Good Strangers and Keepsake join forces on Cherokee
The alliance is redefining what a café and a fiber arts shop can be for a community.
The business owners that inhabit Cherokee Street have long been known for their resourcefulness and creativity, which often sets the tone for the entire neighborhood. On Cherokee, empty lots transform into beaches, wine bars host offbeat pop-ups and markets, and monthly block parties reinforce a strong dedication to community-building. Collaboration runs in the neighborhood’s blood, and now, two popular local businesses are joining forces to expand what each already contributes to the area. Earlier this month, Keepsake — a fiber arts retail store with an expansive lineup of craft workshops and events — merged with Good Strangers, a café that, since opening in early 2025, has become a central gathering spot for the community.
Keepsake started in 2024 when owner Carla Haines gathered a few friends together for movie night and some crafting. A few hours (and a few snacks) later, the group realized that being in the same space while creating something was what made the night unforgettable. The night grew into an idea, and that idea grew into a fiber arts club designed to bring people of all backgrounds together to learn a new skill, improve an existing one, and build friendships along the way.
Haines was intent on opening her shop in the city limits, since St. Louis county already had several go-to’s for fiber arts supplies and classes. She landed on Cherokee and built a steady following, but soon realized that she wanted to evolve beyond the walls of her shop; easier said than done for a small business. “My thought was, well, I need to collaborate with someone: I need to make this bigger,” Haines says. “Everything is so digitized in society today, and there’s a huge trend right now towards a more analog direction. And I felt like my space — although it was beautiful — didn’t quite have the potential for what I was envisioning.”
Haines reached out to Good Strangers owner Sarah Fisher, because in her mind, the café would be an ideal place to set up shop. Although she didn’t know it, Fisher had been toying with the idea of bringing in a rotation of pop-ups to the shop to act as residencies in the space. She also saw the potential drawbacks. “The more I started thinking about who I would want to share that space with, and how I would want to integrate that into kind of the Good Strangers, brand, voice, vision, et cetera, What I kept coming back around to was that I just didn’t want to bring in someone that was just selling more shit that none of us can afford,” she says. “We’re all spread really think, and I didn’t want to hustle more commerce: that just wasn’t where my head was at. So I was thinking, how can I invite something here that generative in its own right rather than just being consumptive?”
Keepsake joining the space is a benefit for both business owners. For Haines, it means an expanded space for classes and expanded hours for the retail side. Before joining forces, retail was only available on weekends; now, customers can shop seven days a week to grab what they need, when they need it. For Fisher, it gives her customers access to a new way of building community that amplifies the mission of the cafe and expands it beyond being a welcoming space for a good meal or a cup of coffee. “I feel like we already kind of share a lot of connective tissue in terms of who patronizes our respective businesses,” Fisher says. “My favorite Spanish word is convivier, which means ‘to live together,’ and I’m excited to see what more can we do to grow a community that is safe and healthy.”
Haines’ fiber arts business aligns with Fisher’s own commitment to providing an inclusive space that brings something more to the table. “What Carla is offering is learning; it’s independence, it’s interdependence. It’s building community around things that are regenerative and sustainably minded, and kind of creating third spaces that aren’t necessarily revolving around alcohol.” The concept also underscores Fisher’s dedication to sustainability and empowerment. “Most of Carla’s classes focus on are fiber art, and weaving has a long history of resistance, particularly with women and converging voices and ideas,” she says. “It all just kind of like clicked together at a moment in time where it felt super necessary and relevant.”
Keepsake focuses on a little bit of everything with its retail. At Good Strangers, customers will find project-centric books on quilting, knitting and crochet; a variety of yarn and essential craft supplies and tools; punch needle and cross stitch kits and more. Look for work from local artists and vintage clothing to show up here and there as well. The retail space at Good Strangers is designed for customers to grab what they need, check out at the register, and sit down to work on their project.
Classes will accommodate more people in the larger space with food and drink offerings thanks to its new home. The full class schedule can be found on Keepsake’s website, with descriptions of each class and a link to purchase tickets. Classes range from beginner to advanced, and are taught by an experienced roster of certified instructors. “I make sure that the standards are high so everyone knows what they’re doing,” Haines says, adding that classes are designed to meet everyone where they are. “It’s so important to be able to creatively express yourself in like different mediums, whether it’s yarn, embroidery, beading, or watercolor, I’m happy and lucky to say that we cover a wide range of different crafts.” The shop also hosts open yarn nights, which give both regulars and the yarn-curious to gather and learn from each other in a pressure-free environment.
For both Fisher and Haines, the new merger is larger than the sum of its parts, allowing both owners to redefine what a cafe or a craft shop can be to a community, and redefine how to position a business for not only survival, but success. It’s a lesson Fisher has thought about for awhile. “If you don’t have the capacity to adapt with purpose and still be able to still convey your brand voice, you’re in trouble,” she says. “I think the last five years have demonstrated that we are in very precarious times. We think it’s important to think collaboratively, think collectively, think outside of strict binaries or strict ideas about what a coffee shop does or looks like, or what a craft club looks like or can be for people.”
Follow Good Strangers on Instagram and Keepsake STL on Instagram and for updates and more information about upcoming events and classes.
This weekend, Keepsake is hosting a slumber party double feature event at the Hi Pointe Theatre. The event runs from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, May 8: attendees can bring their own craft, sign up for flash tattoos from Apache Colin (limited availability), and take in a double feature of The Princess Diaries and Parent Trap. Visit Keepsake’s IG for more information.
Keepsake STL x Good Strangers, 2614 Cherokee St., St. Louis, Missouri, keepsakestl.com