It seems a lot of fabric stores go out of business. It would have to be in a high demand area with little to no competition I would think...

From my travels around, I think the most successful shops are:

1)..shops that have classes..you HAVE to stimulate your clients. You HAVE to keep them trying new ideas, new patterns, and buying new fabric.

2)..shops that have sales staff that KNOW how to quilt. Do NOT put someone at the desk to cut out fabric that doesn't know how to do it!!! Trust me, i've been to shops and have gotten disgusted.

3)..will it be profitable. That's up to you and all of the above. Don't spend a fortune on a fancy building.....but DO provide supplies -- notions besides fabric.

I went into a shop recently and asked if they had the Clover folding pen. The woman had no idea what I was talking about....so I described it. She said no. I walked around the corner and looked at the notions wall and there it was. I told her....she said she had no idea what it was. The shop was small and my GF and I were the only ones in there. Yeah, if you don't know what you have, how can you sell it?????

good luck! :)

There used to be a QuiltBus in NY. Lovely folks with a shop who travelled around to shows, guild meetings, and retreats in a retrofitted bus. Unfortunately space and stock limitations, repair costs, and the internet competition ended it years ago.

Another wonderful long time local shop (45 minutes away) is struggling badly- again due to rising operating costs and internet competition. I and many of my friends are trying to use our stash rather than buy fabric as living and insurance costs rise. It hurts that we can't support our local business friends.

If I were you I would start out online. A lot of the quilt shops online do pretty well. It is a good start anyways & a lot less overhead. You can always do classes online too. Then too you wouldn't have to just depend on local customers. Just a thought but that is what I would do. Good luck in whatever you decide.

I would narrow down what kinds of fabric you plan to carry - Civil Wars - flannel - batiks - there is such a wide range. Also, what kind of tools and classes are most needed?

A successful LQS in today's market, has to be willing to have an online presence. More and more people shop online these days. Just because there's not a quilt shop in your area, doesn't mean the quilters in your area aren't shopping. Your competition isn't outher quilt shops, but rather the plethora of shops online.

In my market of 250,000 population, smack dab in the middle of West Texas where cotton is king . . .we don't have a quilt shop, but I spend about a $1000 online per month for fabric and notions. I'd love to spend that locally. But since there's not a LQS, Google is my best friend.