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Halcyon Yarn is one of the top sources in Maine (and beyond) for textile projects—from knitting yarns to weaving supplies and every bob and cone in between.
A legacy business with decades of history, they came to us with a custom-coded front end connected to a FileMaker database as a backend, and we almost ran away. Just kidding, but it was hairy there for a minute or two.
The situation was more complicated than just legacy technology. After more than a year of stalled development with a previous vendor, Halcyon had been unable to update their product catalog for eight months, and their brick-and-mortar store had been closed to the public for over a year. They needed to launch before their busy winter season—and they needed workflows that could handle their unique operations, including products sold by weight and special-order items.
We took over the project and delivered a complete Shopify migration in four months. Building for their complicated product set, we developed custom workflows for weighed items and special orders, implemented Shopify POS to reopen their brick-and-mortar location, and integrated their shipping and support systems. The result: online sales increased within the first month, operational efficiency improved dramatically through automated shipping options, and Halcyon could finally grow their catalog and scale their business without adding overhead.
Follow-through and communication were consistently excellent, as was their ability to creatively problem solve.
Gretchen Jaeger, Owner — Halcyon Yarn
The cost of a stalled project is not what you paid for it.
By the time Halcyon came to us, the invoice from the previous vendor was the least of it. They had gone eight months unable to update their own product catalog, and more than a year with the brick-and-mortar store closed to the public. A yarn business that cannot list new yarn, in a season it cannot open its doors, is not waiting on a website. It is losing the year.
That reframes what a rescue is worth. The technical work was real — untangling a custom front end from a FileMaker backend, building workflows for goods sold by weight and for special orders, standing up POS — but none of it was the point. The point was a date: live before the winter season, which is when a yarn shop makes its money.
It launched in time. Online sales rose in the first month and the doors reopened. When a project has been stalled long enough, speed stops being a nice-to-have and becomes the entire specification.
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