By Abby Glassenberg
The largest and most well-established quilt shop in New York City, The City Quilter, will close in October of this year. The shop opened in 1997 and is located in Chelsea. Co-owners and married couple Cathy Izzo and Dale Riehl welcomed more than 20,000 students into the shop to take classes over the years.
Business has been slow this past year, Izzo says, and she and Dale are nearing retirement age so they felt it was time for a change. “Our lease is up in October and it’s a five year lease,” she says. “Business has really not been good and we didn’t feel comfortable signing a lease for that long.”
Anticipating a need for a change, Izzo and Riehl worked for a year to find a buyer for The City Quilter, but without any luck. “Manhattan real estate is a big commitment and with revenue down so much we didn’t have a good balance sheet to show people,” she says.
The City Quilter expanded their Chelsea shop in 2011 and opened an art gallery devoted to exhibiting contemporary quilts. Izzo says the space they have now is perhaps too large. She adds that it’s very difficult to make good money as a shop owner. “People can earn so much more money doing almost anything else in New York,” she says.
Izzo came to the quilting industry after a 20 year career as a producer for CBS theatrical films. When she was searching for something to do that was tangible and would give her a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day, quilting was the answer. Although she didn’t know how to sew, she set about learning in order to be able to quilt.
Cathy Izzo explains her love of quilting in this short video produced by Howcast.
The quilting industry has changed dramatically since she and Dale first opened the shop, Izzo says. “When we first started out there were 40 or 50 manufacturers of quilting supplies. When I go to Quilt Market now the amount of vendors has doubled. Plus the brands are now selling directly to consumers. “The pie is getting smaller and it’s not going to be a viable situation [to run a quilt shop],” she says.
Izzo worries about the long-term consequences of quilt shops closing. “We’ve taught a generation of people to sew. 10-15 years down the road, when that dries up, it will all blow away,” she says.
Beyond teaching classes, The City Quilter was also a hub for the quilting community in New York, serving tourists and residents alike. The New York Times referred to the shop as “the heart of New York’s quilting community.” In 2013 The City Quilter served as a collection point for donation quilts made for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. They’ve also hosted meet ups for The Quilt Alliance and numerous other special events.
The couple will be hanging onto one portion of their business. Several years ago Riehl had the idea to design and manufacture a line of New York City-themed fabrics which would be sold exclusively at The City Quilter. Although Izzo was hesitant at first – “I’m not an artist. It just seemed to so hard!” – the fabrics featuring images of subway maps, well-known landmarks, and the skyline have been a hit. “They’re not sold anywhere else. We don’t wholesale them. we control the entire process,” Izzo says. The couple will continue to sell these specialty prints online after the brick-and-mortar shop closes and they have plans to add new designs in the coming years. “It’ll be just enough to keep my busy in retirement,” says Izzo.
Quilter Leni Weiner lamented the shop’s upcoming closure in a recent blog post. “City Quilter was (and still is until October) a lovely store, a little gem with wonderful fabric, a terrific staff and a wide assortment of classes. I taught there many times and always found their students to be engaged and interested and highly talented. What a shame that we will lose yet another haven for quilters.”
Reflecting on her time owning The City Quilter, Izzo says, “Maybe it would be different if we had children to pass it on to, but we don’t. It’s time. I had a good run and I look back on it all very fondly. Everybody needs a change.”
It’s so sad to see them go, I will miss them. Was glad to find out about Gotham Quilts and that there’s still somewhere to take quilting classes in Manhattan
There’s also Pins and Needles.
Thank you for quoting me in your article. I have started a FB page for quilters and quilt shop owners to connect. I encourage shop owners to post information about their shops and quilters to post photos of their new acquisitions. We are a community and we need to support those who support us. Please check it out at https://www.facebook.com/supportourlocalquiltshops
thank you
Leni Levenson Wiener
Fabric Collage Artist, Instructor
Author of Pictorial Art Quilt Guidebook.
Leni, I always enjoyed your classes at CQ. Will miss the shop and all the wonderful people I met there over the years.
That quilt shop was always a highlight for me every trip to New York, City Quilters will be greatly missed!! One of my favorites in the entire US!!
Sorry to hear about this. I visited your shop every time I came to NY. I even dragged my then boyfriend (now husband) there and he loved it so much we spent hours picking our fabric for a quilt for him. It is almost complete (took a few years) and I will be giving it to him for Christmas!
congrats on completing your quilt for him. took me 12 years to finish ours; it’s unique to us
Two years ago I visited New York from UK to take part in the New York Moonwalk I dragged my daughter and sister-in -law across the city to visit the City Quilter and left with yards of the fabulous New York fabric and a quilt kit that has since been made up and lives in my daughter’s apartment in Lucerne Switzerland. It was a pleasure to shop there and I am so sorry it won’t be there to go back to. Best wishes for the future from an English customer
Maybe a few of your long-time quilt customers can buy the store and keep it going! Too bad an excellent provider of quiltmaking products has to say goodbye!
I am a native New Yorker, living in Salem, Oregon. I have purchased New York City themed fabric from The City Quilter, and I make bags (Mail Sack, Birdie Sling patterns) out of the fabric. EVERYONE comments on those fabrics ! I will miss you.
A similar story happening here in Salem. Greenbaum’s Quilted Forest has closed after 116 years. The current owners want to retire and their children do not want to take over the shop that was started by the current owner’s great grandfather.
Best Wishes.
I’m really going to miss City Quilter. I bought my current sewing machine there and love to drop in and browse. I almost always walk out with a bag of new fabrics to add to my stash. I’ll miss being able to do that.
There are so many things about The City Quilter I have appreciated over the years, with Cathy and Dale topping that list. I always stop by when I am in NYC and have even had the opportunity to speak and teach there.
Many quilt shops are closing. Last year we lost three in the Seattle area. The City Quilter’s shuttering underscores the wide-spread challenges of the brick-and-mortar quilting enterprises—from coast to coast.
No matter what the (business) reason I had to travel to New York, I never left without a visit to City Quilter. I search out quilt shops where ever I go, but this is one of my favorites. I always knew I would find something there – that I wouldn’t see anywhere else. I will miss your shop and all of the lovely, friendly associates.
I am so sorry to hear the news about the closing of the shop. Happy Retirement. A few years back during Quilters take Manhattan, I met Amy Butler at your store. Amy was the reason I got the OK from my foot MD to do the trip. I did do extra walking to shop at your store twice because it was wonderful. What happens in NYC stays in NYC.
Happy Creating
This feels like the movie “You’ve Got Mail”. ..
Thank you Cathy and Dale for your wonderful years of service, for the opportunity to work with you a few months and for all the wonderful attention and publicity you give an underappreciated art!
Good luck in your third careers!!!
Kathleen
I am so sad to learn that you are closing. I was delighted quite a few years to find your shop in the midst of New York’s hustle and bustle when I visited from Texas. Had I known sooner that you were closing I would have made one more trip to the city to make purchases at your shop. I wish you all the best. Mary
I visited New York in March of 2016 and was not able to get to The City Quilter. Now it is almost 2017 and I still don’t have my NY skyline fabric as well as the other ones I want. Will there be a place for me to purchase some at another venue? Please, someone help me!
Hi Madelyn,
The New York themed fabrics will still be available online through the City Quilter’s website.
I love material and especially cottons. After riding by your shop dozens of times, I finally made the time to go today. And you were closed! – Permanently! :-(:::
wE VISITED your shop on a visit to N.York from Belfast (Northern Ireland) in 2013, we spent around 4 hours picking up all sorts or bits and Fabric (still to be used!!) and exciting gadgets..still to be used, BUT Luved the shop, the staff, were SOoooo helpful, Im very sorry to hear that you are finishing, BUT glad you are keeping the N.York Line of Fabrics going, because WHEN I do decide to use what I bought, I will probably need more, So will be in Touch….Enjoy your Retirement; The Patchwork Goose; Belfast; N; Ireland;
I loved this place and am so sad to hear this. I worked for the State and often traveled to NYC from Albany but I always managed to stop in for a visit and some fabric. Love their City fabric and I will always love the things I’ve made for their fabric
I love you. I’m from Buffalo and only saw you once a year but left with a big bag every time. Lots of unique fabrics and books. Always accommodating when I called. You will be missed. ( I will be placing an order.