Furls Fiberarts makes handmade, ergonomic crochet hooks designed for people managing conditions like arthritis and fibromyalgia, built on a philosophy the company sums up as "Life is Short, Use Pretty Tools."
As Furls grew from a garage business into a global brand, international customers wanted in, but the cost of getting a hook to them wasn't transparent. Furls could only offer free international shipping above a $150 order minimum, and even paying customers had no way to know what they'd owe until it arrived. "I went to get my package, and I had to pay an extra $20 or $30 for customs," was the kind of message Furls kept hearing. Furls had no visibility into those fees and no way to warn customers in advance.
"We were always looking for a solution, so when FlavorCloud reached out, it was perfect timing," said CEO Lorene Eppolite.
FlavorCloud's guaranteed Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) shipping meant Furls customers could see their full landed cost before they paid, no surprise bill on delivery. FlavorCloud's carrier network also brought Furls better shipping rates and faster delivery than the brand could negotiate on its own.
"Customers know the full cost up front," Eppolite said. "Before, people would say, 'I had to pay an extra $20 or $30 for customs.' We had no control over that. FlavorCloud has solved it."
When Furls closed its UK warehouse after Brexit made it too costly to maintain, FlavorCloud's DDP shipping from the US kept international customers from losing the option to order entirely.
“Customers know the full cost up front. Before, people would say, 'I had to pay an extra $20 or $30 for customs.' We had no control over that. FlavorCloud has solved it.”Lorene Eppolite
CEO, Furls Fiberarts
International orders to Canada, the UK, and Australia now represent about 10% of Furls' total sales, a share that's grown steadily since partnering with FlavorCloud. "Having confidence in our ability to provide international customers with the best price and knowing the whole shipping process costs are upfront with DDP has made a big difference," Eppolite said.
Furls is expanding into new fiber arts categories, including weaving, macrame, and loom work, and plans to keep growing its international reach knowing that landed cost transparency, not shipping uncertainty, is the baseline now.
We spoke to Furls CEO Lorene Eppolite to learn more about the business and its growth journey. Lorene joined Furls six years ago as an assistant and has since gone on to be: Affiliate Coordinator, Creative Director, COO, and now CEO of the company. Read the full conversation with Furls CEO Lorene Eppolite below.
It’s the luxury of our hooks. Crochet is a beautiful craft, and that beauty should extend to your tools as well. Our motto is “Life is Short, Use Pretty Tools”. It’s like accessorizing. Many customers collect our hooks: You want to collect them all, especially for the designers who use our products.
We’re definitely the leading manufacturer of ergonomic hooks. There are others, but they’re not made specifically for beauty as well as comfort, whereas ours combine form and function. We have all kinds of designs and colors, and we create special collections for individuality, like our Zodiac Resin line, and for representation as well as to show our solidarity, like Pride hooks to support the LGBTQ community. Our audience loves having a hook that represents them.
There is a joint in your hand called the metacarpophalangeal—it’s right between your thumb and index finger. When you crochet, regardless of your grip, you hold your hook in that space. If it is a very narrow hook, you have to really hold on to the hook tightly, which can cause pain through your wrist, arm and shoulder, which can affect your whole body. Furls hooks have a wider handle and are tapered. We use a specific range of measurements for all of our handles so that they fit into that space ergonomically. You don’t have to grip the hook so you don’t get the same pain you would with a traditional crochet hook.
I think it’s relaxing, like a mindful therapy, creative self-care if you will. You’re making something with your own hands, and it’s lovely to see your finished product. When you wear your creations, people say, “Oh, I love your hat!” and it’s a good feeling to say, “Thank you, I made it.” It’s also a hobby that’s often about giving and gifting.
It’s made a real comeback lately. I’ve seen it on fashion runways, and I see many celebrities pictured crocheting away—some of these celebrities like Krysten Ritter and Sutton Foster are really into crochet, they even use our hooks.
Yes, that’s what brought me to the business. My grandmother taught me as a child, but I really took it up later because I wanted to make something special for my best friend’s first baby. I taught myself, then realized there were online tutorials and that I could make a living doing that on my own blog. I found Furls when I started experiencing chronic pain and needed to find crochet hooks that would help me.
Mostly, clothing, sweaters, and tops, but I’ve done skirts, shorts—I’ll probably give crochet pants a go! I’ve even seen people crochet wedding dresses! My specialty is women’s clothing for all sizes, from extra small up to 5x. Furls also owns a digital crochet magazine, Crochet Foundry. All of our garment patterns are always inclusive of sizing.
Our Odyssey hooks, because they’re so different to what you get anywhere else, and our streamlined hooks, which are our most affordable. Our hooks are streamlined, very sleek and come in beautiful and fun colors. Some collectors have spent thousands of dollars with us because any time we release a new hook, they have to have it!
There’s been tremendous growth. First, domestically, then we started hearing from customers in other parts of the world, saying, “I really want to order.” But the cost of shipping internationally was prohibitive. We could only offer free shipping outside the US for a minimum $150 order value or higher. We were always looking for a solution, so when FlavorCloud reached out, it was perfect timing.
I’d say it’s been over 100% year on year over the last few years. With COVID, 2020 and 2021 were an anomaly. Everybody was home, everybody wanted to find some sort of craft to keep occupied. At first we were afraid it would hurt our business, but we actually had our best ever year for sales.
Canada, the UK and Australia are the biggest; international sales to these countries represent around 10% total orders. It’s gone up significantly since we partnered with FlavorCloud, because it makes cross-border shipping more affordable.
A big factor is that with FlavorCloud all international shipping is DDP (Delivery Duties Paid), so customers know the full cost up front; prior to that, a lot of our customers were afraid to order in case they’d get hit with all these extra surprise taxes and duties. People would say, “I went to go get my package and I had to pay an extra $20 or $30 for customs.” Unfortunately we had no control over that or could even know ahead of time what the customs fees would be. FlavorCloud has solved that problem for us.
We opened a warehouse in the UK, but after Brexit uncertainties and other tax liabilities it became prohibitive, so we closed our UK warehouse. Our customers in the UK and across Europe were disappointed, but between a new wholesale partnership with YarnWorx, who are located in the UK, and FlavorCloud there has been a huge benefit with better international shipping costs and speed as well as our customers being able to pay duties upfront on shipments from the US warehouse.
Before, we were acquiring the costs associated with shipping internationally, and it took a very long time for international customers to get their orders and, of course, UPS and FedEx costs were enormous. We had no oversight once they left our facility, especially once it left the US. After a package was sent it was a case of crossing your fingers and hope it gets there in time.
Naturally, our plan is global domination! Just kidding (kind of). Actually, we’re focused on continuing to be the market leader for luxury and ergonomic crochet hooks and expanding our range to do more knit products as well as creating other innovations in crochet. We are also planning to bring in other types of fiber arts; like weaving, macrame, needle punch, loom work and more, basically anything that is fiber related.
Having confidence in our ability to provide international customers the best price and knowing the whole shipping process costs are upfront with DDP, it’s made a big difference. With FlavorCloud, we’ll be looking to make the most of opportunities to provide our hooks to even more crochet lovers all over the world.