Here's MY soapbox:
This is what's wrong with chain stores in general: the management,
the decision-makers, are not part of the communities where their
stores are, and are not particularly interested in catering to
individual segments of the market. I can't imagine WHO is actually
served well by their decisions.
The chains used the weapon of lower prices to bludgeon small, local
stores out of the market; now they decide the market isn't big enough
and pull out themselves, leaving the actual consumer with nothing.
What's the answer? I shop at only one chain store of any kind: Trader
Joe's, and I started shopping there only when the mom&pop grocery and
the Korean greengrocer near me closed (when the Stop n Shop became a
Super Stop n Shop).
The prices at local stores are higher, but often not that much
higher; and the willingness to cater to individual needs is greater,
as is the sensitivity to the local customer and lifestyle. But one
customer isn't enough to keep these stores open, and there's the rub.
Right now in my immediate area the only place to buy knitting
supplies is the local craft shop, which has devoted half of one aisle
to yarns and needles....For fabric and notions I'm very lucky to have
a Discount Fabric store near me, with a charming and knowledgeable
owner; but he stocks only what's available to him, mill ends. Some of
his stuff is exquisite, but a lot more isn't appropriate to my needs;
and I never do know what he's going to have.
The answer we who sew have been driven to is the Internet, but if we
don't have the time (or patience) to send for swatches, wait for
them, finger them, guess what kind of hand a larger piece would have,
then decide--or send for more swatches--this is not the ideal answer.
I have no answer. I do have the hope, though, that in the current
economy more people will dust off their sewing skills and the fabric
market will rebound (with less emphasis on craft kits etc!). There
are plenty of people who sew--on the coasts as well as in the middle
of the country. If a small store does open near you, do your best to
shop there, and to educate the owner on your needs. Meanwhile, keep
hectoring whatever stores do sell fabric, to keep on selling it, and
to stock the kind of fabric you actually want.
--Ruth Anne Baumgartner
scholar gypsy and amateur costumer
On Jan 31, 2009, at 8:47 PM, otsisto wrote:
As was mentioned, Wal-Mart's dollar table. Wal-Mart is presently going
through the process of eliminating 90 - 95% of their fabric
departments
across the nation. The first to go is the dollar table. You might
find the
fabric moved to the $2.00 section.
If you have a fabric department at your local Wal-Mart you might
want to get
together people to write or email them to try and make your Store
continue
to carry fabric. Apparently the Wal-Mart thinks that people don't sew
anymore, of coarse the ones making the decision to remove fabric
live on the
east and west coast and have no clue about the Central and sewing. :P
Management at the three WMs here has informed their employees that
work in
the fabric department to not mention anything about the phasing out
of the
fabric.
Stepping off soapbox
Perhaps you might look here
http://www.fabricandart.com/HTML_files/Fabrics/fabric.html
Have not dealt with them
You might want to check out Taiwanese cotton fabrics as I think
they are
more likely to have the metallic thread running throgh the fabric.
-----Original Message-----
This isn't very historical, but I know somebody on this list
knows where
to find EVERYTHING - does anyone know a source for that very light-
weight
Indian cotton used for summer blouses, etc? The stuff with the
gold or
silver threads woven in?
Thanks!
Liadain
fathal...@collinscom.net
"You get a wonderful view from the point of no return..."
wildernesse, the Outlands
http://practical-blackwork.blogspot.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liadains_fancies
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