Customers flock to this retail paradise
By Jack Criss
The Bolivar Bullet
Located at 168 North Sharpe Avenue in Cleveland, Delta Threadz has, in an amazingly short time, become a shopping destination for people all across the state—and beyond.
Offering the Bernina sewing machine, fine fabrics and sewing notions, Delta Threadz also provides various sewing and embroidering classes on a regular basis as well as monogramming services.
“I had just started operating a smaller store on the corner that was only open on the weekends right when Covid hit,” says Delta Threadz owner, Laurie Doherty. “But, after acquiring the Bernina sewing machine line this April we moved into our present location. We’re mainly a quilting store but we have just about anything an enthusiast would want here at Delta Threadz. The Bernina, though, is really the pride of our store and a huge draw. It’s an excellent Swiss-made machine that comes with a twenty-year warranty. They’re also all metal—I can literally stand on top of one and it won’t break.”
Delta Threadz also has a classroom inside the store where they present their classes.
“We have a great time and most of the classes get filled up completely,” says Doherty. “They are all listed on our website and people can sign up online at deltathreadz.com. Lunch is provided with our classes and we really have so much fun. Different instructors come in to teach various courses, so there’s always something new.”
Arriving in Cleveland in 1992 via North Pole, Alaska, Doherty to attend school at Delta State University, she received her degree in Marketing. Doherty says her mother taught her how to sew when she was fourteen years old and she grew to love it. That, coupled with wanting to start a business after working with local Cleveland accountants, led Doherty and her husband, Sean, to make the decision to “go for it. My husband has always been my biggest supporter,” she says. “I couldn’t have done any of this without him.”
Doherty says that business at Delta Threadz had been fantastic.
“The Delta community has been so supportive and friendly—I truly can’t thank them enough. I don’t even consider what I do to be a job,” she says. “My customers are so interesting and what I do is so much fun that I can’t bring myself to call it ‘work.’ I’m the sole employee, besides our certified Bernina technician who helps out as needed—my husband, Sean, as a matter of fact! And, the reason it’s just me here in the store is so that we can keep our prices as low as possible.”
Doherty says she repeatedly hears from customers how much they appreciate the atmosphere at Delta Threadz. Doherty got the name of the business from her former jiu-jitsu coach.
“I have men, young women, customers from all across the state and even Memphis come in to shop—it’s not just the stereotypical little old ladies who like to quilt and sew,” she laughs. “People do and will travel here from all over just for the Bernina line and we’re also a Kinberbell-certified shop. But, customers can also order the machine, and any other products of ours, through our online store on the website.”