I know! I know! You must not have been into a quilt shop in the last six months if you haven't noticed the price of fabric. I have to agree with you, it's terrible!!! Believe me I have been quite concerned by it. Many of you know the reason for it ... the price of cotton has skyrocketed in the past two years. Not only were there huge problems with crops (flooding, cold weather, etc) around the world, now China, the worlds highest consumer of cotton, ran out! So for now, we are paying the price. It's simple supply and demand, along with the price of shipping to get the fabric into our shops.
As a quilt shop owner....... this is scary! I read blogs that encourage us to shop on line where prices are lower. Ok! Let's just tackle the reason the "On-line Shops" are less expensive. It is really very simple: they don't have the overhead that the "Brick and Mortar" shops have. Yep! these shops pay BIG RENT!
If we don't support these shops, we WILL lose them. Where would we be then? I don't think we would have the quilting culture we have now if we did not have those cute little shops for classes and stitching help. We not only sell fabric, but Ideas, Inspiration and Instruction. We are the place you come to relax, feel the fabric, and enjoy some camaraderie with fellow quilters. On-line shops do not provide that. I have had people go so far as to come in, look at all the books, write down all the numbers from the bolts of fabric and go home to order it on line. Hmmm. Kind of feel used there.
Well, I didn't mean to get on a soap box, but I get a little discouraged when I read some of the blogs. Aunt Mary's has been here now for twelve years, and as far as I know, Aunt Mary's will be here to serve you, my friends, for many years to come. Happy Quilting!
5 comments:
Well, my daughter and I certainly enjoyed shopping and spending at your shop on Friday! (spent more than I should have - as usual!)
Thank You! I Appreciate you more than I can say! Now that I wrote it. I hope I didn't offend anyone. It was just a concern of mine.
You've always been so generous with your knowledge, help and free use of your classroom. Where else
can you go, hang out, join a group, take a class, enjoy a potluck and see your smiley face (mostly smiley. And your employees
are the best. Deb
I've quilted since 1974 and have believed in supporting our local quilt shops from the time I discovered my first one many years ago. The quilting friends I've come to know and love have helped me through tough times as well as celebrated the good times with me. I love coming to Aunt Mary's Quilt Shop to visit with friends and drink Mochas (yum), as well as sew and buy LOTS of fabric. I want to see and touch my fabric before I buy it and that's a service we can't get from online shops.
You can't buy cameraderie online. You can't buy a great eye and excellent personal advice online. You can't take classes, get several different opinions, have a great laugh (and yes, the mocha)online. You can't support a local business online, and most of all, you can't find Carol online (ok, maybe you can but you know what I mean!)
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