Fabric fairs, stocking and spenders
Wednesday, September 24th, 2014
If we’re going to run a shop, then we’ll be needing some stock. How to buy fabric in miles, not metres.
Wow, that was fun. Me and Mr Sassy spent last weekend at the Craft, Hobby and Stitch trade fair at the Excel in London. Having taken the plunge and decided to open a shop we need something to sell and this show is where many of Europe’s fabric and crafting wholesalers gather to show their new product ranges. The show is trade only and that feels weird…to be thinking of Sassy Sewing as a business. But being at the show was a terrific experience. In two days we met well over 20 potential suppliers selling a wide range of fabrics, ribbons, haberdashery and buttons. And came away with loads more ideas to make the shop even better.
What was most useful was that it let us begin to think about the range of products we want to sell. Not just by price, but type of material, colours, patterns and potential customers in the town where we live too. The plan was to spend the first day looking and making contacts and the second day ordering our first stock. You can’t take things away from the show with you so we are now waiting excitedly for the first deliveries to arrive.
Setting up trade accounts was another reality check. There are a lot of questions and, although the prices are ‘trade’ you have to buy a minimum amount, sometimes up to 30 metres at a time – and then pay VAT, which adds another 20% to the bill. So making the right choice is vital because if we get it wrong every staff member at our local bank might be wearing our repossessed blue Gingham in 18 months’ time.
The most pleasant surprise was how many of the companies were so friendly and helpful to us as a new business. We got lots of advice on what does and doesn’t sell, how to order most efficiently and what designers are the ones to watch.
Seeing the fabric in the flesh and being able to touch it makes a huge difference compared to simply looking at pictures online. Before the show I was struggling to take the plunge and commit to the first order or to a company I’d only seen online, but having been there, spoken to the reps and felt the fabric, the process became much simpler and a lot more fun too. A rough count up of what we ordered comes to somewhere around one mile of fabric (not all blue Gingham) and a very weary credit card. Now we just have to wait for the postman.
My favourite part of the show was not fabric related at all, but knitting! The completely knitted undersea wonderland was amazing. I particularly loved the shark and of course Nemo – every undersea wonderland needs a Nemo!
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