Originally Posted by yacketusa

Uh oh. I've been here only a day and I'm afraid I'm going to make some enemies already. I suppose I could simply not reply, but that's not me. Sorry.

WalMart, after pulling their fabric and inconveniencing hundreds of thousands crafty customers, is now going to put it back in 700 stores> Did I get that right?

I've bought fabric from them for over 20 years When they got rid of it about 5-6 years ago (can't recall exactly when) I had to drive 50 miles one way to a fabric shop - or, use what I had accumulated.

I whined and cried just like everyone else about not being able to buy fabric for $1.50 to $3.00 a yard anymore... not to mention, floss, buttons, thread, trim and everything else they got rid of.

Fast forward>
I lost my job last August. Considering all my options, I decided to go in debt for a considerable amount of money to start a sewing supply shop - for me and everyone else in the area.
I buy mostly from one supplier because I can sell the fabric they have for around $5/yard. Good quality quilting cotton. There are plenty of other distributors I have accounts with, but I know for a fact No ONE around here will pay $9 and up for a yard of cotton. I won't either.

If I hear one more customer say, "Oh, I wish WalMart still sold fabric!" I WILL SCREAM!

So, for all of my customers who will stop shopping with me and start buying fabric from WalMart again, should they decide to do so in my area, I have two words. They're not nice ones.

I liked the convenience, selection and price of shopping for fabric from them in the past, but now I see things from a different perspective.

I Will NEVER, ever buy fabric from WalMart again. I hope all of the others here will kindly consider how this change to WalMart will affect your local, small quilting shops.
Too many small shop owners are struggling now. Are we going to let the whims of a conglomerate, who is able to sell cheap because the buy bulk directly from overseas, or are we going to support our local Mom & Pop stores?

And, what about all of the well established fabric distributors that folded when WalMart decided to pull their fabric? I read about one that had been around a long time that folded because they had a contract with WalMart. WalMart cared as little about them as they did their customers.

I know what I'm going to do... and I'd do it even if I didn't have a shop. I'm tired of being jerked around by WalMart.

Okay. I'm finished. I'll go away quietly now. :oops: