sometimes it is something simple... I was looking for a black background 30's fabric and emailed the shop 45 minutes north of me to see if they had any, Eight Days Later I got a response, yes they had three. By that time I'd already sourced it from Texas and had it in hand. And I told them so.

The local shop in my small town is closing too. We just lost one earlier this year in our nearby Corvallis, now Janilou’s is closing. This means the nearest quilt shops are about 25 min. Away now and that is for small shops. It’s about 40 minutes away for a bit larger selection.

This is what happens when there is no dedicated employee to handle the online business even if it is just emails. The business creates it's own failure.

The complaint I have about my one remaining LQS is that they never seem to get anything new. I was looking for some of the new lines of fall/Halloween fabric in August when it would have been hitting the store shelves. Instead of new choices, they had simply brought out all the stuff that did not sell in 2018, 2017, and 2016. I understand that they cannot purchase every new line of fabric that is coming out but please, get something... anything... new! They do keep a good supply of blenders and basics but quilters want some new choices. So I end up ordering online a lot.

This surprises me a bit, since there is a better quality of fabric available to most quilt shops than is available in the large craft chain stores. I like to feel the "hand" of the fabric before I purchase. The same thing has been happening with independent bookstores for at least 15 years. They are going the way of the dodo bird. It's too bad, as independent book stores are a community asset, doing much more than selling books.

Prices too high especially since I donate my quilts. I buy good fabrics but, will not pay high prices for it.

There's a LQS about ten minutes away from my home that I adore but don't get to visit very often because they're rarely open when I have time off. They have lots of classes, but they are always for peak business hours at my work and I can never get off to go. There is also a tiny tiny one in the town I work in, about a thirty minute drive from home. I haven't been in there yet, because I get dirty while I'm working and I don't want to risk getting that on new fabric.

My favorite LQS is about an hour away from here, and there's at least two more within a similar drive, but this one has the lowest prices and biggest selection of fabric.

Most of them have a pretty good facebook presence, but all of the ones that don't are slowly closing, one at a time. I know of four that have closed within the last few years, or switched to servicing machines or something else entirely. With the internet and easy shipping, it's far too easy to get exactly what you want delivered to your door. It's getting harder and harder to run a successful retail business, no matter what you're selling. It's hard to compete with every single fabric store out there instead of just supplying your local area.

I feel blessed that our rural county is able to support 3 LQS--one is open weird hours but does carry lots of batiks and has some classes. The other 2 do bustling businesses but frankly, knowing both the owners, they work hard, long hours. Both keep up with social media, are constantly working on samples for the shop (both do have a couple of people that help with this), etc. so when another quilt shop about 40 min away announced they were closing after 25+ yrs, I could certainly understand.

I agree with tartan, shops have to close because lots of shopping is done on line and those that have brick and mortar can not compete.

I have to comment on the fact that one of the main reasons I shop on the internet is that I cannot find what I want in the stores. I still try to buy most of my fabric in a LQS but when I am looking for a specific item not available in the store I do go to the internet. I realiZe it is a problem for inventory but we really do not have a choice.