JC Penney sold fabric?
02-04-2011, 04:35 PM
#181
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Location: Sierra Vista, AZ
Posts: 3,992
My first sewing experience, age 8, was a class at the local Singer store. The fabric was purchased at JC Penny. That was 1952. I still have some scraps in my trunk. Is that stash hoarding or what?
02-04-2011, 04:41 PM
#182
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Jeffersonville, In
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That is exactly what I have been talking about this week. Joann's is opening stores all over the place, but in places that already have fabric available. Seems to me that more stores in small towns would be a better idea. Makes me wonder why the execs at these companies don't think like that. In our area when Walmart started doing away with their fabric departments, the first to go were in the places that didn't have anywhere else in the area to buy fabric and basic notions. I would love to see companies return to the notion of offering a service!! Probably not in my lifetime.
Yes, most department stores sold fabric! I bought the fabric for my wedding gown in 1969 at Macy's in Sacaramento. Mervyn's, a popular chain in the west, out of business now, sold fabric when I worked their in 1980. Wards, Sears, Penney's, and many other stores all had fabric. In fact, I learned to sew using 4 yards for $1 fabric from Penney's. It's hard to believe that we went from nearly everyone selling fabric and sewing notions to almost no one! One of my favorite travel stories took place about a year and a half ago. My husband and I were staying in Brian Head, Utah while visiting national parks and would drive into Cedar City to get groceries, gas, etc. While my husband was filling gas, I noticed a sign that said "Fabrics". I hadn't even started quilting yet, but have always been a sewer! I walked back up the street to find a hardward/fabric store. While the hardware portion was much larger than the fabric portion, they had a very nice selection of fabrics and notions. My husband and I both agreed that it was a store that we could both enjoy shopping at. I'm surprised that more small towns don't try this combination. I think it would be quite successful!
Originally Posted by dyer804
Originally Posted by Dandish
I picked up some fabric at the thrift store today - a green gingham - that still had a JC Penney tag on it. It was apparently a remnant, 1-1/4 yards, with a price of 79 cents. I never knew Penney's had sold fabric - does anybody know when they stopped? I'd like to know if this is a true cotton gingham, too. I'd post a pic, but it's already in the washer. Perhaps later.
02-04-2011, 04:45 PM
#183
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Southeast Michigan
Posts: 339
I remember Penneys selling fabric in the basement in Port Huron, Mi at least 25 years ago. they moved to the local mall after that & had no more fabric here anyway. Their quality was good when they had it. Good memories.
02-04-2011, 04:53 PM
#184
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Richton, MS
Posts: 580
Yes, J. C. Penney sold fabric. We used to get a JC Penney catalog when I was a child and the catalog had a fabric section with fabric swatches. You could feel the material before you bought it. My mom would order from it since we lived about 30 miles from the nearest town, and with the transportation back then (late 40's and early 50's) it was more frugal to order from the catalog. I would like to see one of those old catalogs.
02-04-2011, 04:56 PM
#185
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Dundee OR
Posts: 797
I bought fabric all my teen years and up until about 1984 or there abouts, that would be 30 years at least. They had the same quality as everyone else at that time. Test a small square by fire to see if it is all cotton. A polyester piece will melt on the edge a cotton piece will not. I still have one length of fabric in my collection from JC Penney.
02-04-2011, 04:59 PM
#186
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Leesburg, Florida
Posts: 817
Yes, JC Penney sold great fabrics. They stopped in our town in the very early 80's. I loved working in the fabric department when I worked at Penney's while in college. I always bought fabric at Penney's. When they stopped the fabric, I stopped shopping at Penney's. Same for other stores like Sears, KMart, Wards..... When I was young, there was lots of fabric to buy! But Penney's was the best!
02-04-2011, 05:35 PM
#190
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 467
Originally Posted by montanajan
Yes, Penney's used to sell lots of nice fabric. When I was a child, my mother bought ALL the fabric she used from Penney's. My aunt worked in the fabric department at the Great Falls, Montana Penney's. It was on the mezzanine next to bedding, kitchen & bath towels. The only other place I remember seeing fabric for sale as a kid was at the local Ben Franklin, & the quality was not durable enough for the clothing Mom made us. I wore mostly home-made dresses, & didn't have a coat from a store until I was 10. Mom would even make prom dresses with Penney's fabric from home-made tissue paper patterns after I'd show her what I wanted in a store. She could sew anything, & no one could tell our clothes weren't "ready made". When she taught me to sew, the fabric always came from Penney's. I continued to buy Penney's fabric for clothing when I was in college in the late 60's. I was sorry to see Penney's stop their fabric lines, sometime in the late 70's, I believe. BTW, I'm 64, so that may give you younger readers/quilters an idea of how long ago I was buying sewing material at a Penney's fabric department. LOL
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