ricRACK

I love love love ricRACK. Unfortunately their current executive director is an ego driven tyrant bent on destroying the creative environment that took 13 years, countless hours and creative individuals to build. When taking over as the interim executive director 75% of the staff quit. People who had poured their blood, sweat, tears and creative energy into this space for years. They have a textile recycling program that for a year were charging $3-$5 a pound to accept. Customers paid this under the impression that these textiles were being sent off to a recycling facility in Texas. In fact, they were not. They were sent to a warehouse to rot. I have personally heard the current executive director admit to and ask others to lie when writing grant applications. As a non profit they are very dependent on grants and donations. When they moved from their old central city location to their shiny new FQ space they left mountains of unsold merchandise, trash and other items strewn on the sidewalk for over a week. This was under the direction of the current ED. Doesn’t seem to align with their mission. I drive by the old space often and have the photos. The creative reuse portion of the space and the inventory of donated goods was slashed by more than 75% when moving to their new space. Why? Because a secret deal was made with the former occupant of this space. They are a very high end coture pattern maker who charges $$$$ for folks to come from all over the word to learn in a 1 week intensive. Well the deal was that rR could take that space over only if the aesthetic stayed the same. This meant no more junk show. (And when I say junk show I truly mean it in the most loving way.) If you’ve shopped the old space and the new one, you know what I mean. This meant throwing away HUNDREDS of dollars in supplies and tools because they “don’t match” This also means that they’re closed for a week every month for these elite pattern making classes. I hope their current employees can find a way to supplement their income. There were around 150 boxes of vintage patterns in back stock. The current ED wanted to throw them all away. This person has no idea what it truly means to be creative. They look at 10,000 buttons and see a problem. People who truly appreciate rR and everything they do see 10,000 buttons and see POTENTIAL, they see POSSIBILITIES! Not trash. SHAME! Shame on the rR board of directors and shame on YOU Blaze D’amico. This is NOT the platform to propel you and your ego to success.

Love love love this place! Very reasonably priced and has a great mission

Outstanding but just so everyone knows they are relocating the new location is awesome too

I had a great experience taking a private beginner session with Clyda. She taught me the ins and outs of the sewing machine and boosted my confidence working on a simple project to get experience. She was patient, knowledgeable, and kind and I'm looking forward to taking another lesson. I walked out excited to get my own sewing machine to keep practicing!

It's a fiber arts and beading thrift! Well, yes, it also has clothes (including some very cool costume items) but the fabric bolt ends and yarn and ribbon and jewelry blanks and sewing notions and so forth take up half the store! And there's a classroom in the back with, like, five sewing machines and a huge table for cutting out patterns. The staff person I talked to was a fellow yarnwork nerd and helped me find the good stuff. They take donations so if you're quitting one of these hobbies, you know where to donate.