I owned a yarn/needlework shop for 8 years, didn't make any money but lots of friends. Good thing my husband supported me or I would have starved to death trying to make a living. So much of the profits have to go into new stock. If you don't have to support yourself and a family, it is a nice hobby and I got my satisfaction out of teaching and helping people. I made life long friends that still come for help. Sold the shop 22 years ago and made my money on it when I sold it. That was my payback for all the hours I put in.
Would be more fun working for someone who already owns a shop and none of the expenses. My rent tripled in the 8 years I owned it.

Carol J.

We've got one here in Franklin (45 min from me) that has just moved into larger bldg.

I can't afford them AT ALL. All of the damn classes are as follows:

4 hour class $300
6 hour class $500

They have about TEN classes I'd love to take but it won't be in this lifetime!

Let me pick myself up off the floor. Those class prices are at least 10 times higher than anything I have ever seen. They sure wouldn't be teaching me!
Babycatcher: see if you can't arrange to work in a shop one day a week. You'll be making friends and seeing if it is really what you want to do. Some shops do hire people by the day of the week. They sell, make samples, and teach classses. And maybe your dream will come true. At least, you'll have gotten some experience there and had fun too. All the best.

LOL me too!

our LQS stays in business only thru their on/line sales. That is one complaint I have, too busy filling internet orders to even say hello. They have over 200 BOM's that they fill every month. Whatever works I guess????

If your dream job is to *work* in a quilt shop, then that is what you should try to do. Find a job working in one. And watch closely what the owner spends his/her time on. Handling the fabric is a great deal of fun, as is the buying process. But I would guess that the majority of the owner's time is NOT spent on those tasks, but on the more mundane jobs like accounting and record-keeping, and other managment-type tasks.

Also, if you don't have a good head for business decisions - or if you have no training in business, you really should try to take a basic course on the subject, even through community education.

All depends on location and if you can satisfy all people....or at least most people...I know one of my favorite shops, the owners both work there....they have 3 shops that sell Bernina machines and then one of the shops also sells fabric....so selling machines can't be all that money making as most people don't buy a new machine every year....but we do buy fabric, like maybe weekly!!!

My LQS also does custom quilting on computerized long arm machines (I believe they have 2) and there is usually about a 6 week turnaround because they are so busy. They are in a small building with lots of fabrics, classes, kits, and a room in the back to bring in your machine and sew if you want. While I can't afford their fabrics when walmart is 5 minutes away, and JoAnn is 45 minutes, I do love their service, smiles, and help when I am stuck on something.

The classes at The City Quilter in NYC are all under $100.00.
$300 or $400 is out of sight!

That would be my guess also. The biggest stores around me all have pretty thriving machine sales which, in turn, help drive the fabric sales.