I'm in Minneapolis, and I've had pretty good luck with customer service at the Yarnery. It probably helps to go when they aren't so busy. I

Depth of Field, though. I've had people ask how projects I bought a year before turned out. There's a store at Xerxes and 50th in SW Mpls called Needlepoint Unlimited that has a wide selection but is always swamped. There's another one in Linden Hills (43rd and Upton, I think) with the world's snootiest woman. They had exactly the yarn I needed a couple times and I got in and out of there as quickly as I possibly could. My MIL likes a place in Hopkins, but I don't know the name.
I didn't realize how lucky we were having so many LYS's nearby!