Fabric Stores – Successful Business in Hard Times
June 20, 2009 by Mary Emma Allen
“Can you help me make these lined drapes for my room?”
a friend of my daughter’s asked. “I thought I’d save money by making them myself.”
They calculated yardages and Deb arrived with fabric in hand. They spent the afternoon making and lining the drapes.
A reader, who works at a fabric store, mentioned, “We have seen a great increase in business due to more people choosing to make, rather than buy, their gifts, home decor, etc.”
We often don’t think of fabric stores as home businesses, but in our small town, there were two very successful ones located in the owners’ homes. One ceased because Pat and her husband moved when his job took them out of state. The other, a quilt fabric store, operated for around 25 years until the owner and her husband retired.
During tight economic times, we become more of a do-it-yourself society. Just the two above examples seems to prove that with the economic downturn of the past few months, people are turning to sewing for themselves. If you do operate a fabric store, either emphasizing quilting, clothing, home decor or all of them, consider promotions that will gain you attention from more people wanting to sew.
- Find out what people are needing and run sales on these items.
- Arrange displays that catch customers’ attention for particular projects.
- Make your shop welcoming and hospitable.
- Have some chairs, magazines, and a place to chat, if possible.
- Get word out to quilting/sewing groups.
- Develop a blog, if you don’t have one. If you do, keep it current.
- Run contests…these don’t need to be for expensive items, just something that keeps customers coming to the shop to drop their name into a jar, etc.
- Develop an e-mail mailing list. If some customers don’t have e-mail, you may want to get their postal addresses and send post card announcements.
What have you been doing to promote your fabric shop? Do you have ideas for anyone who operates one in their home during this economic slowdown?
(Brother image at Amazon)