Quilt Shop

[Niecie]

HI everyone. I read somewhere on here that someone was looking to open a quilt shop in her area and needed more information. I'm a longarm quilter and I have been seriously thinking of opening my own quilt shop. Whenever I go to a quilt shop I just fall in love with all the beautiful fabrics; its hard to leave the store. I really can not afford all the fabric that I want. I'm not sure where to start looking. What I would like to do is start gathering research on "How To Open A Quilt Shop". Can anyone tell me where you would start. We do have a lot of quilt shops in MN; spread all over, even in small areas of MN. There's at least one new quilt shop opening here every year. I would like to own my own this way I can afford to buy more. I have a longarm quilting machine and am also looking at getting another one. My financing company is really great with helping me getting financing since I did finance my first longarm throgh them and paid my loan back (on time). They will both be in my home. I would like to quit my full-time job and spend all day in a quilt/fabric shop.

Can anyone tell me where to start. I have asked some local shops here and they are not to friendly when I ask this question.

Niecie

[Melanie Rouse]

I don't know about where you might find information online. I know they have classes at Quilt Market on opening a quilt shop. I can help you out from my personal experience, though. Be VERY sure that you have the full support of your family. They need to understand that you will be unavailable for much of what they need. When you own a quilt shop, it owns you, especially when you first start out. It is a unique business in that you cannot just put the merchandise out and people will flock to buy it. You have to make samples, always show them the newest and greatest, and always be encouraging. Before or after hours, you will have to take care of bookkeeping, cleaning the store, toilets, washing windows, re-stocking shelves, dusting shelves, straightening fabric, moving fabric to better locations, re-inventing displays because they didn't see it the first time, organizing class schedules, hiring teachers, writing and mailing newsletters, maintaining a website, and other thing that I have forgotten about. You will need a business license, tax ID number, and an accountant. Rent, utilitites, business phone (which is at least 2x as high as a regular line), insurance. This all needs to come out of the profit on your sales. You will need (in my opinion) at least $75,000 worth of merchandise to open up you business. You will want to increase that amount as soon as possible. If you like to quilt, you will want to put that on the back burner. By the time you have spent at a minimum 12 hours a day, 7 days a week at your shop, if you have any energy left, you will want to spend it with your family.

All this being said, you will make some WONDERFUL friends if you open a quilt shop. Quilters truly are the most generous people. Unlike other business, the customers are there only because they want to be. They are very kind and understanding.

Good luck with your venture.