My sister and I bought an existing quilt shop and tried it for a while before the recession hit. Overhead is a huge issue, those who owned their building were the most successful. My half was $150,000 and it was needed for overhead, merchandise and salaries. Remember a bolt of fabric is about 15 yards and you wil be paying about 50% of the retail amount. So if the fabric is 10.99 a yard, you will be paying about $5.50 a yard times 15 yards for EACH bolt! We were open from 10 to 8 but very few people showed up in the evenings. It seemed like they just wanted to know that we were open if needed. Filling classes could be a huge problem and we found that vending at guilds and events helped quite a bit but were a huge amount of work and extra fees for tables etc. and fill in help in the shop.Also don't forget insurance and snow removal etc. DO NOT think that you will have lots of time to do any of your quilting! Marketing and just plain paperwork from inventory to taxes; local, state and federal are also all on your plate! Selling sewing machines is how many are able to stay in business but the initial contract with a manufacturer can cost as much as $50,000! You have lots to think about!