Why shops close
 

Just musings from personal observation and postings from shops in my area over the last few years.


shop owners are retiring. Owning a shop IS a business, a carreer, a dream that has run its course. We have all been there. We all will want to retire if we have not done so already.

Some have lost their spouse...life changing, esp if the spouse was active in the business.

Shop owners are Tired. After many years in business, they are burned out, tired, lost interest, ready for a change.

The need to care for elder parents, relatives, perhaps wanting to spend time with the family, with the grands. Life. Happens.

Some shops closed after a long time in business because the landlord has jacked up the price or the rental fee and the shop owner is being pushed out of the space in favor of a tenant willing to pay the revised monthly rent. Some of these situations have given the tired shop owner the opportunity to gracefully move on vs starting over in a new location.

I once frequented a shop with multiple partners who thought it would be fun to open a store. They shut down after a few years and the reason? They admitted to have not realized how time consuming and difficult it was to own, run and market a quilt shop. Yes, it is a retail business. I admired them for admitting to the reality. A couple of the husbands were retired already and wanted their wives to join them. Again...life!

My first job/career was in retail....retail management. I loved it but I got burned out after 13 years. Open Sunday hours did me in.

Businesses come and go. Celebrate their successes.

sandy

Agree 200% with your musings........like any other "mom & pop" type business....large chain type store can keep going because employees are just employees....not only urban situation, but also rural......many family farms are becoming corporate farms......progress?

A great shop in Salem, Oregon, closed a few years ago because the owner wanted to retire. An unsuccessful search was mounted for a new buyer. You're right that many shops do close because the owner chooses another path, but I suspect that most close for purely financial reasons.

There is a beautiful needlework store about 120 miles from me - I told the owner she needed to open a store in my town of 180,000 because we don’t have anything close to what she has. She said “no way, I can’t find enough reliable help for this one”.

Often heirs of the owners have experienced the absence of family during some 'holiday' weekends such as Christmas Eve where some shops would be open until 6:00 p.m. only to reopen the day after and having to use the short time off for the after holiday sale. The heirs choose not to have their lives interrupted because of the family business. That last sale "Is" the "Last Sale". They do appreciate any and all financial benefits but still can't compare to "time with family", precious memories lost because of having never been created!!

Change will happen, nothing can stop that. We are the last generation to know how life was before knowledge on demand.

Retail is hard, hard work. Dealing with the general public is even harder. There is nothing nicer than walking into a quilt shop for the first time and being greeted warmly and told to enjoy yourself and let them know if you need any kind of help. Smelling freshly brewed coffee and seeing spouses and significant others hanging out in a comfy chair while you browse to your heart's content. Nothing like seeing and touching the fabrics. Love looking at shop samples for fresh inspiration. This is something online shops can never provide. Still, I do enjoy being able to poke around fabric sites any time of day or night in my pjs. Sadly, I fear the brick and mortar quilt shops will join the dinosauers within the next 20 years. Remember when even a small town could support one or more yarn shops? Sure you paid more but the quality was excellent and the owner was there to help you through a difficult pattern or even fix a major mistake.

Independent retail is very fluid. It's demanding and you do see a lot of burn out/retirement. Enjoy and support them while they are there!

Years ago, everyone bemoaned how Walmart was closing Mom & Pops. We had several fabric stores close here after Walmart started selling fabric. Then, Walmart closed their fabric department. We were left with just mail order or driving to Memphis or Jackson, about 2 hours to get material.

I worked my way thru college cutting for my aunt who owned a Hancock's. She saw the writing on the wall when Walmart opened in her home town back in the early 80's and sold her store. The poor woman that bought it was out of business about 2 years later. She couldn't even pay the rent because sales had gotten so bad.

Walmart did reopen their fabric dept here last year, so I can get some things, but I've gotten accustomed to buying online. It appears karma can and does bite. Walmart fabric will soon be closed due to them not being able to compete with online. Couldn't happen to a nicer company.

I do miss being able to feel and compare the different bolts of material. There's no way to duplicate that online.