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Quote:

Originally Posted by solstice3 (Post 5080920)

Love CT. Wish they could stick to made in America.

would be nice, but the US no longer has any textile mills!

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Originally Posted by clsurz (Post 5078954)

Buying in bulk and also having the whole world online to sell to unlike just locally with a few hundred or thousand potential customers. Online you literally have millions of potential customers.

sadly CT does NOT have the "whole" world as customers. Only the US and Canada!

Their buyer is also probably very good at negotiating prices. Sales reps want to make sales and will make some really good deals if you know how to get them. My DH was a master at getting good deals when we had our business.

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Originally Posted by Candace (Post 5078889)

CT has moved production of fabric out of the US, so that has kept costs down. I'm not particularly thrilled with the quality of fabric or thread, but you get what you pay for in that sense. Any business that doesn't have store fronts will be able to have lower costs than a brick and mortar establishment.

I have lots of thread from CT and haven't had any problems. I think the fabric is not the highest quality and one time I sent an email to customer service to tell them I wasn't happy about some fabric I bought from them and received a condesending reply but most of the time I am aware that fabric is not top of the line but depends on what I am going to do with it. Right now I am making a table runner for my mom that was a kit so it isn't something I plan on having around "forever".

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Originally Posted by Treasureit (Post 5078496)

This is just my personal opinion, but selling online is SO much cheaper than selling in a storefront. My guess it is a good marketing strategy to sell low and sell quantity. The online shops that try to sell at LQS prices undoubtedly sell much less unless it it free shipping. When you add shipping to the product you often pay more than at a local shop.

I don't know about their manufacturing their own, I think they just have their name put on the fabrics...perhaps they do some design work. It is like buying a generic brand at the grocery store...they don't make their own ketchup, some other company - often a name brand Co. will make it and label it for them.

I agree about doing business on line is so much cheaper........sadly, it is putting the smaller local quilt shops out of business and it is a loss to everyone. My favorite yarn shop in Atlanta has closed its physical doors.....no more sitting around the table knitting, talking, sharing, no more all night knitting fests, etc; they will sell yarn and other supplies but you just can't go in there, and I miss them terribly. Sometimes it isn't always about making the 120 mile round trip to buy something, but it is about the experience of looking, touching, sharing that is just as important as leaving with a bag !

I too believe in supporting local business BUT for those of us who do not a huge resource of stores to buy from, the internet is the answer. I live in a city of only 45,000 & have only 1 local shop & it is small. Lovely lady & goes out of her way to help. Has classes, alterations etc. but a small selection of fabric (but quality fabric), a small selection of accessories also, but those of us with a quilting addiction support her as much as we can. I have just ordered an embroidery only machine from her & can't wait for it to come in. I wish I could buy everything from her but until she gets bigger, she just does not have the stock that we have access to, on line.

My closed LQS is 35 miles away and JoAnn's is Over 100 miles away. With gas prices going up all of the time. We might have to shop online.

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Originally Posted by quiltstringz (Post 5078787)

An internet only shop does not have to pay for: Rent, utilities, liability insurance, employees, etc.

Well, they actually do have a building/warehouse and employees, but their main savings is in having their fabrics manufactured for them exclusively, and not buying fabric from other manufacturers.

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Originally Posted by cannyquilter (Post 5080944)

Just to day would love to give CT a try but they do not shop international other than Canada.

There is a way to get around that by having someone in US buy for you and then send it to you. I did that for a member of the QB who is in Switzerland. It was fun!!

Connecting threads also makes (or has them made) their own threads and fabrics in the USA...no huge shipping fees.