Imagine missing the train on Christmas Eve; your family will soon be enjoying a picture perfect…read moreChristmas Eve dinner without you. You are all by yourself, wandering the streets, somewhat lost... You turn a corner when all of a sudden sparkling window lights brighten your view. Intrigued by the four meter wide window display, your eyes slowly glide onto the scene behind the glass, until you hit the entrance. A smart looking chap with a curly mustache stands outside the door opening, lights a cigarette and says: "Welcome to GROOS!" You stumble in and realise you have arrived in what seems to be a candy store for grown-ups. From limited edition prints, stunningly appliqued cushions, rainbow-coloured trousers, cups and saucers with hand-painted characters, quirky books, custom furniture and birdhouse lamps, every corner of the shop is filled with something of interest. Everything is for sale and every item has its own story to tell. Shop-owners Tjeerd and Joost are always on hand to tell you where each item comes from and what on earth the store's name means. Groos: an old Rotterdam slang word meaning proud. And that makes perfect sense, because this newly opened concept store is filled with items designed exclusively by designers from Rotterdam. And there's no crap being offered here, I can tell you. All you can see here is rather special and lovingly made. GROOS takes 'retail is detail' to an awesome new level. And there's more! GROOS uses its store for Sunday afternoon events, where you can watch, taste, listen and enjoy even more of the city's coolest stuff. As seen on I Know This Great Little Place in Rotterdam (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.619499714755342.1073741904.103845866320732&type=1)

From the owner: Van Beek onderscheidt zich door het uitgebreide assortiment dat tegen zeer concurrerende prijzen…read morewordt aangeboden. Of het nu gaat om kunstenaarsbenodigdheden (zoals schildersdoeken, penselen, acrylverf of klei), tekenmaterialen, papier, spuitbussen met verf of computersupplies, kantoorartikelen, dtp supplies, ontwerp- en presentatiematerialen of lijsten; bij Van Beek bent u aan het juiste adres.

In the past, I really liked this place, but I feel like they're slipping. Today, they were out of…read moreso many basic items: fine tip glue, small pieces of wood, etc. The customer service was also horrible; one employee told me to go ask another an employee my question because she couldn't be bothered and the other employee was so abrupt I felt as thought I was inconveniencing her with my simple questions. I will avoid this place in the future.

I ordered yarn from this shop online from Maryland. I loved a special yarn they carries called…read moreSkippy Yarn that was hand dyed by a young aspiring artist. How wonderful is it that Ja Wol is supporting not online the big names but small entrepreneurs as well. I was impressed that when I contacted the owner about combining my two separate orders since I loved the yarn so much that I had to buy more. She was happy to do it and also refunded the extra postage. I was a brand new customer. I will definitely be a repeat customer since I had such a wonderful buying experience. I don't buy from a lot of international stores, but Ja Wol is so special that it is worth it!

I travel a lot on business and one of my little personal pleasures is to visit yarn stores in the…read morevarious cities I end up working in around the world. It was a great pleasure to find the Ja Wol yarn store in Rotterdam and meet its owner/knitwear designer Saskia de Feijter. Saskia has created a wonderful little knitting shop filled with beautiful, mostly European brand yarns. (Lots of gorgeous Manos del Uruguay being one of the main exceptions.) She also promotes a Dutch wool brand Texelse Schapenwol and has some great local handspun available for purchase. My "souvenir" from this trip was some handspun yarn crafted by a local Math Teacher who likes to spin while he watches soccer on television! The Ja Wol "Stitch n' Bitch" group meets at 10am on Saturday's and is open to all. I was able to attend one session and meet some local knitters to share the love of wool, knitting and the understanding that knitting is not just a "craft", it's a calling. If you love wool and want the chance to meet others who do, or to purchase a great souvenir for someone else who loves to knit please visit Ja Wol while you are in Rotterdam. It is only a 10 minute walk from the Blaak metro station in Rotterdam. The directions from Google map are good.