MissQuilter

Quilting is a tactile art, and I just need to feel and really see the fabrics I choose. As many have mentioned, a quilt shop is also a place to talk and learn and share. Quilting traditionally was not something people did when they were alone, but so often women got together for sharing and support while they quilted... and maybe gossip too! I feel that we should all, to the best of our ability, support our quilt shops, as if they all disappear, we all will be the ones who suffer.

Christine

SemiSweet

I agree with that last statement. In the education program at the University of Iowa I've never met anyone of my 400+ peers that quilts. These are all 19-27-year-olds, almost all of them women. And I'm the only one that quilts. I over heard someone the other day complaining about how she didn't know how to fix a torn seam in her shirt and was going to throw it away! People just don't sew like they used to.

As far as the online thing goes, yes, I do think the online marketplace has a lot to do with stores shutting down but it's not just it being online, but the global marketplace taking over. It used to be that prices could be very different, for example cheaper in America than Canada, but now that we have online prices, all the local stores have to try to compete with prices from across the world. Think about how frustrating it is when you're shopping for a new quilting machine, you could get quoted $4000 in one place and $2000 in another. This is because, in some ways, the machine companies (Janome, Babylock, etc.) can get away with it. People still really need to look at a machine in person (or make a huge investment sight-unseen), and you can't do that online.

BTW, I was really sad when I heard that my LQS was closing but relieved when a new owner bought the place. I had just started really getting into quilting again about a year before the store started to close. Now I try to do all the shopping I can at my LQS unless I have a specific fabric in mind that they don't have (like the Dr. Seuss fabrics for the quilt I just finished, I still bought all my border fabric at my LQS).

sewbizgirl

I looked up Mill End Textiles online and found that all their stores are closing. They do not sell online. Maybe that's their problem: They relied solely on walk-in traffic. In this day and age, those are the businesses that close down. You really need online sales to be competitive.

OldHairTwister

@redbreast...and they will never know you if they choose to ignore you. Without knowing it they could be ignoring someone that has unlimited funds and could be ready to be their best sale of the week....but not if they are treated poorly

Lucy90

Being up north two quilt shops are closing. One already closed & the other after the first of the year. Fabric prices are high & wages aren't. I do buy on line but like the quilt shop experience a lot better. Hope the economy changes so we don't lose any more stores. It's not just quilt shops that are having problems.

KLO

I've just read all these posts and you won't believe it but we just had a new shop open in NC .... and it's just down the road from another new shop that opened last year. I was stunned! The two shops do carry two different make machines. Both owners seem to be very friendly and mostly customer oriented with classes offered in different techniques. I did like the second shop as soon as I walked in but I cannot say why. I have my fingers crossed that at least one of the shops, if not both, makes it.

Caswews

Our local quilt store is closing up Dec 21st if not sooner .. One downsized last year to a very small quilt shop/with Bernina machines (a few others as well). Its just too expensive anymore to buy from a local quilt store .. sad ..

dlf0122quilting

Will the Mill Ends in Rochester, Mn also be closing? I make it a point to go there every summer on my vacation from California. That is so sad about your LQS. I worked at our LQS which closed last November. It feels like you are losing your best friend.

brendadawg

I LOVE S R Harris! I could spend hours in there. You're right about it being hard to pull on the bolts. My wrists are always sore when I leave there!

dc989

Three shops I know of closed because the owner retired and could not sell the business. In a fourth case the owner is really trying to move toward a retreat center instead of a shop because of high building rent, business regulation and taxes and the huge jump in prices of fabric and so on. They made their large home into the retreat center and are living in their remodeled garage/shop.