Originally Posted by MistyMarie
I have had awesome experiences in quilt stores and horrible ones.
I was in one in a small town up in Idaho (Glenn's Ferry, I believe) and the couple that ran the shop were the NICEST shop owners I have ever had the pleasure to meet. We had had vehicle trouble heading up to my grandmother's memorial service in northern Idaho, so my mom, sister, and I had time to kill while the guys dealt with a locked up brake on my parent's fifth-wheel. The store was tiny, but the gentleman was using a long-arm and let me pick his brain about how to use it for almost half an hour. I ended up buying several yards of fabric from them, even though I had no project in mind for it because they were such wonderful people. They seemed genuinely glad to have a "visitor" to their shop.
Where I live, I hate going to my LQS because I always feel like they don't have time to give me, see me as not a big spender (which is funny, considering my stash of fabric!) and not worthy of their quilting wisdom. My husband is gone quite a bit with the military, so my children often have had to go with me to the store. I think this is the reason they are so rude to me, even though my kids never have acted up or messed up or touched anything in the store. Not only that, but I have asked them several times to call me when they get in a certain type of muslin (that they keep selling out of), but then I've gone in to see if it is in, they tell me they just sold out of it and to get on the calling list. It doesn't seem to matter that I keep telling them I AM on the list and when they check, there I am!
I will drive an extra ten miles to the other quilt store because they have a play area for children and I don't see a look of sheer panic spread over their faces when my children walk in with me. My kids are VERY well behaved and have been taught to not touch anything, so it angers me when shop-owners assume that they are going to be terrors.
I'm telling you, Idaho has the nicest people!!! And almost every LQS I've been to in this state has a place set up for children. I don't have children, mine being all grown up, but I think it's a sweet thing to do.
Originally Posted by chris_quilts
Also related to sewing machines. In a local sewing shop, not a LQS, I was looking for the Janome brand since I'm hunting a new machine. The owner told mre that I would not like a Janome but she had the Project Runway edition Brother which was very comparable to the Janome model I want to test drive. They are a small shop and only carry Brothers, I believe, but I couldn't believe her answer about I wouldn't like the Janome. She wanted the sale and not the customer's satisfaction. It is true that when I testdrive the Janome, I may not like it but I want to try it first before looking at other brands. My Singer is approximately 25 yrs old and I just want a larger throat area for quilting.
If the Brother was comparable to the Janome, which she didn't think you would like, why would she try to sell it to you? I think you are right, the sale was what mattered to her. How sad.
Originally Posted by sassyquilter
I hate to purchase fabric from shops and they tear the yardage instead of cutting.
Am I the only one who dislikes this ? The chain fabric stores I do go to always cut the fabric...
Am I just being to picky ? Makes me not want to purchase from the individual shops.
When I lived in Southern California there was a LQS in Tehatchepi where the gal tore the fabric. I actually appreciated it because I knew it would be perfectly along the grain line, plus she always gave several extra inches because she knew that part needed to be cut away. I would actually end up with a couple extra inches, which was great! I would drive the extra hour just to go to her store. No one I know does that here in Idaho and I get horrified looks when I even mention it. Lol.
Originally Posted by linkat
I will not go into a quilt store that is closest to me anymore. I went one time and took my mentally and physically handicapped son. My son is very friendly and says "hi" to everyone. The people that worked there all asked what he wanted. I explained he was just saying "hi" and they turned their backs on him. He was hurt and I left without buying anything and won't even go back if I don't have him with me.
How terrible! There is simply no excuse for such rudeness! :evil:
As for treating someone rudely because they appear young...geesh, do they think there is a special age one has to be before becoming a quilter? I know many young people (teens and younger) who quilt and are amazing at it! And normally these teens have more money then we adults seem to and if I were a quilt shop owner I would cater to them! :lol: