I have one shop about 20 miles away that I LOVE! Go in, and the owner is chipper, glad to see me, and ever-so-willing to help. I try to buy at least one or two things from her every time I go, because I want her to succeed. I'm willing to pay a bit more for those few items.
The shop in the town where I live however...my sis in law, Peggy (candella59) went in there one day without me. Peggy is a brand new sewer/quilter....in the past two months, she's done just two projects, and they are her first. She's also quite shy and embarrasses easily. She wanted a solid for a border for her first quilting project, a set of placemats. The old snag in this shop informed her that "this is a REAL quilt shop, and REAL quilt shops don't carry solids." :shock: Peggy asked if that was something then, that she would have to pick up somewhere like Joanne's. OMG! You'd have thought she'd asked the woman if she was wearing panties that day! She had a sarcastic remark for Peggy, who left the shop nearly in tears... we don't go back there at all....
The shop where I saw the presser foot for my machine? Beautiful big store...and the folks are friendly when they pay attention to you...but way over priced in my opinion. Considering that I'm a beginner, I can't see paying $120 for the fabric to make a quilt top that I know is going to turn out less than perfect at this point. I'm still "practicing"... so the LQSs aren't going to be making much profit from me for awhile until I get more confident. I just can't afford to pay $80 for ONE foot when I can get two for less than $30...as much as I would love to have them stay in business and be there for me when I need them, I can't do it...
~sigh~