About Premier Needle Arts
The Premier Needle Arts family of companies offer four leading, top-of-mind consumer brands with more than 30,000 products, which are either self-manufactured, or are sourced from the highest quality manufacturers around the globe. Today, our brands are sold directly through our own consumer sites, Amazon, distributors, and thousands of local retail partners.
We employ more than 200+ team members, located in 8 states and two countries. These team members are dedicated to passionate innovation, with emphasis on ease of use and high quality. Education, training, and inspiration go hand-in-hand with providing the best tools and products to support our customers’ creative endeavors. Each day, you will find our team focused on designing, creating, manufacturing, and delivering products to our passionate makers around the globe.
Premier Needle Arts is located in North Salt Lake, UT and is proud to be part of Blue Point Capital Partners family. To learn more about our companies and brands, please visit them at their corresponding websites.
The Crafts Group (Vancouver, WA) is a leading supplier of consumable products used in various enthusiast markets, including knitting, quilting, and crochet.
Crafts Group Distribution (Columbus, OH) Ohio-based distribution center provides fulfillment services for Crafts Group and our partner company, Superior Threads.
Berroco Facility (North Smithfield, RI) Leading supplier of knitting and crochet yarns and patterns serving Local Yarn Shops (LYS) and e-commerce retailers.
Leadership
Matt Petkun
CEO, Premier Needle Arts
Matt Petkun is the CEO of Premier Needle Arts. Matt is a seasoned ecommerce leader, providing strategy and technology experience to growing brands and companies.
Prior to his role at Crafts, Matt spent 11 years in technology investment banking and equity research with D.A. Davidson & Company. Matt’s industry work focused on the semiconductor and related systems software industries.
Matt received his Bachelor’s degree from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA, and has completed graduate work in History at the University of Notre Dame. Matt serves on the boards of several private companies in the retail and consumer ecommerce space, as well as non-profit organizations. Matt resides in Bend, OR where he enjoys outdoor activities with his wife and three children.
Kara Tripp
VP Operations – DTC/GM Columbus
Kara is a natural builder of both people and culture. Joining Crafts Americana Group (CAG) in September of 2008, she brought her background and expertise in warehouse and people management. Over the years Kara has held various management positions within CAG/PNA and was elevated to Vice President of Operations for the DTC brands in 2018, increasing her responsibility and oversight. Kara’s current role and responsibility is for purchasing, inventory management, and warehouse management, including all light assembly functions within the Columbus facility. Her focused leadership continues to build a highly engaged, continuous improvement minded team. With Kara’s oversight, new projects, process, and implementation work to drive efficiency, including a major warehouse automation initiative (Fall 2020) to facilitate growth and efficiency for the direct to consumer brands.
Kara holds a bachelor of arts from Grace College where she also participated in athletics, holding records in both basketball and softball. Kara’s interests include running, with 1 road and 2 trail marathons under her belt, weekend hikes in the hills of Southeast Ohio with her dogs, boating, and spending time with her wife and friends.
Jan Hurwitz
General Manager – Berroco, Inc.
Vice President, Premier Needle Arts
Jan assumed her leadership role at Berroco in September 2022, following the retirements of longtime Berroco founders Warren and Caroline Wheelock. She first served as Berroco’s inaugural Director of Sales & Customer Experience.
Jan brings to Berroco deep experience from every stitch and seam of the yarn industry. She’s been a successful yarn store owner, knitwear designer, independent sales rep and corporate sales executive. About that last, she was National Sales Director at Coats Crafts America and North American VP Sales & Operations at the DMC Group. She’s also an avid and talented knitter, a surprise to no one.
Jan holds a BA in Business/Marketing from Michigan State University and began her business career with Silicon Valley software companies, where her accomplishments are many and varied. In particular, she specialized in building global support teams for high-growth start-ups.
Jan resides in Carmel Valley, CA with her husband and their son resides in nearby San Jose. Their yellow lab and tabby cat round out the crew. In addition to knitting, she enjoys hiking the nearby woods and beaches and cooking with local produce.