I am not lucky enough to have a local shop where I can go through the fabric and shop. WalMart is our closest place of purchasing fabric and it has just come back to our local town. These fabrics are placed about eye level so there isn't a problem for me. I also have a bad back, I feel your pain. I find that a lot of my fabric has come from ebay, not ideal because you can't really plan your quilt as you would in a fabric store.