A Philadelphia yarn distributor is bringing a piece of local textile history to modern crafters with its new Mt. Airy storefront, which sells yarns made around the world — including a centuries-old variety that originated in a nearby neighborhood.
Kelbourne Woolens has been wholesaling for 15 years, but in September, the small business celebrated the grand opening of its new retail shop next to Maloumian Rugs, a multigenerational rug importer and retailer that’s been around since 1927.
Operating in the space, which also includes the Kelbourne’s warehouse, feels like “continuing a tradition,” co-owner Kate Osborn said.
Philadelphia’s textile industry has a long and storied history that dates back to the 17th century, and Germantown — one neighborhood over from Mt. Airy — was one of its early hubs.
“Textiles are everywhere,” said Courtney Kelley, Kelbourne’s other co-owner. “They’re a part of everything that you do. And they’re just sort of part of the fabric of Philadelphia.”
One of Kelley and Osborn’s original yarns is a revival of an old knitting classic: Germantown yarn. It originated in early America as an inexpensive type of worsted wool yarn commercially produced in the namesake neighborhood (which at the time was a separate town).
In the mid-19th century, Germantown yarn was produced in lots of bright colors due to the new availability of the synthetic dye aniline, and it was shipped to Navajo reservations in the Southwest. Navajo women started using the yarn to make strikingly patterned woven blankets — Germantown blankets — primarily marketed toward tourists.
Well known in the fiber world, Germantown yarn continued being produced by various companies through the 1990s.
“It was like Kleenex,” Kelley explained. “It just became like a household name.”
Kelley found out the trademark for Germantown yarn was available and applied for it in 2018. She also found a mill in North Carolina that was able to produce it from start to finish and ship it to Kelbourne Woolens’ warehouse in Philly for distribution.
Priced at $16 per skein online, it’s now the company’s second-best seller, and is sold in dozens of colors. “It makes us feel very much a part of this city’s textile history,” Kelley said.
Selling yarn all over, from Philly to France
Kelley, who’s lived in Philly for 25 years, met Osborn — who’d moved to the city to attend a textile masters program at Philadelphia University — when they were both working at Rosie’s Yarn Cellar, a now defunct Center City store that Kelley managed at the time.
The two became business partners about a year after meeting. In 2008, they started Kelbourne Woolens and began wholesale distribution of a handful of brands to local yarn shops.
Business exploded pretty quickly, per Kelley, once the Great Recession hit. (It turns out people turn to knitting during tough times.)
A lot has changed since then, Osborn said — for instance, their marketing approach in the age of social media. They’ve built up considerable followings on Instagram and Pinterest, plus smaller followings on Facebook and TikTok. They’re also on Ravelry, a dedicated online platform for knitters and crocheters.
The scope of the company has grown, too. About a decade into doing business, the two entrepreneurs branched out into designing and selling their own line of yarns. During the COVID pandemic, they launched direct online sales.
In addition to selling to retailers in the U.S., Canada, and Iceland, Kelbourne also ships goods to some customers in other countries, including France, South Korea, New Zealand, and Bahrain.
Wholesale operations have bounced around the region, from Fairmount to Conshohocken to Manayunk. A few months ago, the company relocated operations to the Mt. Airy spot, which came with the bonus of storefront space where the owners can actually meet customers directly and in-person.
Finding the perfect location was a challenge: “Within the city, there’s like a lot of super, super small retail, and there’s a lot of, like, empty shells with no electricity,” Osborn said. “We need something a little different.”
Things are going well, the business owners said.
Their new location places their five-person operation in the midst of a community of fellow artists, knitters, textile artists, and other makers in Northwest Philly, Kelley said. And the neighborhood on the whole has greeted them warmly.
“The neighborhood … really appreciates small business, it really appreciates the arts, it appreciates education,” Osborn said. “We’ve been welcomed here. And it’s been very cool.”
