Originally Posted by TexasGurl
This just brought to mind - are there still House of Fabrics stores or So Fro Fabrics anywhere ??
We used to have So Fro stores here years ago, just wondering if any still exist today ??
I can answer that one!! The company that bought Cloth World was Fabric Centers of America. They had several different (usually regional) chains of stores. They actually bought Cloth World a few years before changing the names of the stores. When Fabric Centers of America bought out So-Fro/House of Fabrics the company went through a major reorganization, changed the names of all its stores to JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts. And changed the corporate name too. It was still a "family" owned company, but stock was/is traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
I was assistant manager at House of Fabrics here in the Valley and went through the whole transition and remodel and all. (And we were open every day of that remodel.)
As for staffing at the stores.... every store is assigned a certain number of "payroll hours", plus management hours. That is what you have to staff the store with. So how many people are on the floor at one time can vary from store to store. And how it affects the bottom line. Our store was a large traditional store (not one of the ETC. stores). We were open the standard hours (set by the company.) Had to always have 2 people in the store "on the clock". And do everything with an average of 225 hours per week of payroll. (9-9 Monday -Saturday, 12-6 on Sunday is 78 hours, plus about and hour before opening and after closing and you are well on the way to 100 hours. Times 2 employees leaves about 25 hours for shift overlaps, lunch breaks and so on. Not a lot of coverage. )
Pati, in Phx who is not sorry to be out of that job. <G>