A salesman told me years ago that when this big dept. store ordered fabric, they would order, ie: 500,000 ydss of one fabric but will only pay this amount. The manufacturer would then have to find ways to cut back on quality to meet that criteria, thus less acceptable goods to the public. We as consumers are showing our dislike of this practice by not buying it, but the less educated among us still will buy and learn.
The shop owner buys fabric wholesale and then adds a percentage for markup to cover her costs, ie; rent, bills, pay, and hopefully profit. We would like to see the sales, but would also like to see the store stay in business. Just think about the flip side of buying fabric every now and again.