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| Exclusive SW FL Tri-County Premier Husqvarna Viking Dealer
We were featured in the Charlotte Sun Newspaper on September 23, 2005!
By ELLA NAYOR, Staff Writer
One new business owner is working to ensure that the art of sewing stays alive and well in Charlotte County.
Carol Vealey-Ellis, the new owner of A Stitch Connection Inc. in Port Charlotte, wants to promote sewing and its relaxing benefits to the community.
Vealey-Ellis — who has been in the sewing retail business for 14 years, 12 of them spent managing four different stores throughout Southwest Florida — just bought the Husqvarna Viking sewing machine dealership at 1109 S. Tamiami Trail.
The sale is an easy transition for Vealey-Ellis, 47, who managed the store for two years and gathered a lengthy list of loyal customers both locally and nationwide.
The energetic, petite woman said that purchasing the dealership, which will also include a shop in Naples next year, is the culmination of her lifelong passion for sewing.
“It is beyond my wildest dreams,” Vealey-Ellis said.
Vealey-Ellis began sewing as a young child with her grandmother. Her skills blossomed during school in home economics class. After a career in health care, she took up the art again when her youngest son, Zach, was born.
Vealey-Ellis decided to venture into the world of sewing and the rest, as they say, is history.
With a streak of zeal, Vealey-Ellis honed her work, rose through the ranks as a sales manager and nationwide teacher. Along the way, she garnered national awards and international prestige by being recognized at the Husqvarna Viking International Convention earlier this year.
She was also a guest star on the PBS show “Quilting With Shar,” and has help author books about sewing and quilting, she said.
And with all these accolades, it’s the relationships with customers and community involvement that has meant the most.
Some of her local involvement includes making blankets for hurricane victims last year, and coordinating volunteers for community sewing events.
“I find that (people who sew) are very caring and giving people,” she said.
Her success was apparent at the grand opening/open house on Sunday. About 200 customers packed the spacious shop to check out the sewing machine sales, new lines of products and to simply gab with the businesswoman many consider their friend.
“I am so thrilled she bought the shop,” said Karin Bachmann, a six-year customer from Englewood. “Carol is so helpful. She’ll go all out to help you.”
With a coy smile, Bachmann admitted that she sometimes will pay for a sewing class she didn’t need just so she can share camaraderie with Vealey-Ellis and the other students.
But don’t let Vealey-Ellis’ radiant smile fool you. She is a tough businessperson with high expectations. She stitches compassion for her customers and savvy business sense into her work.
She wants to be able to reach out to customers who are as varied as the different types of machines for sale. Vealey-Ellis works with retirees, high school students, young mothers and — yes, folks — men.
And sewing is not as much a practical purpose, as in decades earlier when people made their own clothes to conserve pennies.
“Sewing is not for saving money, it’s a creative outlet,” she said.
Vealey-Ellis will have a weekly column about sewing featured in the Sun.
For more information, call Vealey-Ellis at 235-3555.
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