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:: April 15, 2007 Goodbye Chain, Hello Indie
As you may have heard, Hancock Fabrics has declared bankruptcy and is shutting down many of their stores. Austin is losing only one its three locations, fortunately the one only minutes from my house is safe (for now). I think it's safe to say that most sewists have a love/hate relationship with Hancock's, and nobody seems particularly surprised about the shutdowns. I thought Hancock's was changing for the better a couple years ago, but that Laurie Smith line went stale -- no fresh offerings from her, and nothing following in her footsteps. They still have Joann's beat on the higher-quality cotton prints, though. I also hear that Wal-mart is phasing out their fabric sections. A handful of our local Joann'ses and Hobby Lobbies shut down a few neighborhood locations and consolidated into huge new supercenters. If you read the threads on about.com, Patternreview, and Craftster, it looks like plenty of people across the U.S. are losing the only bricks-and-mortar fabric sources in their vicinity, and that sucks. I know there is always online, but you can't replace shopping for fabric in person.
In the meanwhile, Austin has been blessed with the craft store of my dreams! Craftorama opened earlier this week, in the little retro-revamped shopping center at 3100 S. Congress (Amy's Ice Cream faces the street). Hayley is the owner and she's super nice. Fabric-wise, she's got the newest offerings from Alexander Henry, and Robert Kaufman, FreeSpirit/Westminster including Amy Butler, and some great oilcloth (a better oilcloth selection for less $ than Tesoros Trading Co. up the road, I might add). And yarn! She fills the local Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride void, thank goodness, and also has Vickie Howell's new line. Speaking of locals, there's also Sublime Stitching stuff, and Wool+Hoop crewel kits, which I was surprised to find out is based in Marfa, TX. (Hi Gina!) Then there's the bookshelf, which has everything on your crafty wish list. I think she's also having art+craft exhibits. Hayley promises that there's more merchandise to come. And that's just the shop part -- the place is also a studio for their extensive class offerings, and the space can also be rented for your own projects or craft groups. I've already begged her to let me teach a quilting class someday. So, hooray! It does seem kind of ridiculous that it's taken Austin this long to get a decent indie craft shop ... so big congrats to Hayley for being the one with initiative! It's almost a reversal of the usual big-box-crushing-the-little-guy story. P.S., all of these changes prompted me to finally update the Austin Fabric Store guide. posted by in Austin
Comments Oh, the Craft-o-rama looks like a great place! Posted by Kimberly on April 16, 2007 10:40 PM Hi Kim! Yes, Katherine is supercool and sells her work and kits (and her chickens' eggs!) at the Marfa Farmer's Market every Saturday. It's pretty much the only type of craft item you can purchase new anywhere for a 200 mile radius. I mean, besides Dollar Store staples like construction paper, glue sticks and glitter. Posted by gina on April 17, 2007 1:55 AM Craft-o-rama looks cool! I feel lucky that I've got a couple of local fabric store options (and knitting stores as well). In fact, the local stores are all closer to me than any of the Hancock's or Joann's in this area. Plus, the one I go to most often (Textile Fabrics) carries Amy Butler and all kinds of other fantastic fabric lines. I feel really lucky to have all these different options in Nashville. Posted by Kim Unertl on April 17, 2007 8:21 AM I didn't know that Hancock's was declaring bankruptcy. They don't have that great of a fabric selection, but they were a good resource for your basic sewing needs. I'm lucky that I have a lot of independent quilt shops nearby. But sometimes you need some satin or ribbons or sewing notions. The quilt shops usually don't carry these items. I remember when I was a child that JoAnn's used to be the House of Fabric. It had a nice selection and had shops in the shopping malls. Then it seemed that almost all of them closed down, or changed location. Hopefully this new sewing revival will create more independent stores such as your wonderful Craft-o-Rama! Posted by Tami on April 17, 2007 1:25 PM hehe, the first thing i did when i found out about craftorama was email hayley and beg to teach classes! Its such a fun store, i got some great alexander henry stuff. I think i'm going to rent out the sewing space for my birthday in june. I'm going to make everyone i know come and sew with me! Posted by Elizabeth on April 18, 2007 3:58 AM Hi Austin !! I lived in Temple for 26 yrs. I also heard today that Wal-Mart is closing the fabric depts by the end of the yr....I AM NOT A HAPPY PERSON !! LOL ! Kimberly even though you don't shop Wally World, many of us have no choice. I live in NE Oklahoma, sad to say Wal-Mart is about all we have close. JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby is in Joplin....about 1 hr away, Hancocks is in Kansas City....3 hrs away....Tulsa is 1 1/2 hrs away. We do have a small quilt store, maybe 600 sf and if someone doesn't mind paying $8.95-$27.95 for a yd of material then by all means go for it. Today I also heard that Walton's daughter is buying Hancock's......hmmmmm, in alot of places Wal-Mart would be her biggest competitor. I am trying to do some research to find out whether or not that is valid. Thanks for listening....happy sewing Y'ALL !!!! Posted by Joyce Love on April 19, 2007 10:15 PM I am so glad i found your site. I just came home bummed and empty-handed from JoAnn's because nothing really caught my eye. I will definitely have to stop by Craft-o-rama soon. They carry Amy Butler fabrics! *g* Posted by Jaqueline on April 21, 2007 7:33 PM it really sucks that these chain fabric stores are closing so many of their doors. personally i tend not to find too many prints i like and there typically isnt very much that i would term unique at these locations (handcocks, walmart fabric, etc), BUT you can get really good deals on basics, solid materials, buttons, zippers, etc. i too rely on my local fabric store (hartsfabric.com ~ santa cruz, ca) to get my fix of what i would call "good" fabrics. i even tend to pay full retail for a lot of those fabrics just because i dont want that place to shut down. congrats on the addition to the austin community. as a texas native, i will definately have to check that place out on one of my treks home! Posted by holly on April 30, 2007 7:03 PM Looks like fun! Posted by Nicole on May 6, 2007 2:06 PM Thanks for the post on Craft-o-rama.I live way too close to Silk Road and, though I love their fabric, the prices aren't so sweet. I'll have to check out this new fabric source. Posted by Malka on May 28, 2007 7:50 PM I love this! Thanks for the fabric store advice. I'm still pretty new to Austin. I know where I'm going tomorrow! Craft-o-rama baby! Posted by Amy on June 1, 2007 10:32 PM |
