Welcome, January!

Happy New Year!

I'd like to say that I was waiting to send this Happy New Year email so I wouldn't get caught in the pile of all the other Happy New Year wishes you received from everyone on January 1st, but we all know it's because I didn't get the January newsletter done until yesterday.

"I used to crastinate, but I got so good I went Pro."

From a retailer point of view, 2022 was a rough year. As many of you know, the economy has been rough for everyone. Several of the shop's vendors and related companies have already or will be closing soon. Included in this list is Martingale Publishing/That Patchwork Place (books, puzzles), Shibui Knits (yarn), Wiksten (patterns), Fabric.com (because Amazon couldn't figure out a way to make it fit its business model...mainly because robots can't cut fabric). Martingale sited "continued cost pressures across the supply chain, and a shift in how consumers seek and purchase content" as the driving force in their closure. 

I find the comment about how consumers seek and purchase content concerning. With the shut in of 2020 and 2021, a lot of crafters learned to shop online (and many of you discovered we have an online store...thank you!), as well as watch videos and take classes online. They also learned about buying PDF versions of patterns rather than printed copies, and I'm guessing a lot of these PDFs were shared. When consumers share electronic versions of patterns, the designers are no longer getting paid for their designs. The reasons that we don't accept returns on books/patterns (copyright issues) and require each student in our classes to own their own copy of the pattern (so all the creators get paid) are thrown out the window when the pattern is distributed electronically. When you have a PDF pattern or take a picture of a pattern from a book and share with friends, the people that lose in this situation are the designers and publishers...and ultimately the shops.

Please think about how you shop and how it affects the stores that provide you with that hands on experience. Whether you are shopping in store or online, small businesses provide that extra something that makes them special. I've said this before: When you utilize our staff to do your math (fabric or yarn) or to help you put together colors for a project, and then buy your items elsewhere, it's just rude. If you don't support your local shops, your local shops won't survive. You might think that $25 or $50 purchase won't make much of a difference, but it does. It keeps inventory moving (so the business can recoup the cost of the product to then buy more product) and keeps people employed.

As you check out our class schedule in this month's newsletter, it might seem like there aren't that many classes happening. Not so! Eight of our classes that start in January are sold out and many are close to filling. If you see a class that you like, you should grab your spot early so you don't miss out. Some classes are only offered once a year. If you find that class already sold out, be sure to put yourself on the waitlist so we contact you in the event of a cancellation. If we get enough interest from the waitlist we'll try to schedule an extra class.  If you look at the last page of the newsletter, you'll see that we have classes listed through the end of March that are ready for sign ups (that blue underlined font means it's a hyperlink to the class signup for those of you reading the PDF version). Mel has been super busy with getting teachers booked and is ready for you to fill those classes.

On the flip side, if you wait too long to sign up a class might not meet the teacher's minimum requirement and we cancel the class. Don't let that happen. Grab that spot early and make sure you get to take the class. You might even want to encourage a friend to take the class with you to make sure the class meets its minimum. 

Free Sews have returned to the calendar in January but there are very few because the classroom is so booked. There are only four if you count the one already schedule for February 1st.

Longarming 101 is sold out, but there's still some spots left in Pro-Stitcher Basics on January 20th, and the Time to Play workshops on January 21st. It's time to add to your longarm skillset.

On a personal note...we moved back home mid-October after a 26-month rebuild process following our loss in the August 2020 LNUcomplex wildfire. And it was a process. Actual build time took one year...we poured the foundation on October 13, 2021 and moved in October 11, 2022, but there was so much that was done before the foundation and we still have a few outstanding items.

I didn't realize how much my brain was in limbo during the rebuild process until we moved home and I felt like we were finally moving forward. No more waiting to purchase replacement items because we didn't know what we needed or where we were going to put it. No more just throwing paperwork in a box to be dealt with later (and I'm sure you can imagine what those boxes look like now...ugh!). No more waiting to start crafting projects because there just wasn't the space for them...I've even talked about taking my sewing machine back home so I can do some personal sewing. But since the sewing room shares the space with our home office, I'll be tackling some of those boxes full of paper first.

We hosted Thanksgiving with family and tested out our party space...it was a success. We stayed home just the three of us on Christmas since my parents had COVID :( and we couldn't go to their house. A quiet day but nice to be home. We hosted our first Open House on New Year's day and shared our new space with 26 friends and neighbors who brought a lot of love into our new home. We will be hosting more parties/open houses, but we had to keep it small due to limited parking because of the mud. So if you didn't get invited to this one, you're still on the list and will eventually get the opportunity to share our new space once the ground dries up a bit.

Wow, I got a little wordy on this one and I still have a lot more to say. I guess I'll make some notes (and hope I can remember where I put them) so I'll know what to talk about next week.

Thank you for supporting our store. You continue shopping with us and we'll continue bringing you products, classes, and inspiration to keep you engaged in 2023. If there is something we don't offer, please let us know. You can email us anytime at info@clothcarousel.com. Mel & I watch that email daily so we'll get back to you as soon as we can. If you need to get to me directly, email adina@clothcarousel.com. I also watch that daily but you'll be amongst the dozens of other emails I get each day...but I will eventually get back to you. 

Hope to see you soon!

Adina and my awesome crew: Paul, Scott, Mel, Kimberly, Susan



Checkout our most recent Event Schedule...What's New...and distractions.

150 Parker Street, Suite B
Vacaville, CA 95688
(in the Bank of America building, facing Parker Street)

707-327-0734

Daily 10am-5pm; Thursdays until 8pm

www.ClothCarousel.com 

 
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