Quilts shops will come and go like Scissor Queen states. Many small businesses fail to thrive for various reasons, some not even making it through the first year. They don't plan to fail, they just fail to plan. It is hard as the quilt shop owners who didn't have a solid business plan going in just survive and limp along until they go out of business. They have to pay rent, teachers, maybe employees, utilities,insurances, invoices from all the various suppliers, repairs to the machines they keep in the store, and of course, they are holding all that inventory until someone buys it. Just like with our quilted items, the "stuff" that is in a quilt shop may not appeal to every potentional quilt shop buyer at the "price" the owner/seller thinks she/he should get. With the economy being the way it is, many folks are finding ways to save money by looking for discounts, shopping from stash, and using clothing for quilts. I have seen posts here about what makes a great quilt shop but the problem is - do they have the cash flow to put all these great ideas into place? It is sad.