What is it really like to own a brick-and-mortar quilt shop today? Tune in to this lively discussion about the state of the quilting industry in 2017 from the perspective of three longtime quilt shop owners to find out. I recorded this episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast at Quilt Market in Houston last week. My guests include Janet Lutz, Karen Montgomery, and Kris Thurgood.
Janet Lutz is the owner of Calico Gals, a quilt shop located in Syracuse, NY. Janet is also the founder of Row by Row Experience, a program which reaches over 3,000 quilt shops worldwide.
Karen Montgomery has owned The Quilt Company, a full service, brick and mortar quilt shop just outside Pittsburgh, PA, for 25 years. Industry insiders might know Karen from her Savvy Buying column published in FabShop News. Most recently Karen has joined with Janet to create Sewposium a popular creative business retreat for shop owners.
Kris Thurgood is the owner of My Girlfriend’s Quilt Shoppe located in Logan, Utah. Two years ago she organized My Girlfriend’s Quilt Shoppe as a franchise and is now opening a 2nd location in Midway, Utah. Kris, along with her identical twin sister Kim, have been featured on national television shows including The Rachael Ray Show and The Nate Berkus Show. They co-hosted a weekly craft and sewing webshow called, The DIY Dish for several years as well.
Together we discussed a wide range of topics including:
- What makes some quilt shops succeed while others fail
- The ups and downs of relationships with fabric manufacturers
- Competition from Massdrop, Craftsy, and Fabric.com, plus Etsy shops and Facebook groups that sell fabric
- Quilt Market and how it’s changed over time (Karen has been to over 50 Quilt Markets), how much it costs a shop to attend and whether it’s worthwhile
- Ecommerce
- Digital fabric printing and how it might affect the industry in the future
- What would happen if fabric companies began selling direct to consumer
- Adding yarn to the mix
- The complexities and rewards of selling sewing machines
I learned a tremendous amount from talking with these three women and I’m really hoping you’ll find the conversation equally interesting. Running a brick-and-mortar quilt shop requires a lot of hard work and they are doing it and succeeding.
And, of course, I ask Janet, Karen, and Kris to recommend great stuff they’re enjoying right now.
Janet recommends:
- the Clips app for iOS
Karen recommends:
- machine embroidery
Kris recommends:
- preparing meals with friends at Citrus Pear
I want to thank Quilts, Inc. for allowing me to record this episode at Quilt Market, with a special thank you to Director of Publications and Public Information, Bob Ruggiero, who reserved the room and had it set up especially for us.
If you’re ever in Syracuse, Pittsburgh, or Logan I recommend dropping to visit these quilt shops.
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Hi! Thanks so much for the podcast. I am fairly new to quilting and learning as much as I can. Eventually I do want to sell what I make and teach others. The discussion was helpful to inspire and yet be pragmatic about the business side of it.
Thank you for listening! I’m so glad it was helpful to you.
Abby,
One of the women on this episode talked about the low minimum orders for wholesale fabric and how she thinks they’re too low. This really struck a cord with me because I’m a home quilter and about to start selling my quilts online. In order to be competive I cannot afford to buy fabric from my local fabric store and still make a profit. If the minimum orders were raised due to quilt store demands then sewing quilts at home and selling them for a reasonable price would be beyond my capabilities.
I understand that they feel pushed out by all the small online stores, but in that respect I’ve found fabrics online to finish projects that aren’t available at my local stores. I live in a very isolated area so having a limited selection means I have to go online sometimes.
Hi Pamela,
That was Karen and I don’t think she was referring to quilt makers themselves. I think she was referring to people who open small, web-only fabric shops and order fabrics wholesale from the manufacturers at the low minimums. Karen mentioned that she does sell fabric at only slightly above wholesale to small manufacturers/quilt makers through her brick-and-mortar shop.
You mentioned that the greige goods of fabrics are proprietary (example: Kona). I had thought only the designs were proprietary and the greige goods were ordered from other manufacturers whose quality varied, and who would produce griege goods for several fabric companies.
This was an interesting podcast, especially since there were multiple perspectives, and some fascinating hypotheticals that were addressed.
I honestly don’t know the answer to this question. I will hang onto it and when I’m talking with someone who would know (a fabric company executive, for example) I will ask.
A new entrant fabric manufacturer/distibutor seems to me to be the most likely direct-to-consumer disrupter.
That’s a great point.
Really enjoyed this podcast. And I wish all your guests much success with their quilt shops. But I’m really glad that there is such an online presence related to quilting. I’m an introvert and even though I would love to go to a quilting class in a shop, having places like Craftsy and YouTube allows me to learn without the anxiety associated with attending a class with other people that I don’t know. I also have some chronic health issues that keep me at home. So having the opportunity to learn at home and order quilting supplies online is very beneficial to me. I agree with what one of your guests said about there being room in the industry for everyone. Quilting makes me happy and I’m so glad that I found this hobby.