The Flying Needles — Attraction in Belleair Bluffs

I’ve shopped at The Flying Needles for several years now, and I’ve found it to be my favorite needlepoint shop of all times. This shop impresses me all over again each time I go (and I don’t hesitate to make the 2 hour drive because it’s worth it). The owner, Dianne Colitz, is not only extremely knowledgeable and gracious but her staff is as well. While the shop is small, the inventory is very impressive. Each time I’m there, it seems I find new inventory, as well as new and exciting threads. The atmosphere of the shop is welcoming and comfortable with several tables where you can sit and stitch with great lighting. Dianne offers many opportunities to take classes, both private and in groups, and frequently brings in nationally known instructors. I’ve found it very convenient to call the shop to order canvases. I also like that I can completely trust any member of the staff to kit a canvas for me. As a bonus, Dianne offers to write a stitch guide for you at no extra charge (these guides can be as simple or complex as you like). I can’t leave out that Dianne created a great incentive program that gives you the opportunity to ‘earn’ a $50. bonus to spend as you like! If you are a beginner stitcher or an advanced stitcher, Dianne and her staff have something for you. The Flying Needles is a must if you love beautiful canvases, stunning threads, self finishing projects, finishing services, and...

When we first moved to Tampa, on the top of my to do list was to find a new needlepoint shop. I discovered the Flying Needles. Their prices were higher than I was used to, but overall, it seemed perfectly acceptable. Over the last several years, I was a regular customer. Even though they carried a lot of threads, never the ones I needed. They don't carry the full line of threads, they carry 4-5 in order then skip 4-5 and continue then carry 4-5 and skip 4-5 again. Always, I've found that the thread I needed was one of the ones they have skipped. It became very disconcerting, so I looked for a different shop. I bought a Christmas stocking out of state for my God daughter and took it into this shop to have her name painted on the cuff. I was told it would take a maximum of 2 weeks. Each week I would call and enquire if it was completed yet and each week I was told it would be one more week, tops. Finally, 8 weeks later it was completed, and I was told that hurricane Ian had caused the delay. I took the stocking into the shop 7 weeks BEFORE the hurricane. When the painting was completed, the owner told me the charge was $72.00 ! When I objected that 6 letters couldn't cost that much. She Then said the cost was $60.00. I thought that as too high but I had no choice. I picked up the stocking, paid the $60.00 and will NEVER GO TO...

Snarky service, inordinately high prices, and a limited selection in a small shop. When we visited, there was a sit-n-knit in progress - as soon as we stepped into the shop, all conversation stopped. Holy awkward, Batman. The shop was too small for the size of the group, and we had to shimmy around their chairs to see the stock. No one smiled or offered to move. There were two clerks on duty who pretty much ignored us until we lingered too long in one place - then they showed up to make certain we weren't shoplifting. Because we hadn't discovered Knit-Pics at the time, we bought some sock yarn - a brand we later found online for considerably less and with the full colour line available. Like some other established brick and mortar stores, Flying Needles seems to be relying on having been "the only place in town" and forgotten how far a smile or two goes. Won't be crashing their party again.

Edit: After posting this , I was contacted by the shop's management/owner to tell me we didn't know where we had been or what we had bought. Nice. On the off-chance that I've grown dotty in my old age, I double checked the location. Same striped awning, same little black lamppost... How kind of them to validate our perception of their attitude toward customers not part of their...