May 22, 2026

Heirloom Creations will begin its 37th year in business with a weeklong celebration at its new location.

Cleo Snuggerud opened the needlepoint and quilt store on June 1, 1989, and soon was joined by her husband, Gary.

“Cleo started it as a needlepoint store and quilt store back when quilt stores were not a thing,” said her daughter-in-law, Sara Snuggerud. “She was one of the first quilt stores to open of that era.”

In 2001, Snuggerud and her husband, Steve, joined his parents in the business. When Cleo retired in 2020, the younger family members bought Heirloom Creations.

Cleo Snuggerud opened her store on South Minnesota Avenue in the Southway Shopping Center. It later moved to South Western Avenue, next to Once Upon a Child. The store now is at 5220 S. Grand Circle, the former Ideal Yardware location that most recently was C&B Operations.

About 10 years ago, the Snuggerud family had changed the business’ focus from quilting supplies to sewing machines.

“My husband and I are more sewing machine focused,” Sara Snuggerud said. “We can help on all levels, whether you need a basic sewing machine, or when you retire, you want to do more sewing and want a hobby you can be more creative with.”

In 2020, Steve and Sara Snuggerud built two structures about one block east of their retail business, one to hold events and one to serve as a warehouse and sewing machine service center. That move gave them 12,000 square feet total but came with drawbacks. With employees in three locations, too much time was being spent tracking down people and moving from place to place.

“We got tired of that, and my husband, who loves stalking commercial real estate websites — that’s his love language — came across the Ideal Yardware building,” Snuggerud said. “We knew it when we saw it. It had more parking, and everything would be back under one roof.”

Heirloom Creations opened in its new location in mid-April. Along with a change in location comes a change in what will be offered. That was prompted in part by the national closing of Joann  stores, including the Sioux Falls site.

“No one here took up the slack of where they left off,” Snuggerud said. “We not going to be Joann’s — they had a lot more fabric and got into crafts. But our first order was fleece, and we’re getting in some fabrics that are different than a quilt store would carry and looking for fabrics that are not just quilting fabrics.”

Heirloom Creations is starting small out of necessity. A lengthy wait exists between fabric orders and arrival, Snuggerud said. While fabric has started to arrive, the offerings will be much more extensive later this year. Additional products will include yarn and sewing notions not currently available locally.

“It does not look like a fabric store now, but it will trickle in over the next nine months, what we’ve already ordered,” Snuggerud said. “We are aware of the stores in our area, and we’re not coming at this as competitors but to fill in the blanks. If they have something, we’re not going to carry it.”

Selling sewing machines and educating people on how to use them remains a priority, Snuggerud said. Heirloom Creations employs eight people full time and is looking for more. Three technicians repair older models and newer sewing machines with computerized parts.

Hours will remain 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

The opening week celebration will begin June 1 and include a ribbon-cutting with the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce on June 3. The weeklong celebration will include specials, sewing machine and fabric giveaways, demonstrations by vendor representatives and drawings. On June 2-4, people can do small projects. Details will be updated on Heirloom Creations’ Facebook page and online.

Heirloom Creations will offer classes again this fall and winter, using the summer months to get everything in place. It also will actively continue to offer online courses through YouTube. Snuggerud has filmed more than 5,000 videos on sewing machines.

“We have a library of machine videos and tutorials, and our online courses have over 14,000 students worldwide. We have kind of built this support system, not only in person but online,” Snuggerud said.