New Business on the Block
Largo Alpaca Ranch Inspires New Store
A new Largo store offers alpaca apparel, yarn, home decor and more.
In 2008, Alicia Chivers wanted to get back to the basics, so she started her own 3-acre alpaca ranch in Largo. As the herd of alpacas — which resemble small llamas — grew, Chivers, a former telecommunications chief financial officer, realized the need for a store to market alpaca products and a weaving studio to explore the fiber arts. The Criativity store and studio opened in September. The name is not a typo of the English word creativity. "Cria" is a baby alpaca, and "tivity" is a play on nativity, which has to do with birthing, Chivers said. The front of the red building facing Clearwater-Largo Road features alpaca merchandise from Largo and around the world. Largo alpaca fleece is dyed and sent to Texas, where a mill weaves and …
