clsurz

Treating everyone who comes in great no matter who they are, how old they are, how they are dressed and such.

My 8 yr old GD experienced being ignored on Friday when we went to various fabric places to get fabric. She'd pick what she wanted and would go to the table and they simply ingored her and passed her over for other adults although she was in line.

I had to state out loud..... "honey you need to speak loud and let the lady know what you want and they will cut it for you". She quietly told me "I did Memere".

So I asked her if the 4 ladies in front of her were there before her and she said "no they were not". So I took her hand and went to the front and as kindly as I could smiled and told the ladies cutting that my granddaughter had been standing there for almost 15 minutes now and wanted to know why they ingored her. The one gal was not to happy and she called another lady to come and help her cut materials. She handed my GD to that gal and I stated I wanted her to cut the fabric and the other lady could take care of the other customer. She reluctantly did so. GD and I both with big smiles thanked her and left.

My GD is a sewer yes at 8 years old and just because she is young does not mean they can ignore her.

Employees should also ask if we need assistance and not go in the other direction when they see us. I have had this happy more than once in such stores.

Sweetness

Ditto ditto ditto...my only addition is a nice variety of fabrics...not just 30's or novelty or calicos...etc.

Pam H

There are so many great ideas here that I forwarded the link to the owner of my LQS, although I love her shop.
Some of the things I love about my LQS:
1. A gift if you spend $100
2. 30% off the color of the monthly birthstone (sometimes for a week/sometimes all month)
3. Weekly 30% off sales in December: notions/Christmas fabric/all fabric
4. 10% off everything when you take a class
5. Affordable classes - usually $20
6. 10% lifetime discount after you spend $1000 in her shop

You may want to set up a video monitor due the all the theft happening these days. Also, you should have people leave large empty totes at the checkout. Theft has been a huge problem in our area lately.

judy363905

the very best ideas have been stated.. Howaever I did not see mentioned .... Please respond quickly to requests for information on classes and material needed for class. If you are offering a class I think your shop should be able to supply that pattern for purchase prior to the class. As I do not want to run all over to find it. At least return calls or emails. Just a problem I am having with a LQS I have actively supported for 10 or more years. I may not much longer if this continues... I live in a large city and there are many shops. I my 2 cents.

TymeToShine

My favorite shop has fabrics grouped by color. She knows me by name. She has a card that she punches for the amount you spend there and when you get $100 punched, you get $15.00 off your next purchase. She has a discount section and has sales. Last week I was able to pick up Christmas fat quarters for 50 cents each. She also does not mark up all her material and notions in the store just because the price went up on her last order.

Debbie B

I love the friendly sales people. I was in one quilt shop & it was like a big party in there. My husband & I were on vacation in Hocking Hills & stopped by and even my husband was impressed with how fun that shop was. The only bad thing to me about a quilt shop is the cost of their fabrics. But, I realize that they can't compete with big box stores or large chain fabric stores. Good luck!

Tweety2911

Just wanted to mention your avitar is beautiful.

tomilu

I like to feel that I'm always welcome, even if I don't buy anything that day. A warm, welcoming environment is more important to me than how many bolts they have.

floridaquilter2011

We have a new LQS and the classes are all geared towards retired people's likes and interests and are all during the weekdays, so those of us not fortunate enough to be retired can not attend.

Cathie R

I went into a new one a few weeks ago that looked more like a gift/antique shop than a quilt shop. Lots of old furniture with stuff displayed on it. Fat quarter packages and other packages of fabric. Very little fabric selection on bolts. Some notions and packages of patterns. One large room with two long arms. Nothing to incourage a hand quilter. I was talking to one of the clerks about hand quilting and was almost snubbed. She went to her long arm, pushed some buttons and walked off to let the machine do it's thing. To each his own!