Our Start
Crafts Americana traces its origins back to 1975 when Donna Santos, an enthusiastic decorative painter, started providing her friends with supplies as a wholesale distributor. In 1990, Bob and Kelley Petkun purchased the business from Donna and changed the corporate focus to consumer catalog marketing. In 1990, the company mailed 5,000 black and white catalogs; in 1991, it mailed 75,000 black and white catalogs. It now routinely mails approximately 5,000,000 full color catalogs per year.

The company has three divisions. The Artist's Club sells every thing for the decorative painter including tole painting books, project surfaces, paints brushes and tools. Connecting Threads sells everything for the quilter including quilting books, fabrics, notions and supplies. Lastly, Knit Picks sells yarn, books, patterns, and needles and supplies for knitters. Each of the three divisions mails out a new catalog every six weeks

The company launched its business online in 1999. Products for the tole painter can be found at www.ArtistsClub.com, products for the quilter can be found at www.ConnectingThreads.com, and products for the knitter can be found at www.KnitPicks.com. The three web sites are updated weekly with the latest new books, products, and projects.

Our Commitment To You
All of us at Crafts Americana are truly committed to providing a positive shopping experience. We believe that our success is based upon your happiness and complete satisfaction. We strive to treat everyone, including our employees, customers, manufacturers, and vendors, the way we want to be treated ourselves. Our goal is to ship 95% of our orders the day they come in and have over 99% of the items we offer in stock. We recognize that we must earn your business each time with exceptional service, and we are committed to providing first class service to each of our 450,000 loyal customers world wide.

Our Facilities and Our People
Crafts Americana Group’s three divisions (Knit Picks, Connecting Threads, The Artist’s Club) employ approximately 80 people in two locations.

The Owners
Bob and Kelley Petkun enjoy working together in the business. Bob is President and responsible for marketing and finance. Kelley is Creative Director and responsible for product development and building our relationship with the knitting community.

Management Team
Bob Petkun, President
Kelley Petkun, Vice President and Creative Director
Karen Johnson, Vice President - Connecting Threads & Artist’s Club
Tina Birch, Vice President - Knit Picks
Carla Salazar, Vice President - Finance and Administration
Marci Hansen, Vice President - Marketing
Nancy Brunner, Director of Operations
Brenda Ericson, Director of Customer Service

Headquarters
Crafts Americana is headquartered at 13118 N.E. 4th St., Vancouver, Washington
98684. Corporate offices can be reached at (360) 260-8900 or faxed at (360) 260-8877.

We do not have any products for sale at our corporate office. To speak with customer service, call 1-800-574-1323 anytime between 5am and 6pm PT Monday through Friday, 6am - 3pm Saturday.

Distribution Center
Our distribution center is currently located at 1250 Boltonfield St, Columbus, OH 43228. Please note this is not a retail location. All sales inquiries should be directed to our corporate headquarters.

We have recently finished construction on our new distribution center in Columbus OH. Crafts Americana Group is committed to following the U.S. Green Building Council’s standards, incorporating recycled materials and energy efficient design.

Our Manufacturing Partners
Crafts Americana has very high standards for the International manufacturers we choose to work with. Executives from Crafts Americana have visited each of our manufacturers’ factories personally to ensure that their facilities and labor practices are in line with both Crafts Americana's and our customers’ expectations.

Specifically, Crafts Americana works only with manufacturers who:

• Institute management practices that respect the rights of all employees
• Provide a safe and healthy work place
• Promote the health and well-being of all employees
• Oppose the use of child labor
• Have an active role in the positive development of their local community

We are so confident of these excellent conditions that we welcome any of our customers to visit these sites personally if ever in the area. Please contact Customer Service to get more information.