There is ONE non-niche fabric shop near me. I am *fortunate* to have this near me. Where I grew up, they literally do NOT exist. Not even Niche shops that you can shop in. If you're not a marine manufacturer, they didn't think you were enough business to bother with.
I cannot shop for fabric online, are *you* insane? I need to feel it, I need to understand if it's going to be too hot for me, to heavy, to itchy, not enough stretch, or if it's simply ugly as hell in person.
We need stores. We need independent stores, but y'all let *convenience* ruin that.
A friend of mine is saying that JoAnn closing represents a win for smaller stores because now the smaller mom and pops will have a fighting chance.
And I want to believe that. That is also what I want to happen.
But I'm not exactly certain that this is going to be the outcome. They succeeded by buying out the competition, so many of the smaller mom and pops no longer exist. I would love to see more upstart fabric and craft stores, but I also know how prohibitively expensive a brick and mortar store can be for someone just starting out.