Guilty?
 

Do you feel "guilty" if you leave a LQS empty-handed?

Um.......no. If I don't find what I'm looking for, I don't buy. I need that money for when I DO find what I want.

Every LQS owner has her own taste when she buys. It doesn't take long to see if they mesh with your own. Some stores you could take it all home, others, you walk out empty-handed.

I can always use a spool of thread and like to try new brands so I buy a new brand if there is nothing else I really want. I don't feel guilty if I don't. I have been in quiet a few quilt shops that have no thread at all for sale. That makes no sense to me but there are more then you think that don't sell thread.

I wish I had a LQS near me.....

If the people in the shop are nice I always buy something (when we travel and I stop at a shop). If the people aren't nice I don't feel guilty. 4 times a month I have quilt clubs at LQS's around here. I don't feel guilty leaving without buying something because I'd be really broke if I felt I had to buy 4 times a month at the shops.

not at all. i leave many stores empty handed. owners like lookers, too, because shoppers then know where to go to get what they want when they need it

No, sometimes disappointed that I could not find what I was looking for, but not guilty.

I always buy something - even just a fat quarter, because I do feel guilty. And I feel even guiltier if the shop is going out of business and I buy a ton of stuff at rock-bottom prices. My favorite quilt shop in Wisconsin went out of business last week, and my local here in Minneapolis is going out of business currently.

No, not at all.

It crosses my mind just a bit, but I figure that they did not have anything that appealed to me.

That's funny. It's not personal, it's business.

Yes, I do feel guilty, but I still generally leave empty-handed because I just go in to dream:) Last time I went in I bought some fusible webbing because every time I've been in I tell the sales lady "I'm just browsing..." That works the first couple of times but not forever! If there is a nice sale with prices below $4 a yard I will buy same fabric too.

I do, sort of. Not truly GUILTY like I've done something wrong; maybe "awkward and uncomfortable and sometimes a little sad" is a better description.

It really depends on the shop - if it's busy and bustling, or if it's a shop where I frequently DO buy things I don't worry about it one bit; I'll lookie-loo all day and not buy a thing and not feel the least bit weird about it. But if it's one of those deserted little shops with the desperate shopkeeper who you can tell would do ANYTHING for you if you'd just PLEASE BUY SOMETHING...I always feel bad for those people, trying to make their dream come true and struggling. So I feel very awkward just walking out, empty handed, and always wish I'd seen something I liked.

Yes, it's business, but there's a sentimentality to it, too, or else none of us would care about LQS's at all and just shop online, right? I WANT them to succeed, just sometimes there's nothing there for me, and there's a regretful feeling when that happens, particularly if I can tell the shop is really struggling. I probably empathize with the shopkeeper a little too well.

What Sewnoma just said.

I only go to my LQS when I'm looking for something specific that I need at that moment. Since I'm retired there's no disposable cash most of the time so I have come to terms with working through what I already have.

Leaving the LQS empty-handed? Sorry, not familiar with the concept.

No, not at all. Why?

So far I have always found something that wanted to come home with me. lol

I never feel guilty leaving any store with nothing. We don't have a LQS here anymore but many, many times I just went in to "look around" & never felt the need to buy if I couldn't find anything I liked or needed.

I have to ask; if you go in the corner grocery for eggs and they are out of them, do you feel guilted into buying a bag of chips?

Yes, I feel a level of guilt because I know how important it is for the LQS to be supported by shoppers. Too often they are undercut by the large chain stores. On the other hand, if the LQS doesn't have what I need, I will not purchase what is not needed. Just yesterday, I purchased fat quarters at a LQS, paying more than what I wanted but the colors fit the final choices I needed for a quilt and the FQs were buy 4 get one free. Left guilt free...... this time. :o

I always find a fat quarter or two to add to my stash so I never leave empty handed.

Of course not! I leave any store empty handed if it does not have what I want or if the price is too high. I rarely shop my LQS's. I just cannot afford them and frankly, I have found them to be less than friendly unless you are a regular.

I am not a browser. When I go shopping I have a mission. When they don't have it I don't feel guilty for leaving empty handed.

More disappointed than anything, either because they didn't have what I wanted or it was too expensive. I might feel guilty leaving any store if I spent way more than I should have but not because I didn't spend anything. Then I feel blessed and that I resisted temptation.

that is one thing about some of the LQS I don't understand. The sewing center down the road from me sells quite a few brands of sewing machines and thread but little inventory for fabric. I asked why and the owner stated she didn't want to compete with the fabric shops so she sells more notions and equipment. They also have an onsite machine repair person whose father was also a machine repair person. Their embroidery thread is more for machine embroidery.

[QUOTE=ArtsyOne;7815954]I always buy something

Sometimes shops go out of business not because of low sales but because they haven't lived up to what is expected. I love local stores, small shops and go there first. I bought my first Viking Ruby from one that is an hour away. I was promised classes. They only ones I got was when we didn't the emb club and I'd have to rush there after work to catch the last hour. A year later I traded that one in and got the top of line that was on special. again, promised classes, got none. In between these two machines I also bought their digitizing software, I was promised classes, this whole time the shop knew I had Thur thru Sat off to do this. I still got no classes. I spent over 15, 000 there and they made a profit on me but I got a lot of frustration at not getting the addiotional learning promised. I used to go there even if I needed some fabric or thread even though I have stores closer but no independent shops. After a few years of being a loyal paying customer and getting empty promises which showed they could care less about me once the sale was made, I quit going. This past year the store closed down and I wasn't sad at all. I was sad when hancock's went under but this store. True to form, in the couple of weeks before the store closed, the owner kept on selling classes, not honoring the gift cards telling the people to wait a week or two for a sale, that never happened. It was all over FB how sad it was. I feel bad for a few of the employees who were nice and had no control over anything. No sadness for the owner. I put up on FB that this is what happens when you don't treat your customers with the respect they deserve and live up to their promises. I said there are a couple of sayings, one is Karma is a B and what goes around comes around, and this time it did.

I'm lucky because we have a fabric store here that is pretty big but locally owned to go to. When Hancock's went out of business and the other big chain fabric raised their prices this store lowered his and got more stock in. I also shop at the sew n vacs who are doing great getting more things like fabric in, even though I have to drive there but I will support them because they honor their customers and stand by their promises.

Sorry for going on but while I feel we should support our small businesses they need to value us as well. Its a two way street. If they do it right and still go under, then yes, I feel badly for them but at least they tried honestly to make it work. The economy was just against them right now.

I try to find something when I'm on a organized shop hop or Row by Row. I usually have a project in mind and am looking for something specific so if they don't have it I don't feel guilty. I do think that shoppers should at least look around the store and spend some time if they are on an organized shop hop or Row by Row rather than just picking up a free pattern or getting your passport stamped. The purpose of these events is to get you to come to the store and it's nicer if you at least look and see what they have to offer.

I'll buy a fat quarter to add to my "I Spy" stash.

No, I don't feel guilty. I usually see something that I will go back for at a later date.

If it's a small owner store, yeah, I do. I usually find a FQ or two to buy.

No, sometimes I go to get ideas. Usually good conversation.

no, cuz I might buy on my next visit.

Do you feel guilty if you go into a car dealership and don't buy a car or into a furniture store and don't buy any furniture? Does walking into a store to look around compell you to buy? Need drives me to buy something. If there isn't something that fills a need, I don't buy and don't feel guilty.

I don't feel guilty, however I try to find something to buy even if it is a little thing like a fat quarter on sale. Almost all of the quilt stores around here have gone out of business. I'm trying to help them stay in business. Every little bit helps.

It is hard for me not to find something I want to buy. If I didn't I would not buy anything and not feel bad about it;

Please what is an LQS?

I don't feel guilty, but I do try to buy something; however, if the shop really has nothing I want I don't buy just to be buying. I was at a shop this morning with a friend who purchased several yards of fabrics, I bought nothing. Then, when we returned to our hometown this afternoon, I ran by our local shop and bought 3 yards of Kansas Troubles fabric., just because. Didn't really need them, but I am planning another quilt that I might need them in.