A yarn shop in Inglewood, California, beat out more than 12,000 applicants to land on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s 2026 CO-100, a list of America’s top 100 small and mid-size businesses. The product that got it there? Knitted chickens.
The Knitting Tree, L.A., owned by Annette Corsino, was recognized as a Global Stars honoree for its trademarked Emotional Support Chicken kits and patterns, which have spread to knitters in dozens of countries. The patterns are now available in five languages, and each chicken gets a celebrity-inspired name like “Tailfeather Swift,” “Chickolas Cage,” and “Hennifer Lopez.”
From local hobby to global sales
Corsino first released the pattern in 2023. Since then it has generated nearly 14,000 projects on Ravelry, a popular crafting platform, and continues to pull in hundreds of visits a day. By 2024, the shop had already sold more than 25,000 patterns and 3,000 kits. More recent figures suggest those numbers have climbed past 30,000 patterns and 5,000 kits reaching 60 countries.
The shop also hosts a biweekly Gen Z Knit Night that regularly draws 40 to 50 people, turning the business into a community gathering spot as much as a retail operation.
What the award actually means
Being named to the CO-100 puts The Knitting Tree in competition for the program’s top business prize of $25,000. Ten category winners each receive $2,000. All honorees will gather at the U.S. Chamber’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. for an awards forum running October 19 through 21.
For other small business owners, the story is a sharp reminder that niche, personality-driven products can scale far beyond local foot traffic. Corsino turned a simple knitting pattern into a digital product line with global reach, selling downloadable patterns alongside physical kits. That combination of low-cost digital distribution and a high-touch in-store experience is a model worth studying.
There is a practical lesson in the award application itself, too. The CO-100 program is open to any business with fewer than 250 employees or under $20 million in annual revenue. Applications for 2027 will likely open next spring.
The winners will be announced at the October 21 forum. If The Knitting Tree takes the top prize, a $25,000 check would be a serious boost for a shop whose biggest product still retails as a ball of yarn and a set of instructions.
