A little bit about us...

Schlecht Family

On July 5, 1990 we followed our dream and opened our craft store (formerly known as Ben Franklin Crafts) in the Marketplace Center. We started with 15 employees and 10,000 square feet of space. As a family owned and operated company, we have been blessed to have increasing retail sales and a growing staff every year. Today we have 120 employees and over 40,000 square feet of retail craft merchandise in our store that is now named Crafts Direct!

Family is very important to us and we are so thankful our children all live so close. Our two sons work for the company. Our oldest son, Scott, is our store manager. His wife, Lori, and their four children, Avalon, Faith, J.P. and Eli live in Sartell. Our daughter, Jennifer, has a son named Brody. Jennifer is a counselor at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School and is our Creative Director. Our son, Jason, his wife, Kristine, and their three daughters, Olivia, LuElla and Isabella live in St. Cloud. Jason is our assistant manager.

As a family owned and operated company, our goal is that our customers have the best shopping experience every time they visit Crafts Direct. Our store has changed a lot over the years. With God's blessings and the hard work and passion of our wonderful staff, it has grown into what it is today. We hope the values and service we instill makes us the best craft store in America.

We are excited to offer a rewards program called Passport to Creativity to our beloved customers. We are working hard every day to achieve one of the best rewards programs offered and give back to those that support us.

Because we have been so blessed, we feel it is important to give back. We have been fortunate enough to support the following groups: Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, The Boys & Girls Club, The LEAF Foundation, Catholic Charities, March of Dimes, Big Brothers Big Sister, Beat the Odds, Habitat for Humanity, Tri-County Humane Society, local schools and churches as well as many other organizations and causes over the years.

We want to thank all of our great customers for their support over the years and look forward to many more years of loyal service.

With Much Gratitude, John & Diane Schlecht, Owners of Crafts Direct

Crafts Direct