Originally Posted by Scrap Happy

I think you should pursue your dream. An area for the men to sit would be nice with tea, coffee & ‘manly’ magazines. Quilters love to take classes and these classes would bring quilters into your shop. When I worked at a LQS quilters were ‘encouraged’ to buy materials from the shop that was offering the classes. Music in the background is nice. You may want to offer LAQ services either done yourself or sent out to good and reputable local LAQ’s. You could also ask quilters or have a form for them to fill out about what they would like to see in your shop. The owner I worked for let us pick out whatever patterns she had in the store to make to put on display. This looks pretty and helps quilters who come in to come up with new ideas and helps you sell the materials needed for the quilt. You could also offer sew days or nights for quilters to come in and work on WIP’s together. You could also offer a sewing machine repair service if you wanted (or have a good referral or place to send out.) and also scissor sharpening. The LQS I worked for also sold Pfaff's and all of us had to learn how to use them to teach quilters. An e-mail newsletter of course would help you get new info out to your customers. Get involved with your local guilds. You could also have charity quilting days to bring quilters in who want to make charity quilts together. You could have them brown bag it, have a list of local restaurants or bring in lunch for them. One LQS had all night quilting PJ parties :-P