Philadelphia Entrepreneur Sells More than $25,000 in Yarn Through a Vending Machine

NBC News recently featured a story about Emani Outterbridge, a Philadelphia-based entrepreneur and crochet designer who recently sold more than $25,000 of her Needles brand of yarn in the first month of business via a vending machine outside a North Philadelphia barber shop. Outterbridge came up with the idea to sell her yarn through vending machines while retail stores were closed during the COVID-19 pandemic this year. She raised $10,000 through her Instagram followers to purchase two vending machines and plans to place machines around the U.S.