Needlemania,
a shop in Cranston, RI, is very aptly named as its free spirited
owner is a needlemaniac! Born Lena Marie Piscitelli, Lee descends
from two quintessential Italian immigrant families. Since childhood
Lee has been passionate about all the arts, especially painting
and writing. One of her most cherished goals is to author a book
on her family: their history, culture and heritage. She already
has a working title, Destinies, and envisions it as a
three volume work spanning four generations. Her paternal grandmother,
Antonetta, and her daughter, Rose, hailed from Sicily. Antonetta
met and married a fellow Italian known as "Dapper,"
as he always dressed to the nines. Dapper ran a profitable importing
business until the market crash of 1929 ruined him. He became
despondent and never recovered, dying shortly thereafter. Antonetta,
who had borne eleven children, was left to cope alone with the
five who had survived a Spanish Influenza epidemic. She took
a job at the mill and as each child came of age, they too went
to work to support the family. One son, Rocco, an aspiring Mafioso,
got mixed up with the local bad guys. While torching a building,
he perished in the fire he himself had set. John Frank, Lee's
father, eminently more responsible, was employed at a knife factory.
Lee's
mother, Angela Maria, came from Quarchina, near Rome. Angela's
mother, Gertrude, was a widow with three children when she met
Francesco, who was a lodger at her sister Pasqualina's boarding
house. Though Gertrude was initially charmed by him, Francesco
turned out to be a ne'er-do-well who soon managed to drink through
the family's savings. The last straw for Gertrude was when he
blew the roof off her house and ruined her prized pianola. With
such a chaotic home life, it is no wonder that Angela eagerly
accepted John Frank's proposal of marriage at eighteen. Lena
Marie was their first child, and World War II intervened before
son, Richard came along.
Of
her relatives, Lee has always identified most with her father's
sister, Connie, who was the artist and rebel of the family. She
was one of the first women marines, had a successful career as
a nightclub photographer, told fortunes and made a professional
name for herself by painting a series of oils depicting the "Federal
Hill Story." As Lee grew up, she exhibited a similar rebellious,
restless and artistic temperament. Lee was a dreamer and had
no intention of working as a "factory rat." After high
school she took a job with Ma Bell which then seemed the height
of sophistication to her. For her next career move, Lee set her
sights considerably higher. Destiny led her to a partnership
with a talented hairdresser in an upscale salon. When their initial
operation in Providence took off, they added a clothing boutique
stocking "far out" sixties fashions. At barely thirty
years old, Lee was on top of the world, hopping to New York every
other week, negotiating with the "heavies" in the apparel
and fashion trade. A third shop was added on Cape Cod. Riding
a wave of prosperity, they "blew downtown Providence away"
with their extraordinary window displays, shop decor, merchandise
and elaborately staged fashion shows featuring live bands. With
her own tall, thin figure, flaming red hair and Italian version
of a "Barbara Streisand" nose, 
Lee
was a natural as a model. They were the toast of the town. But
the high life was not fated to last and the bubble finally burst.
Unbeknownst to her, Lee's partner got mixed up with a bad crowd
doing drugs and everything began to unravel just as they were
about to debut a fourth shop in Connecticut. Lee felt utterly
betrayed and had no recourse but to dissolve the partnership.
Though devastated, Lee's indomitable spirit eventually saw her
through. She took an office job and focused on getting her life
back on track. Through a friend she was introduced to needlepoint
and took it up with zeal as it offered endless possibilities
for creative expression. Lee recognized an opportunity to integrate
her hard-won business skills with her artistic talent and new
fervor for stitching.
Through her office job, Lee met the "love of her life"
and became engaged. Her fiancé was old fashioned; his
idea of marriage was having a wife at home raising a family.
Lee was ambitious and chomping at the bit for the chance to establish
herself in business again, this time on her own terms. She realized
that to marry would ultimately short change both her fiance and
herself and with a heavy heart called it off. Fortunately, the
break-up was amicable and they remain good friends to this day.
Needlemania
became a reality in 1973. Lee was captivated with the stitches,
techniques, artistry, creative potential and even the history
of needlepoint. She experimented with fibers, fabrics and textures
to achieve the perfect dimensional quality that would bring each
design to life. As she gained expertise, she began to share her
knowledge. Before it became apparent, Lee foresaw that the wave
of the future lay in beautiful hand painted and silkscreened
needlepoint canvases. Though they were pricey, Lee is a consummate
salesperson and addicted to selling any product she really believes
in. By educating her clients, she won them over. Religiously,
she attended trade shows, uncovering extraordinary needlework
supplies to offer her customers. She met Lois Caron over twenty
years ago and started carrying her handpainted needlepoint designs.
Lee is especially partial to the Watercolours hand dyed variegated
cottons and the extraordinary ribbon fibers: Rachel, Double Dipped
Rachel and Rachelette. In addition to hand painted and silkscreened
canvases, Needlemania stocks a line of pre finished designs and
blank canvas for the more gutsy stitchers who like to count and
design their own. Twenty five years after opening her shop, Lee
insists: "To this day, every design we buy, every fiber
and thread we purchase, fascinates me still!"
Life
continues to bring surprises. In January of 1998, according to
Lee, a "Wild and Wonderful" thing happened. Though
used to being on her own, Lee was astonished to find herself
not only considering, but actually taking on a partner in the
business. Jane Reuter first appeared at Lee's shop eleven years
ago. She showed Lee a needlepoint she was working on using only
the continental stitch which Lee considers a staple, but in most
cases, boring if used alone. Jane, however, was perfectly satisfied,
thank you very much! Lee backed off until Jane chose a new project
which Lee strongly felt needed more variety to do it justice.
Deciding it was time to "put her foot down," Lee proceeded
to instruct Jane in how the design could be enhanced, insisting:
"It's for your own good and you'll be happy!" 
Under
Lee's loving tutelage, Jane became a convert and promptly christened
Lee, "The Thread Maven." Though their personalities
are as different as oil and water - Jane, a rather quiet and
reserved WASP and Lee, somewhat loud, eccentric and possessing
a typically Sicilian/Italian excitable temperament - both agree
that they make the perfect mix as partners. Jane currently works
another job, but has plans down the road to devote herself to
the shop exclusively. She has been extremely proficient at learning
the business thus far and both partners brim with excitement
for the future. Regarding their unexpected collaboration, Lee
muses: "All I can say is that the timing was right, our
love of a class act in needlepoint is the same and we both love
people, children, animals and good food." They are assisted
in the shop by Patsy, born on the Fourth of July, 77 years young
and full of vim and vigor. Lee touts her as the perfect "PR
lady" and swears that there isn't anyone who meets her,
who doesn't love her.
Lee
and Jane's mission statement for their business is a tribute
to both their customers and the industry as a whole: They believe
in "heavy dedication to the business you love, the very
best quality in all your merchandise, the very best in custom
finishing and framing of your customers' needlework, being the
best teacher you can be, making it creative, informative and
fun, fun, fun for all concerned, especially the beginners, knowing
your suppliers on a personal level so they will know all of your
merchandise needs, knowing the history of needlepoint and the
origins of all the fibers and threads you stock and, most importantly,
never-ending service to all your customers and always standing
behind your product if there are any unforseen problems."
Viewing
Stephen King's "Storm of the Century" movie on the
TV, Lee was reminded of an eerie anecdote. Hanging in the shop
was a Maine Coon Cat with Pennsylvania Dutch quilt background
which a regular client was very intrigued by. She didn't purchase
it, yet whenever she was there, she was obviously drawn to it.
One night this piece figured prominently in a nightmare. She
dreamt she was in the shop, which took on a surreal quality.
Crowded around a huge work table were an ominous cast of characters,
all talking and gesticulating at once. She was overcome with
an inexplicable feeling of dread and ran to the back of the shop
frantically screaming: "Where's my cat? Where's my cat?"
But she was too late; it was gone. She was all in a dither and
woke up in a cold sweat. Soon after waking, she rushed to the
shop, spoke to no one, made a beeline for the back wall and breathed
a sigh of relief. The Coon Cat was still there.
Lee admits the movie has spawned a strategy for the shop in her
mind also: she is contemplating hanging a sign proclaiming: "Give
me what I want and I'll go away!" I guess if she goes ahead
with it, the one thing her customers might be tempted to ask
is: "Is that a threat or a promise!"
Needlemania is located at 995 Oaklawn Avenue in Cranston, RI
02920
Phone: (401) 943-1012
Fax : (401) 884-9422
Shop Hours: Monday through Saturday 10 am to 5 pm
Needlemania offers an extensive mail order service to customers
anywhere on the planet. Since Lee is so "out-of-this-world,"
if there were inhabitants elsewhere in the solar system, you
can bet they'd be on her mailing list as well.
- STORE
FOCUS ARCHIVES
(For
previous month's features)
-
- The Country
Cross-Stitcher, Woburn, Bedfordshire, UK
- Amy's Golden
Strand, Memphis, TN
- Needle in
a Haystack in Alameda, California
Tri
Thy Needlecraft Centre, in North Wales, UK
Fils Du Temps
in Strasbourg, France
Stitchery Source International
/ Rainbow Picture Framing in
Miami, Florida
Nettie's Needlecraft in glamorous Beverly Hills, California...
Island
Needlework, Key West, Florida...
The
Summer House Needleworks,
Oley Valley of Pennsylvania
Evening
Star Designs, mail order specializing
in Quilting supplies
Ginger's
Needlearts and Framing, Austin, Texas
The
Needlewoman East in Falls Church, Virginia
Hook-n-Needle in Fairfield County, CT
The
Needlepointer, Everett, Washington
Haus
Tirol in Williamsburg, Virginia
Crafty
Lady in Macomb, Michigan
It's A Crewel World in Salem, Massachusetts
Exclamation Point!in Saratoga Village, California
Thistle
Needleworks in Glastonbury, Connecticut
