End of the Local Fabric Shop
- At March 07, 2014
- By Kelly
- In Fabrics
- 3
There was a fabric store near the office I used to work in many years ago. I found it quite by accident; it was tucked into an industrial park.
When my daughter was born, I decided to make cloth diapers for her. We made many trips to the store over the years, as the sewing of diapers later became the sewing of clothes and other things. The ladies who worked there would comment on how cute she was or how big she was getting. Later I went there with her younger brother and they would still ask how Zoe was doing, if she was at school, and so on.
I bought a lot of fabric there. They used to have overruns from Carters children’s clothing lines, piles and piles of knits, quilter’s cottons, dress fabrics, fleece, home dec, pretty much anything you might want.
Over the last few years, some areas of their stock has dwindled. Children’s knit prints have been less plentiful and the quality of the fabrics that were offered was not as good as it was in the past. I ran into the owner shortly after the store closing was announced and he was quick to put blame on the new health care laws. That seemed odd since most of the employees were only part time – a fact I had heard them complain about on various occasions. (Yes, it is possible I spent too much time there…) My guess is the health care requirements, if they applied, were the final straw for a business that was on the decline for the last few years. But that is only a guess.
Now customers are left watching as sections of the store empty and fixtures disappear. The wall shelving in this picture used to be full of quilter’s cottons, and the shelves extended across all of the wall that is now visible to the left and all the way to the door. The pile of unwanted fleece for a New York sports team is a tiny fraction of what used to be available here.
This thread display holds only a few stragglers now, and what remains of the notions wall is looking bleak. I don’t know if I will go back again. The advertising says they are bringing in remaining inventory from the warehouse to the few stores that have not closed, but it is pretty sad at this point. Employees say the stores are expected to close at the end of the month.