I have to agree on the customer service thing. A LQS does not sell fabric IMO, it sells service, because unless you live in a town where there is no internet and no other place to buy fabric for 100 miles, most people will always find a cheaper place to buy what you’re selling. You have to have employees that realize this and can help you sell the best service possible. Whether it’s right or not, teenagers wouldn’t spend $100 for a pair of jeans at Abercrombie and Fitch if the sales people didn’t fit the company's look and style. Although everyone has many opinions on what product, classes, etc… they would like to see in a LQS, I have heard on the boards that the single most reason a person stops shopping at a LQS is service is because of bad service. Not because they didn’t have a certain book (Oh can we order that for you?), or a certain fabric (Well unfortunately we can’t order that for you, but let’s hop on this computer and find it online somewhere for you, then let’s take a look at the coordinators I do have here for you to get today), or even because they don’t have a class they want to take (That is a great idea for a class! We will look into finding a teacher for something like that.). Make sure you provide the best service, without smothering people and you will win in the long run.
Now on to other things LOL I think you should see how you can incorporate technology into your store. Can you have a computer set up with all the stores fabrics imported into Electric Quilt 7 (or the simpler version Quilt Wizard), so someone can come in and design a quilt and buy the fabrics that day? (With help from a knowledgeable staff person of course) Or how about having a large computer screen set up in the store that rotates through flickr photos of quilts you have made for the store? People tend to shy away from technology when they own a small company, but we are a technological society, embrace it!
Have night and weekend hours. A lot of the quilt stores around me close at 4:00 and don’t open on Sunday. Not all of us are stay at home mom’s I would love to see a store that stays open till 7 or 8 and is open everyday of the week. Hire a competent staff that you can train to close for you and you can easily do this.
I have a ton of other ideas, but I don’t want to write a novel. Just think of all the things you wish you could have done when you walked into a LQS yourself. Yes it may cost a bit more up front, but it will pay more in the end.
Rachel