To offer group classes and gatherings
HAWLEY - The Gentle Arts, a boutique yarn shop, will officially open in the Hawley Silk Mill on Columbus Day weekend with an informal meet and greet on Saturday, October 10, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The shop is located on the first floor.
The Gentle Arts is an existing regional business drawing customers from Pike, Lackawanna and Luzerne counties, in PA; and Sullivan County, NY.
The move is a natural progression in the shop’s growth, says proprietor Jan Bellhorn. “Almost six years ago we started our small upscale yarn shop in the 600 block of Main Street in Honesdale, and quickly expanded to the much larger store at 1043 Main Street.”
••• Woolenpaupack Yarns
The Gentle Arts’ product line grew to include spinning wheels, finished garments, classes, and an exclusive line of Woolenpaupack Yarns. “As our business developed we were keenly aware that our community is interested in more than shopping. Social interactions and friendships emerge from knitting groups, spinning gatherings, classes and even group road trips to yarn manufacturing facilities,” says Bellhorn. “Pleasant days in the spring, summer and fall would often find our groups under our tent in front of the store sharing life stories, good food—and of course knitting and spinning.”
The Hawley Silk Mill—a lifestyle center that includes art galleries, home décor and specialty shops, a local foods market, fitness center, coffeehouse, live music listening room, a college and professional offices—provides The Gentle Arts an opportunity to enhance its customer experience by adding new platforms to its very social family of customers.
Free off-street parking and a secure and safe building is a plus for customers attending day and evening classes at the Silk Mill. Future opportunities may include group events on the patio at Cocoon Coffee House; on the covered, heated decks at near-by Glass—wine. bar. kitchen. at Ledges Hotel; or in the gardens or fireside at The Settlers Inn.
“We are pleased to welcome The Gentle Arts,” says Hawley Silk Mill Proprietor Justin Genzlinger. “It’s a great cultural fit. Their community-minded approach to business complements the integrated amenities that we offer visitors.”
Hawley Silk Mill Proprietor Grant Genzlinger, a historic preservationist, says he is excited to bring textiles back to the mill in this new way. “It’s great to have textile production again at the Hawley Silk Mill, which was once the economic engine of the town.”
Opened as the Bellemonte Silk Mill in 1880, the facility served the textile industry for 106 years.
For more information visit TheGentleArts.com or call 570-226-4334.
