Hello friends! My name is Rachael, owner of MAD Fabrics + Studio, LLC. I want to document my journey of starting a fabric store from scratch so that others may be able to use what I've learned to help them start their own stores.
Opening my own fabric store had been on my mind for a couple of years. It was one of those dreams that I figured was just that - a dream. How could I compete with places like Joann? Fast forward to March 2025 when the crafting community first found out about the possibility of Joann closing forever. None of us believed it could happen. The idea that the largest selection of fabrics (especially for rural areas) could be gone didn’t feel real.
Unfortunately, Joann did not survive (dang you private equity companies) and the crafting community was left reeling. Where do we get our quilt, craft, or apparel fabrics now? I’m based in a small, rural community just over an hour west of Chicago. There are a couple quilt shops within an hour’s drive, but there were ZERO places to get apparel or craft fabrics. My community was looking at over an hour’s drive into Chicago for any apparel fabric selection.
The dream of opening a fabric store seemed completely feasible now that Joanns was gone. Since I seem to enjoy adding difficulty to my life, I decided to do it - open my own store. Create a place where sewists of all backgrounds, skills, ages, and gender could come together, learn to sew, and shop for their projects. I quickly found that there are not a lot of resources out there on how to start a fabric store. It seems to be a gate-kept secret. Those that have opened small, independent stores have had to work so hard to carve their niche to compete with big stores like Joann. But now, the only competition is themselves. With so many communities left without easy in-person access to fabric shopping, I feel that we desperately need more independent stores.
The goal of this blog is to provide insight into my journey of starting a store from scratch. The good, the bad, the laughably difficult – all of it. I’ll provide financial insights, personal opinions on my experiences, and hopefully some inspiration. It hasn’t been a breeze, but the more we can shed light on this venture, I hope the more shops we can open. It is down to us, the independent stores, to carry the art of sewing. It is very clear that big companies are not guaranteed to stay around. Our independent stores are all that are left to provide access to our communities.
I hope you join me on this journey. Success isn’t guaranteed, but for the love of sewing, bringing access to a craft that is slowing dying, and adding access to in-person fabric shopping and classes, I’m going to try.
Buckle up, buttercups! Here we go!
