Stitching a new path: Valley Fabrics to relocate to Whately in June

Cheech & Chong’s Dispensoria will soon have a crafty next-door neighbor. In mid-June, Valley Fabrics will make the move from its home of five years in Northampton to Whately and set up shop in the building of the dispensary.

“We looked for a long time, so this was very exciting for us,” said Francesca DenHartog, founder and owner of Valley Fabrics.

When Nolava LLC, a West Springfield property management company, bought Valley Fabrics’ current building on Service Center Road in Northampton in the fall of 2024, DenHartog learned that the company would not give a long extension to Valley Fabrics’ lease, set to expire in June.

“It was pretty clear that we needed to find a new space,” DenHartog recalled.

For a year, she scouted the Valley’s “creative corridor” for a space large enough to house both the shop’s extensive fabric inventory and its dedicated classroom. Then, she heard about Cheech & Chong’s.

The 8,000-square-foot building is located in Whately, on the town line with South Deerfield. The dispensary’s general manager, Griffin Bulman, said that the business barely uses one side of the building, aside from storage. With space to spare, Cheech & Chong’s will lease this half of the bright red building to Valley Fabrics in June.

“It works for everybody,” DenHartog said.

“It’ll be nice to have another store right next to us,” Bulman said. “That space really hasn’t been used, and it’ll be nice to have something there.”

While the new 4,000-square-foot location is smaller than her current 6,000-square-foot shop, DenHartog said the new spot will fit the crafts and classroom while catching passing college students and other crafters along Routes 5 and 10.

“It’s a great, groovy kind of spot. You’ve got a lot of other attractions and draws in the area,” the Valley Fabrics owner said.

At the new location, DenHartog said the shop will cater to more than just sewists; for the first time, knitters and crocheters will also find yarn on the shelves.

“We’re really excited about that — something new and fresh,” DenHartog said.

Valley Fabrics currently shares Service Center Road with its neighbor, WEBS a yarn shop. By adding yarn to its inventory, DenHartog hopes to maintain the same “level of shopping” at the new South Deerfield location by drawing knitters through its doors.

DenHartog also plans to run more sewing classes in the new space since lessons took a pause after the COVID-19 pandemic, adding knitting to its repertoire. A lifelong sewer and knitter herself, she described these classes as communities for customers who share a common interest.

“It’s like going to visit a friend,” she said. “It’s their happy place and it’s really nice to connect with like-minded people. All of these local yarn shops, local quilt shops offer that kindred community joy that a lot of women need or want.”