Originally Posted by peabee
QKO-thank you for so much inside info. would you give us some examples of family owned online businesses? you named some of the big box shops, who are some of the little guys nationwide? i shop both online and local. would have no problem supporting the online "little guy". now, i DO have to watch my dollars, but i'm old enough to know it's not always about the lowest cost. as you explained, there is a long term price to pay for what LOOKS like the lowest price.
What you want to do is go to the websites and read the "about us" page. That will tell you a lot about which of the stores are big-box and which are family owned. There are hundreds of quilt shops on the web, some small, some medium and some large. Another place to get info on independent quilt shops is at the Fabric Shop Owners Network, here's a link to the blog:
http://www.fabricshoppersunite.com/blog/