Krystal Acres Alpaca Store

Cute store and alpacas!

whatever you do, don’t let your toddler play with the alpaca toy. It’s not for children! only the alpaca teddy bears in the back are for children. That’s why it sitting there by the alpaca socks at the front counter at eye level of every toddler that walks into the store. This lady loves her alpacas but I think she eats little children. Buyer Beware.

There was a very nice lady working here the day we visited. A handful of different alpaca goods from clothing pieces, to stuffed animals, to postcards.
The farm is beautiful. They allow you to walk around, following the gravel road to the different alpaca enclosures. You don’t need much time to spend here, maybe half an hour. Well worth the stop though! Especially is you have children. The alpacas are on the shy side, but if you’re lucky, they may be near the fence where you can view them up close and personal.

The actual Alpacas are the only saving grace of this place. Unless you are a total hag, like-​minded curmudgeon like the store proprietor and want to pay outrageous prices for Alpaca wool goods, I wouldn’t even bother going into the store. My husband and I dropped by while driving around the island to try and find some Christmas gifts for people in my family that love unique (and soft!) items but were immediately put off by the store owner’s attitude towards us. My mom has been looking for a cool Russian hat and I was so excited when we found a rack of Alpaca hats. We went to take a picture so I could send it to my sister to see if this was something she agreed my mom would like and was immediately snapped at that there was no photography in the store. Ok, that’s fine but then the owner and another haggy customer of hers decided to shit talk us the rest of the time we were in there (with low voices, like c’mon you think we couldn’t hear you?) about how «of course we would pick up the most expensive hat in the store and want to take a picture of it, how ridiculous… why do they even have smart phones? It’s not like we get service on this side of the island» all in the most condescending tone full of I’m sure eye rolls and nasty side eye. Needless to say I’ll be finding a cool hat and other gifts somewhere else.

On a recent visit to Friday Harbor I decided to drive around the island and just happened upon the alpaca farm. They are so adorable. Got some great pictures because they were pretty close to the fence. They also very camera friendly. The shop was interesting. I was surprised by the prices. Bought a few postcards to support the farm. Definitely check the alpacas out if you have the time.

Alpacas are total darlings, but this shop’s owner is not. She clearly loves animals but does not extend herself to show kindness to humans. There is no reason to make rude remarks to customers because they are not as willowy as her. Plus their colors must have been selected by someone wanting to punish the customers. I have never seen a shop filled with clothing all in such depressing muddy colors.
The alpacas themselves are generally in a far-​off field and there are two layers of fencing to separate you from them, so that even if some of them should decide to wander close to the fence, they will not be close to you. As I said, loves her animals, but not the humans.

«What’s the difference between an alpaca and a llama?»
«Well, an alpaca is half the size of a llama, and twice as cute.»
Ummm, understatement, they are like the cutest things on the planet. You’ve got to see them! Plus, you’re right in the area, the island is pretty small. Total worth the trip to meet the alpacas.
Nice stuff in the store, too rich for my blood though (like $ 120 for a hat). Best part: they have skins of alpaca yarn made from the locals, and they have the picture and name of the alpaca that you’re knitting. How awesome is that!!! C’mon! !
Go see the alpaca farm! Super friendly people to boot.
Thanks for listening!

It was so fun to visit such a lovely farm. No, the alpacas, all shorn for summer were not looking beautiful, but they were cute with those big heads and very little fur. The hostess was so nice, letting us know the history of her husband’s family owning the farm and inviting us to walk down the path to see a new baby! The gifts in the shop were all very nice and high quality and we enjoyed the stop!

Alpaca products are very good quality but a bit pricey for me. The people who work here are very nice though and I liked going sometimes to visit the Alpacas

Worth the trip out to Krystal Acres Alpaca Farm!
We loved the owner, very passionate, informative and funny.
High quality materials, with high quality craftsmanship. And some really cool fashion forward clothes and accessories!
Loved the alpaca’s (please don’t call them llamas, it offends them!) and the beautiful scenery.

I was excited to come here and see the alpacas!
I was shocked to see how expansive the farm is — they own a lot of land here and the alpacas have plenty of room to run around. They also have more alpacas than I even could have imagined, in all sorts of colors and sizes.
When we came over the weekend, it appeared that they had been pretty recently shorn, as you could pretty much see the lines from where they had cut off the wool. They were pretty cute with their short fur.
They were more than happy to deal with photo takers and many of them rolled around on the ground or played.
Good stop for a photo op and likely a good place to take kids as well. You can walk around the entire farm and see all of the alpacas. They even had a maternity area, though we didn’t wander down towards that field.
The items in the store are neat, but you almost don’t want to touch them because the prices are OUTRAGEOUS. A simple wool hat was between $ 40 – 50 dollars! If you keep this in mind before you enter the store, it can be fun to browse and look at the items they have for sale.
A fun stop not too far from the English Camp or Roche Harbor!

Did you know that Alpacas are native to South America and raised for their luxury fiber? Their fiber is sheared about once a year in the summer time and they have the widest range of natural colors of any animal (twenty-​two!). They feel soft and fine like cashmere, warmer than wool and each alpaca provides for about 6 pounds or so of fiber! There are millions of them in Peru and in the same species as camels and llamas.
The fun part of the quick stop is seeing them up close. They are calm creatures that just one of the most unique I have encountered. You can feed them grass and pet them.
As for the store, yes the clothes are high priced but you get quality materials. When buying, check to see is made of the premium material called baby alpaca as they are finest they offer. I like the fun gift items like the finger puppets or alpaca stuffed dolls.

The store is stocked with alpaca-​wool sweaters, hats, scarves, and gloves – for women, children, and men – as well as throws and toys. The prices are not unreasonable for alpaca items, and the selection is amazing. I’ve never seen so many alpaca items in one place before.
I wished that the items in the store were made from the wool of the alpacas on the Krystal Acres Alpaca Farm, but most items were made in Peru. But yarn and socks made from the wool of the local alpacas were available.

This place is more of a tourist attraction than a store. Most people do not actually go into the store. My friends looked in, but they were not going to buy anything. The alpaca are adorable and even one of my friends who had no interest in stopping originally, really enjoyed her time there. Alpaca are unique animals so this place is worth the stop to say hello.

The alpacas are the cutest. It’s so fun to check them out and feed them grass.
BTW– we didn’t go into the store.

It’s the alpaca farm, not the store, that is the fun here. Who knew that alpacas were so cute? Who even knew what an alpaca was??? Not me, but I had fun here. The store had pretty things (though yes, WAY expensive) and the animals are just fun to watch. That’s about it, but still fun!

Most people don’t come here for the store. The animals are the fun part. Now if only tourists could figure out how to use the driveway instead of the road to look at them. Those with more money than the need to be sensible like to shop at the store.
I like to go when the babies are just born in the spring. So cute!

Alpacas are weirdly cute animals, but that’s about it.
The store is prohibitively expensive, except maybe for the rich rich people looking to buy real estate on San Juan Island, so browsing the store can make you feel at once impressed with the maker’s skills yet irritated at the price range. Oh well, at least they didn’t charge for looking at the widdle alpacas, and they’re far inland so the orcas you’ve been trying to catch a sighting of all day can’t eat them.