We have 2 LQS and they don't carry much thread. It would be nice to see the different threads. I am starting to buy online to get different weights, but I worry about the colors not being true. It may be an expensive thing to carry and that is why they don't. I like the idea of honoring coupons once in awhile. Wish I lived by you if you opened a store.

Great ideas and lots of great points.
i like to add. I love dogs and cats but unfortunately i am allergic to them. It does bother me to see a pet walking around the store no matter how well behaved he is. For health purpose, i just picture myself touching the fabric and having an allergic reaction. You know how much we love just touching those bolt of fabric.
i also enjoy going to a lqs that has a clean bathroom and some has it decorated with samplers or miniture quilts.
i would like the quilt shops to get to talking to their customers and see what they are working on. And maybe evn have a day for shop show and tell and customer can show there work too.

Good customer service is first and foremost! If you carry sewing machines, be sure you also have good service for the machines. Many classes are wonderful - starting with beginning quilting. I believe in paying first for classes...when people have put up their money, they are more invested in the class and less likely to flake out - if they do flake out, then there is the pre-paid fee for the instructor. IF you have a website - keep it updated; if you have a newsletter - send it out often. Sales are a great way to attract customers to come in to the shop. Something special once a month is good - red fabrics for Feb, green fabrics for Mar, pastels for Apr, florals (or whatever) for May, June, Red, white, blue for July....and on...If you have LAQ, then stay on top of it....customers don't want to come into the store and see the machine sitting idle and hear that it will be 2 months before they get their quilt back. All of the other postings are informative too.

You have many good suggestions. If I ever have a quilt shop of my own I would definitely use most of your idea's. I agree with the coupons, and all the other tactic's to keep quilter's out of JoAnne's. For us working folks the hours are crucial. The one thing you did not touch on was atmosphere. I would offer glasses of lemonade or water, have music playing that sets the tone of quilting (perhaps classical). In my home town of Pine Bush NY the quilt store would always have a party on Black Friday. She would put out a few trays of cookies, have hot apple cider, Christmas music playing, simple demo's and lots of samples. Her store was so crowded and all of those people repeated their business there throughout the year. It was a nice place to visit with friendly staff.

Mine would have great customer service. The owner of the LQS in Dickinson, TX was going to make me pay for the next month's block of the month, when I broke my hand and couldn't use the cutting wheel to cut my block pieces. She said, "You should hear some of the excuses I get!" As if a broken hand was just an excuse! I had surgery, and had to have two pins put in to hold the bone in place for 5 weeks.
Your ideas are wonderful!! I would shop there.

We have a wonderful LQS. It is small, but expanding. The owner and her part-time help are all wonderful, friendly, helpful people. Classes are offered one night a week, and the shop is open four workdays (closed Mondays) and open all day on Saturday. The only complaint I would have is that the "classes" are more like "come in and sew up the current pattern chosen for the class and if you have a question, we will answer it." I have taken "real" quilt classes at the local university with much better instructors; however, my favorite quilting instructor is really a math teacher in her professional life, so her classes are well organized and quite instructional.

all of your ideas sound great !!

I hate it when a quilt shop has this beautiful quilt hanging up but they don't have any fabric that is in the quilt even in the shop. So If I had a shop I would never hang a quilt up unless I had the fabric in the store. Also I would give free quilting classes. This would draw more people in and hopefully they buy there material from my shop for the quilt class. I would also have fabric on sale that could be used for the class that was being taught.

The samples are to demonstrate the pattern and fabric inspiration. As we all know, it takes a while, money, to make and complete a quilt. What we dont know is if the fabric already has sold through and that the shop is not albe to re-order it because the vendor no longer has it available to sell to the shop. Why not ask the shop to help you select fabrics for the same pattern that is your taste, colors etc. a shop cannot possibly change quilt samples everytime a Collection sells thru. I love to see the samples and of course, it makes sense to rotate them but I dont need to duplicate the exact quilt with the same exact fabric choices. I like to make it in my colors and fabric choices. I really think the shops get exhausted trying to keep up with sample making, etc.

Sandy

It seems to me the stores that are successful need to sell sewing machines, but I would treat all customers with equal respect and NOT favor those who have purchased machines from me!!!! (this is one reason I do not shop at my closest LQS)
You also need to have classes, this is free money and a good way to sell fabric kits and books. But always look for ways to keep the costs down.

These are all great suggestions. One LQS I visit though always has out-dated samples: they no longer carry the pattern and do not intend on reordering it. When I asked why they didn't take down the sample they replied they left it up as "inspiration". Seems to me a better inspiration would be a pattern and, hopefully, fabric, that were still available!

In my opinion, one of the main things I would change if I owned an LQS is lowering my mark up percentage. Many shops want to double the cost of their fabric and that makes the price unreachable by many on fixed incomes. Many times I shop at Wal Mart fabric departments because that is what I can afford. If I had to pay $10 to $12 a yard, I could not make quilts. When I had my restaurant, years ago, I lowered my profit margin and did a tremendous volume of customers. That made my total profit as much or more than it would have been if I had charged more for the meals. 100 customers multiplied by $1.00 a meal profit is worth more than 25 customers multiplied by $2.00 a meal profit. It worked for me. Another thing that has always bothered me is when the owner of a vacant building insists on charging a business the full price for rent. What about this? If I have a building that is vacant, how much do I earn each month? If I offer a new business a 2 year lease with a very reasonable rent for the first year to let them get their feet on the ground, then the normal rent after the first year, am I not making more than if the building were vacant? Just my thoughts.

Although the merchandising points mentioned in this thread are important and I agree with them 100%., there are many ways you can be successful. This is what I told my waitresses, "Make your customer the most important part of your job and you will have a happy customer". A happy customer will always return to your place of business.

The LQS owner asked you NOT TO TOUCH THE FABRIC ??? to let HER COME AND GET IT ???

OMG ... Was THAT woman ever in the WRONG business !!! ... sounds like one of those who felt that it was "all hers" ... and I'd bet MY STASH she is no longer IN BUSINESS today !!! LOL

I travel a distance to a shop that sells Quilter's Dream Quilt batting by the yard in several weights and widths and colours. Also they carry many 108" wide backing fabrics. They have Full Moon Madness sales one day every month, frequently with 15% off the batting.

Meredith, In addition to having beautiful fabric, I liked the fact that your site is easy to follow and that you have the shipping cost and the payment options up front. I only buy using PayPal and I like to know that's an option before I spend all my time shopping. I think you have a very comfortable website.

seamstome,

You've got some great ideas ... and so do many others here !
I worked and taught in 2 LQS 10-15 yrs ago, and learned how a shop operated from the OTHER side of the counter /classroom. One shop was successful and popular for many years, while the other was not, and closed after only 2 years. They just didn't have much to keep customers coming back.
Things have changed a lot in the marketplace since then ... mostly due to the INTERNET, plus there are more sophisticated and demanding quilters today.
What worked for LQS 5-10-15 years ago WON'T work today. The LQS is still viable because it gives us the opportunity to connect with other quilters face to face and get our "warm fuzzies" for the day, week or month. Internet boards like this are great - and so is online shopping - but they are just NOT the same as meeting with friends, a group or class at your LQS.
IMHO, today LQS will HAVE to sell machines to stay afloat ... fabric and classes alone won't do it anymore. Unless you are in a superb location or tourist destination. You must put CUSTOMER SERVICE FIRST, have at least 1-2 days with EXPANDED HOURS (for all of us working quilters) and you must keep up to date with the latest trends, fabrics and patterns. Good shop samples, frequent change of displays are a must.
Little things like "free" pattern handouts, a $5 BOM, free sew-in afternoons for drop-ins and bees are BIG things in the busy minds of customers. Good coffee or iced tea and cookies also make a warm impression. Too many shops don't offer these things, and they are very simple ideas ...
Keep the fabric MOVING, don't let it hang around, stock good fat qtrs and kits, and have NEW notions and patterns IN STOCK ... if you don't, your customers WILL GO elsewhere !

http://www.fonsandporter.com/article...appliqu__quilt. Why not have this quilt done and have a display of fabric and magazines all together for sale. Have a customer make the quilt top for a sample and give the person the product when it has lived it life at the shop.

i visited a quilt store in Olympia that had lots of samples of projects hanging up. That motivated me to buy the fabric for a big wall quilt from them. And they have lots of fabric and thread choices. That was the positive.
The negatives: whomever had made up the sample did a lot of embroidery on the picture to give it that "eye pop' and since it was hanging up high, i didn't catch that and no one shared that they had added to the pattern so i was perplexed when i found mine being a different color etc. when i was using the exact same fabrics. Fortunately, i was still in the area and able to go back to the store and figure it out and i have the Pfaff Quilt 4 so was able to replicate the thread painting which made the piece so exciting. The customer service was minimal and i came back 3 times before i found the terrific "little" quilt store in Yelm. Totally different atmosphere. I wanted to spend money in Yelm.

Some fabulous ideas here. Maybe some collaboration could result in a store of "our dreams". Keep it going.

Several LQS in my area have started selling sewing machine and have cut down on their fabric. I have 2 machine that I like and am not in the market for another but I am always looking for fabric!!! These quilt shops have cut down on the fabric quanity. Also I would like to see a large VARIETY of fabric. Not just a special style. I do not like brights so I will not go back to the new LQS even though they may have classes I would like. Also I think that the stores should have more SALES. Since quilting is getting more expensive we are all loking for deals/sales. One of my LQS has a punch card for fabric you buy and that is nice.

My issues with some LQS has little to do with merchandise and much to do with employee attitudes. I want to go into an LQS and buy what I need. If it is "only" thread or a template, then that is either what I need or what I can afford. I have gotten "oh is this ALL?" as a response by a sales clerk. I have been ridiculed for my fabric choices in one store (it is no longer in business - hm, wonder why.....) I have been ignored and been given bad advice.

So for me, it is the personality and behavior of the sales staff that determines whether I go back and give them my money.

And a coffee corner for people who have come a long way! (I think coffee is profitable too)

You hit it all. The only other thing I would add is to carry a variety of fabrics. My LQS (closest one) carries a lot of batiks which is great, and a ton of Kaffe Fassett. I like KF, but I don't love it. I do a variety of quilts, and may go from a civil war to a seaside to a kiddieprint to who knows what. I want to find that variety, and yes, that very often means more square footage, but also a lot more in impulse sales. I only go to that particular LQS maybe once or twice a year for that very reason. I have a few others to chose from, not to mention all the online stores with better pricing.

Sounds like Cozy Quilt Shop - I subscribe to her emails just so I can dream.

There was a little quilt in Maine on the way to Ellsworth in a log cabin. I thought it was just the perfect shop. The woman's husband built it for her near their home. She had great fabric at reasonable prices and a great setup for her own quilting with a flat screen on the wall. No fireplace. I was so sad when I found out it had closed and always wondered why.

I like your kind of quilt shop.

My turn! Being a business person first is the most important thing you can do to keep any business going. No matter what your selling.

The things I like and have never seen in any store I have been in is:

Good lighting

A place to audition fabrics that you are choosing. So many times the only place to look at fabric groupings is by piling them on top of other fabric in an isle that other people are trying to use.

Class equipment: I have been in classes where there was one broken iron and an ironing board that looked like it had been through a war. have enough heavy duty extension cords to handle a crowd. Cookies are great but I would rather be able to plug in my DSM that I dragged to class.

Don't be setting up class while people are arriving to take the class. It looks so unprepaired.

One LQS has the notions, thread and books along a wall in a classroom. Now really. Am I going to interupt a class so I can brows the notions and flip through the books. NO!

Wide isles: enough said


Understanding that space costs money and cramming as much stuff into every little inch of space you can, just looks messy and unfunctional. I don't really want to move ten bolts of fabric off of something I want to see.

My perfect shop would be more like a B&B and general store or campus for quilters. I would live over top of the store and you could come and go as you pleased to use tables for cutting, sewing or marking quilts any time there wasn't a class, and there would be a back room for quilting bees on an old fashioned frame and a room with an assortment of longarms for rent. I may sell a few basic machines and leave those fancy ones for someone else to sell.

fabrics would run through all styles from civil war repros to the modern large print florals

My DH would repair and recondition treadle and vintage machines in the back of the house.

There would be someone sewing most of the time. That would be part of the job. When you see it happening you get more interested.

I would contract with local schools to have people from the art department intern at the shop and have free range to create whatever they want limited only by the rule that it mst be created from stuff at the shop and have art shows as special events for the community.

There would be special discounted fabric corner for people who work on relief quilts to exchange finished quilts for fabric, batting and thread at minium cost.

Enough for now. I'm exhausted!
peace

Oh! one more thing.

There would be cloths lines in the side yard to hang a few quilts on for display where they could be seen. It would be like a small park with benches where passersby could enjoy a few minutes viewing the show.

I think that perhaps a quilt shop might need to operate in conjunction with another store and feed customers off each other. Perhaps a gift shop, a book store, maybe a laundrymat - something to bring bring more occasional customers in and to help keep the profit/loss ratio in the plus side. After all, making money is the whole reason for a store.

I agree about the machines...but I would add another. i am lusting after the New Horizon. I was just in my LQS today and bought material and stopped by to look at it again. As I went home, I thought, "If they gave a class on how to use that machine I bet they would sell a lot of them." What do you bet I'd be one of the purchasers.

So I think they should advertise a sewing machine demo day or some such. At least I wish my LQS would.

Yesterday a friend and I were in 3 quilt stores. She asked about a quilt kit since the quilt was displayed on the wall;
the owner said the kit was $200+ the pattern is$30 and my friend was wondering why she sold it like that?
So she didn't buy it. The second one....the help was eating their lunch and stopped when a lady brought in one
of the workers' quilt she had quilted...it was really pretty and the quilter had done a great job; they never asked
if we needed anything or was looking for something special....so we didn't buy anything there. the 3rd one didn't
have the fabric I was looking for, but my friend bought 6 bobbins for her machine. I go to lots of different QS's in
our state and I am looking for friendly help; new ideas, new fabrics. I love their samples and I can picture them in
other colors...my friend cannot do that, so if she finds something she likes, she buys that fabric only. At the present
I don't need any new projects...lol I just need time to sew. Everyone had some good ideas on here and it
would make a great LQS.

Friendly, courteous, knowledgeable service it tops in my book. There are several LQS within 30 minutes of me, plus a Joann's and a Hancocks, so I have choices. I would love to see any and all of them carry a good selection of 100% cotton hand quilting thread. If they have any at all, it is usually in one or two neutral colors. I have to load up once a year at Festival to get a variety of colors. Also, the staff needs to know what they are selling. I had one young lady, when I asked for a certain brand of between quilting needles, offer me a package of large embroidery needles. Then another lady was helping me with thread selection. I wanted a variegated thread and preferred hand quilting thread. No such luck with that, but after selling me only 100% cotton fabrics, I failed to notice she sold me rayon thread. As a somewhat newbie quilter, I hope to get help with my questions and advise from those more experienced than me. I was fortunate enough to run in to one of the quilt teachers at the same shop on day when buying fabric. I needed someone to tell me how much of each fabric I needed for the quilt I was going to make. She not only jumped right in and helped me with that, she gave me a short-cut sheet on dealing with 1/2 square triangles. I wound up about a year later taking a class with her. I did not forget how helpful she was.

Everyones ideas are great! Could you even imagine if we had one shop that had all of these things in it? Wow, what fun we would have going there.
One of the LQS that I go to have a customer rebate program. For every dollar you spend a certain percentage goes into a "kitty" for you. You can spend it back right away or save up an spend on a larger purchase. This actually makes me feel like they really appreciate your business and of course it always makes you go back.

I have to say, we have some great quilt stores to shop at. And I do enjoy several of the shops in my area and most of them incorporate the ideas that are on this thread.

I have been in a LQS in a cabin. I cant remember where it was, maybe KY, but although it was cool, it was very cramped.

I especially like the audition table concept also.

I walk into LQS and see beautiful quilts hanging on the wall; when I ask about the fabric I always get---we are out of it====and vinegar face. Why does the owner always use the fabric and no else can buy any like she used? I would like to walk in see a quilt and find the fabric used for the quilt on the shelf and buy it. Most of the quilts are twin size or wall hanging; so making a queen size would not infringe on her wanting the only one like it in world. Plus-- I like a smiling face and someone saying Hi- have fun; let me know if I can help you.

The one poster noted that all the samples would eat into your profits....my LQS has a sample sale once a year and sells them--mostly to non-quilters but I am sure they make their money back because they are tagged for a couple hundred a piece.

Staffing does cost money and we are obviously not discussing a one woman show here.

Yes I am aware there are minimums. I worked in retail when I was younger and run a business now. But that doesn't mean you can't buy through a cooperative or have a class or a sample that highlights the product or run a sale.

Would I move fabric at $0 profit to get it out the door...dang right I would. Because a "dead" bolt setting there is doing me no good and is taking up square footage which is even more expensive--at least in my business.

It is expensive and hard work to own any business, let alone small business retail, but done right you can make it successful. I know I appreciate the creativity of the LQS owners who are doing all of these things.

Agreed, and a good possibility might be a hardware and/or woodworking store, so the husbands would have something to do while the wives are shopping for fabric.

There's a Sportsman's Warehouse next door to the Joann's in my town. Too bad I don't shop at Joann's. :p