In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, RICHARD TAYLOR <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes > Once again we used to have some >lovely needlecraft specialist shops that carried everything you needed, but >once Hobbycraft came on the scene they have disappeared.
Something else occurred to me whilst replying to Liz (privately) earlier - DMC are discontinuing the production of Broder Machine 30 and 50 (from what Tim Parker and others have said). Thinking about it, it could well be that the general drop in their sales to the smaller shops, who used to be able to afford to order a box of ten reels (the minimum order) for a customer who wanted one reel, and are now reluctant to do so, has been caused by the devastation of the general "bread and butter" sales of stranded cotton and the like caused by the big boys (like Hobbycraft) opening in direct competition. In other words, these craft superstores may be useful for some things, but they may well be the cause of us losing some of the vital threads we use, as a knock on effect of devastating the smaller businesses. I very much doubt there is much that can be done about it, either. -- Jane Partridge - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
