Originally Posted by mountain deb
We would like to see the sales, but would also like to see the store stay in business.
Here's something I've been thinking about for a long while. Many of us have been watching as our local Wal-Marts have been closing their fabric departments. In my area, I've watched the price that they charge for their "regular" fabrics (Springs, VIP, Fabric Traditions) went from $3.96 / yard to $4.40 / yard over the last two years.
I have no idea what Wal-Mart pays for their fabrics, but let's suppose they do what's traditional in retail, which is to double their costs. So... perhaps they paid $2 / yard to get the fabric, and then marked it up to $3.96. They make about $2 / yard (less expenses). Apparently that wasn't working for them, because they started closing the fabric departments around this same period of time.
Now... suppose they were still able to get the fabric for $2 cost, and now in an effort to see if they could make the department profitable, raised the selling price to $4.40 / yard. Now they're making $2.40 / yard... yet and it still must not have been enough... if they were actually making money, they wouldn't be closing the fabric departments, would they?
It just makes me wonder. If Wal-Mart, with all the advantages of size and buying power, can't make a go of it on $2 - $2.40 / yard mark-up, what does that mean in terms of smaller shops, like a LQS?
Just something to mull over...