I saw this thread title this morning and had to chuckle. I had never seen a personal stash of fabric until I went into my husband's grandmother's sewing room when we were dating. It was unbelievable to me. She had worked in the JC Penney fabric department for years and years. She had 100s of yards of fabric she got for 15 to 25 cents a yard because of it being clearance and her employee discount.
The sad thing is there is a lot of it still in her basement rotting away because the family can't make a decision about what to do with her stuff.
My mother didn't drive so we walked everywhere. In the small town I grew up in there were two dime stores. Both carried fabric. As a matter of fact I still bought fabric from them in the 80s.