WHATELY — Valley Fabrics reopened as “Valley Fabrics + Yarn” on July 6 in Whately, starting fresh in a new town with a new name.

Valley Fabrics founder and owner Francesca DenHartog decided to make the move from Northampton to Whately after Nolava LLC, a West Springfield property management company, bought the store’s former building on Service Center Road in Northampton in the fall of 2024. When she learned that the company would not give a long extension to Valley Fabrics’ lease, set to expire in June, she knew it was time to find a new home for her fabrics.

After a year of hunting for a new spot, she heard about a space available at Cheech & Chong’s Dispensoria that had previously been used for storage.

Although the 4,000-square-foot space at 424 State Road is two-thirds the size of Valley Fabrics’ first home, DenHartog said the open layout has led customers to feel like the new space is larger. In the back of the store, DenHartog plans to kick off classes in the fall.

So far, DenHartog has already seen new faces come through the door, from drivers passing through on Routes 5 and 10, to a fresh class of crafters stopping by. Countless skeins of yarn fill the shelves in the corner of the Whately store, spanning different colors, weights and textures — “a lot of genres,” as DenHartog described.

“On the whole, people are pumped. … It’s very promising,” DenHartog said. “There’s so many different people with different tastes.”

Along with the new addition of yarn, returning customers will see the store’s signatures, like the bright fabric prints DenHartog calls her “bread and butter.”

“It’s a happy business,” DenHartog said, wearing a tangerine orange shirt.

Behind her, above bolts of colorful fabrics, a sign reads, “Happy.”

DenHartog, who greets many of the customers as they shop, said regulars often roam the store after their workdays to regroup.

“It’s very much therapy for people. … People actually often say, ‘This is my happy place,'” DenHartog said. “I want it to feel like you’re walking into a neighbor’s house for coffee.”

Outside the store, rocking chairs sway on the porch.