I have been loyal for a long time, but owner is not purchasing anything new. It's a catch 22. She has lowered her bills, but there is less draw for me to make a trip. I have started purchasing my focal fabric online and getting blenders from her, but those are getting really picked over. I understand scaling back to fit the traffic, but at some point it is detrimental. You have to spend money sometimes to make it. That being said, I'll try to spend local before going online, but I am shopping around.
In her defense, when I worked there, most customers were retirees on fixed incomes. So I KNOW she has been hit really hard by the economic slowdown. And she has made it abundantly clear that if lack of business forces her to close up, there will be no sales or new ownership. The shop will just close and inventory goes to the compitition.