alive for more than three decades.
We know what that kind of community support can mean. And today, I want to ask you to pour some of that love somewhere else.
Yesterday, Miranda announced that String Theory Yarn Shop will be closing its brick-and-mortar store later this month.
And it is heartbreaking.
Miranda came into our community and has led with kindness ever since. She didn’t simply open a yarn store. She became part of Fergus. She created the Fergus Fibre Festival. She has contributed immensely to our BIA, first as a member and now as Co-Chair. She has given her time, energy, ideas and heart—not just to building her own business, but to supporting the people and businesses around her.
That’s the thing about small business owners. So much of what we do happens quietly. We recommend each other. We send customers down the street. We answer questions, share ideas, volunteer our time, organize events, lend a hand and cheer each other on. We become neighbours, friends and part of each other’s support systems.
Miranda has done all of that.
And now, because the economics of her building have changed so dramatically, she has been put in the awful position of having to close the physical shop she worked so hard to build.
That should hurt all of us.
Because String Theory isn’t just somewhere to buy yarn.
It’s somewhere you can wander into without really needing anything and stay for a chat. Somewhere you can browse and touch and discover something you didn’t know you were looking for. Somewhere people found a hobby, a community, a friend or simply a place where they felt welcome.
That is what Miranda built.
And there is something particularly heartbreaking about watching a fellow business owner do everything right—build something people love, contribute to her community, show up for others—and still be faced with a situation she simply cannot absorb.
String Theory isn’t disappearing completely. Miranda will continue with her online store, festivals, retreats and travel, and I hope all of us keep String Theory at the forefront of our minds whenever we need anything fibre related.
But right now, she needs the community she has spent years showing up for to show up for her.
Go into String Theory. Stock up. Buy the yarn you’ve been eyeing. Start that project. Pick up a gift. And after those doors close, keep visiting her online store. Keep sharing her business. Keep supporting whatever comes next.
And please remember that String Theory isn’t the only small business in that building facing uncertainty.
Now is the time to shop at Joe’s Butcher Shop. Eat some incredible food at The Underground Kitchen. Take that beloved chair or family piece you’ve been meaning to restore to Fergus Custom Upholstery. Explore the services at LA Beauty Boutique.
Spend your money with these businesses while they’re here.
Because “shop local” cannot just be something we say when it’s convenient.
Small businesses don’t survive on likes, shares and comments alone. They survive when people walk through the door. They survive when we choose them. They survive when a community decides the people who have taken the risk of building something here are worth showing up for.
We know what it feels like to have a community keep choosing you for 33 years.
So we’re asking our beautiful community to do it again.
Choose Miranda. Choose String Theory. Choose the other business owners in that building who are wondering what comes next. Choose the small businesses that have chosen to invest their lives, livelihoods and hearts into this community.
And Miranda—thank you for everything you’ve poured into Fergus and into the people around you.
Now let’s show up for her and help her close this chapter with one hell of a bang. ❤️
There are some posts you never want to have to write.
After a lot of thought, tears, sleepless nights, and a whole lot of heartbreak, I have made the decision to close String Theory Yarn Shop.
I am devastated.
This isn't happening because I stopped loving the shop. It isn't because I was ready to move on. And it isn't because I wanted to say goodbye to this community.
It is happening because the economics of the building have changed in a way that I simply cannot absorb.
The building is being sold, and the rent being proposed for a new lease reflects the price the building is being listed for. If Kwilt Kozy remains as our subtenant, the total increase would be 40%. If I take back that space and operate without a subtenant, the increase would still be 25%.
With my lease ending October 1, that is simply not sustainable.
And I am angry.
I'm angry that after everything I have poured into this business, after building something that means so much to so many people, the decision about whether we can continue is being dictated by a dramatic change in the cost of the space.
But mostly, I'm heartbroken.
String Theory has been so much more than a yarn shop. It has been friendships, laughter, classes, coffee, creativity, road trips, retreats, celebrations, commiserations, and a place where people could walk through the door and feel that they belonged.
You made it that.
So saying goodbye to this space feels like saying goodbye to a piece of my life.
I don't know exactly what the next chapter will look like yet. I do know that String Theory isn't disappearing entirely. I will be keeping the online store live and I have festivals, retreats and travel on the horizon.
But the brick-and-mortar shop, as we've known it, is coming to an end.
I'm sad. I'm angry. I'm scared.
And I am profoundly grateful.
Thank you for helping me make String Theory what it has been. You all mean more to me than words can express.
Our last day of business will be Friday Sept 25.
