Spinrite

What Spinrite does

Spinrite Inc. is a privately held Canadian craft yarn and thread manufacturer and marketer, founded in 1952 by David Hay in Listowel, Ontario, and operated as the corporate parent of a multi-brand portfolio that includes Patons, Bernat, Caron, Lily Sugar'n Cream, Red Heart, Coats & Clark, Aunt Lydia's, Anchor, Susan Bates, Phentex, and WonderArt. The company self-describes as North America's largest marketer of craft yarn and thread, selling coast-to-coast across the United States and Canada through Walmart, Amazon, and Michaels, and directly to consumers through its Yarnspirations e-commerce storefront, with wholesale catalogs refreshed annually on a brand-by-brand basis.

The underlying business is a traditional consumer goods operation: physical manufacturing of yarn and thread under multiple heritage brand identities, organized into distinct annual catalogs that differentiate by fiber, price tier, and end use (knitting, crochet, embroidery, home décor, sewing). Technology infrastructure is non-digital in its core — manufacturing and physical distribution — with digital surfaces limited to e-commerce (Yarnspirations.com, Amazon storefront), the corporate website, and a LinkedIn presence. The company holds registered trademarks across its brand portfolio and maintains compliance certifications spanning WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility, GDPR privacy, and PCI-DSS-aligned payment processing via PayPal.

Spinrite generates revenue through one-time product sales to wholesalers and retailers, with the consumer-facing Yarnspirations site representing a direct channel layered on top of mass-retail distribution. There are no disclosed licensing, subscription, or platform revenue streams; no public revenue figure is available; and the company has no recorded funding rounds, acquisitions, or external institutional ownership in the source data. The organization employs 251–500 people across Canada and the United States, with leadership including a CFO (Jim Japczyk) and a VP of Digital Marketing & eCommerce (Liz Ridout).

Name

Spinrite

Legal name

Spinrite Inc.

Website

https://spinriteyarns.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1952

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Spinrite is a privately held Canadian craft yarn and thread manufacturer and marketer, founded in 1952 in Listowel, Ontario, that operates North America's largest multi-brand craft yarn portfolio — including Patons, Bernat, Caron, Red Heart, and Coats & Clark — sold through Walmart, Amazon, Michaels, and its Yarnspirations e-commerce site.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Craft Yarn and Thread

NAICS

Sewing, Needlework, and Piece Goods Retailers (45913), Piece Goods, Notions, and Other Dry Goods Merchant Wholesalers (424310), Fiber, Yarn, and Thread Mills (31311)

SIC

Knitting Mills (2250), Wholesale-Apparel, Piece Goods & Notions (5130)

akta.pro primary industry

Yarn, Knitting & Crochet Supplies Retail (CRALACAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Notions & Sewing Accessories Retail (Thread, Needles, Zippers, Buttons) (CRALADAG), Cross-Stitch & Counted Thread Shops (CRALADAF), Textured & Specialty Yarn Manufacturing (Textured/Chenille/Bouclé) (IMAOAAAF)

Keywords

• Craft yarn products
• Knitting supplies
• Crochet thread
• Sewing notions
• Embroidery floss

Headquarters

HQ city

Listowel

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Product Sales: Spinrite generates revenue through the sale of craft yarn and thread products sold coast to coast in North America through leading retailers such as Walmart, Amazon, and Michaels, as well as direct-to-consumer through their Yarnspirations e-commerce platform.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Spinrite manufactures and markets craft yarn, thread, and related crafting notions across a portfolio of owned consumer brands (Patons, Bernat, Caron, Lily Sugar'n Cream, Red Heart, Phentex, Anchor, Aunt Lydia's, Coats & Clark, Susan Bates, and WonderArt). The company distributes its products through major North American retailers such as Walmart, Amazon, and Michaels, as well as direct-to-consumer via its Yarnspirations e-commerce platform and wholesale catalog distribution.

Product overview

Spinrite operates as North America's largest marketer of craft yarn and thread, offering a multi-brand portfolio organized by product catalogs. The company sells its products coast to coast in North America through leading retailers including Walmart, Amazon, and Michaels, as well as wholesale distribution. The product portfolio spans multiple yarn brands (Bernat, Patons, Caron, Lily Sugar'n Cream, Red Heart, Phentex, Anchor, Aunt Lydia's) and craft notions brands (Coats & Clark embroidery and thread products, Susan Bates, Wonderart). These brands are organized into separate annual wholesale catalogs that showcase the full range of yarn weights, fibers, colors, and crafting accessories within each brand's identity and target market.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Yarnspirations: Online retail platform for purchasing Spinrite's yarn products including Patons, Bernat, Caron, Lily Sugar'n Cream, Red Heart, and other craft yarn brands
• Patons
• Bernat
• Caron
• Lily Sugar'n Cream
• Red Heart
• Coats & Clark
• Anchor
• Aunt Lydia's
• Susan Bates
• Phentex
• WonderArt

Products and services

• Anchor Yarn and Thread Anchor-branded variety of threads and yarns for knitting and crochet projects, sold through wholesale catalogs and Spinrite retail channels for home crafters and makers.
• Caron Yarn Premium yarn brand offering a range of multi-colored and textured yarns for various crafting projects, targeted at knitters and crocheters shopping through craft retailers and Yarnspirations.com.
• Lily Sugar'n Cream Yarn Cotton yarn brand specializing in Sugar'n Cream and Lily products, used for kitchen and home décor projects and sold to home crafters through mass-market and craft retailers.
• Red Heart Yarn Popular yarn brand offering a wide range of colors and weights for knitters and crocheters, distributed through annual catalogs and mass-market retailers such as Walmart, Amazon, and Michaels.
• Aunt Lydia's Crochet Thread Specialty crochet thread brand known for fine cotton thread used for doilies and decorative crochet, sold through dedicated catalogs and craft retail channels for hobbyist crocheters.
• Coats & Clark Embroidery Floss and Stitchery Embroidery floss and stitching brand under the Coats & Clark umbrella, offering threads for embroidery and decorative stitching projects aimed at home crafters.
• Patons Yarn Premium yarn brand offering wool, alpaca blends, and specialty fibers for hand knitting, sold through annual catalogs, craft retailers, and Yarnspirations.com to home hand knitters.
• Susan Bates Knitting and Crochet Notions Knitting and crochet notions brand offering needles, hooks, and crafting tools, available through annual wholesale catalogs and craft retail channels for hobbyist makers.
• Bernat Yarn Leading yarn brand specializing in home décor yarns, blankets, and upholstery fibers, known for the Bernat Blanket and Softee Baby lines and sold to home crafters through retail and online channels.
• Coats & Clark Thread and Zippers Thread and zippers brand under Coats & Clark offering sewing threads and zipper products for garment and home sewing projects, sold to home sewists through craft and mass-market retail.
• Phentex Yarn Specialty acrylic yarn brand known for outdoor and weather-resistant yarn products used for functional items, sold to crafters through retail and wholesale channels.
• WonderArt Craft Notions Crafting notions and accessories brand offering a variety of crafting tools and supplies for yarn and needlework projects, sold to home crafters through retail and wholesale channels.
• Yarnspirations E-commerce Store Online retail platform operated by Spinrite that sells its portfolio of yarn and notions brands (Patons, Bernat, Caron, Lily Sugar'n Cream, Red Heart, and more) directly to home crafters, including patterns and project content.

Named customers3 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• eSSENTIAL AccessibilitysupportTechnology or IntegrationSpinrite has partnered with eSSENTIAL Accessibility to administer their accessibility program and oversee its governance. The platform evaluates and audits digital products on an ongoing basis in accordance with best practices and is supported by a diverse team of accessibility professionals, including users of assistive technologies.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Lion Brand Yarn: One of North America's largest independently owned yarn companies with a comparable multi-channel distribution model selling through mass retailers, craft chains, and its own DTC site. Directly comparable as a multi-brand craft yarn competitor targeting the same knitters and crocheters as Spinrite.
• Knitting Fever: A wholesale distributor of yarn and craft brands in North America, supplying independent yarn shops and larger retailers. Comparable to Spinrite's wholesale catalog business across knitting, crochet, and notions categories.
• Westminster Fibers (Rowan): North American distributor of premium designer knitting yarn brands including Rowan and Regia. Closely comparable to Spinrite's premium yarn lines such as Patons and its multi-brand wholesale catalog approach.
• Premier Yarns: Designer and wholesaler of craft yarn serving mass and specialty retail. Directly comparable as a competing multi-brand yarn supplier with similar big-box retailer distribution and price-point positioning.
• DMC (Threads): Heritage brand of embroidery floss and craft thread with comparable North American distribution. Directly comparable to Spinrite's Coats & Clark embroidery floss and Aunt Lydia's crochet thread product lines.

Emerging players

• LoveCrafts: Online-first craft community and yarn marketplace that competes with Yarnspirations.com for direct consumer share. Comparable as a DTC craft yarn and patterns platform targeting the same maker segment.
• WeCrochet / Knit Picks (Craftsy): Online craft retailer selling yarn, patterns, and notions directly to consumers. Comparable to Spinrite's Yarnspirations.com DTC strategy but operates as a digital-native challenger rather than a heritage manufacturer.

Broad incumbents

• Coats Group: Global industrial thread and yarn manufacturer whose Coats & Clark consumer brand is licensed/manufactured in partnership with Spinrite. Adjacent incumbent that overlaps on thread and zippers category while operating a much broader industrial textile portfolio.

Regional players

• JOANN: Major North American specialty craft retailer and significant customer of yarn brands including Spinrite's portfolio. Comparable as a craft category channel participant, though positioned as retailer rather than manufacturer.
• Michaels Companies: North America's largest specialty arts and crafts retailer and one of Spinrite's key wholesale customers. Comparable as a craft category channel that also distributes competing private-label yarn offerings to Spinrite's portfolio brands.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/spinrite
• Facebookfacebook.com/Spinrite

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Spinrite