I admit it, I play favorites. Yes, dear reader, I have favorite customers. Customers who are so fun, so easy to work with and so happy to be SPOOL customers that they make it a joy to come to work. Some of these customers are in store and some are online and before you ask, no, it actually has little to do with the amount of money they are able to leave in my shop at the end of their SPOOL experience and has way more to do with how they approach their visit to our store.
The truth is that many shop owners keep their lips tightly shut on these matters for fear of losing a sale but let’s face, it I have rarely been one to take the safe path, so let’s explore this subject a bit deeper!
As I said, I play favorites – I have been known to drop in extra patterns, bonus yardage, collectors pin,s or BadAss goodness into orders and in-store purchases just because it was so damned fun to work with certain customers. I am lucky; SPOOL has a fair number of these BadAss Quilters but the honest truth is I can’t say this about every soul that walks through our door.
Again, this is not about the dollars spent (but please do, spend, it is what keeps a store open) but about the attitude when in shop. It is about being present, courteous, aware, and ready to think about what you are doing. Of course there is always the time that you need to just wander around and touch fabric to make your day better, and that is cool as well. Some days are for dreaming and planning; we get that and honor your need to have time in your own head.
Sticky Wickets
What is not so cool are customers who abuse the store with both their actions and their words leaving us dazed and confused as to what has just happened as they walk out the door leaving in their wake a laundry list of sins that leave us gape-mouthed if not outright furious and even occasionally make us cry.
Do I think that people do all of these things on purpose? No. But I do think that as a culture we have become numb at times to the wake of our personal space and expectations on a variety of situations, and this extends to the way people shop.
In the south we have a phrase that we use when a woman is really difficult; we say she is a “hard woman to love.” The same goes for some customers. Of course some sins are more egregious than others but let’s just trip through a mercifully shortened list of situations I have encountered since opening the shop 3 years ago and learn about situations that will get a shopper bumped from the favorite customer list in a heartbeat.
Hard Customers to Love (cheater’s list of things not to do in a quilt shop)
Walking into the store on a cell phone, not making eye contact, and acting as if our greeting you is an imposition on your time. Extra eye rolls awarded for having your conversation via speaker function the whole time you are in the shop. Bonus points for referring to your sister-in-law as a “skank” during the conversation. That was certainly special!
Showing up to class unprepared, late, or without the basic knowledge of your machine (it was not a new machine class).. Extra points awarded when talking loudly to a table-mate about all the great deals you get buying fabric online over buying fabric in the very shop you are taking a class.
Taking photos without first asking. Yes, in my store you can take photos, but asking is nice. What is not nice is taking photos of the end of bolts so that you can then comparison shop those fabrics online at a later date and then have the brass balls to tell me you are doing it! For the win, whip out your cell phone and order the book online that you are looking at in my store and tell me what a great deal you just got on Amazon!
Snooping where you are not allowed. Walking back into obviously office / storage space, opening storage units or rifling through bathroom cabinets. Extra points for stealing our Poo-pourri bathroom spray. I mean really, I don’t remember there being a big bathroom spray famine, buy your own damned spray!
Pick up an item, raise it high into the air Lion-King-style and announce to the whole shop that this is the daily deal on Missouri Star! Extra points when then also point out 5 other things in the shop that you are going to go home and buy online as soon as you get us to help you figure up how much binding you need for your new pot holder (made with the Deal of the Day charm pack you got last week from Missouri Star as well!)
Engage a sales associate totally for an hour or more, get out 30 bolts, take up the whole sales counter, and then request an 1/8 of a yard from each of them. Extra points if while we unfold them to cut you decide that you really don’t like many of them and tell us “never mind” and walk out telling us you need to “think about it.”
Grab the corner of the fabric that I had laid out to cut in order to “help me” get it straight. Bonus points when you keep tugging it in order for me to cut “just a bit extra for free.”
Need to use the bathroom? Please do, but please also use the fan and clean up after what ever post-apocalyptic event happened for you in there. Extra points for leaving unwrapped sanitary items, dirty diapers, and evidence that even at your age you are still menstruating since I love nothing more than cleaning up blood that is left dripping down the front of the toilet bowl. And, for pity’s sake, FLUSH!
Come in and please feel free to bitch about our location, our hours of business, and how hard we are to find since when I started in business I thought, “What would really piss people off? I know, let’s put our business on a main road, put directions and a map on the front of our website in a large town, and let’s also be open 7 days a week. That should do it! Extra points when you refer to my shop as being in the “hood” and openly questioning why there are “so many black people around here.”
Bring in a cup of coffee, sports drink or beer (wtf?) and then abandon it on my shelves. Extra points for hiding it behind a display so it later gets knocked over and ruins something.
Go ahead and open a kit or tied bundle “to see something better” and then leave it in a heap. I can’t tell you how much I love that! Extra points for hiding it behind some bolts of fabric!
Come in my store and tell me I “have a lot of nerve charging $xx.xx for that!” Go on to explain that you can get something “almost like that” at Walmart for “SO MUCH LESS”… …please do.
Want to look at a pattern? You bet! Bring it to the front and let us help you with that. Bonus points for ripping open the seal, and then sneaking off into a corner of the store to try to take photos of the instructions and then getting huffy with me when I tell you that you are violating copyright as I pull the pattern out of your hand and tell you I will be charging you for the pattern and it will be waiting for you at the front counter when you are done shopping.
Come in, ask for a line of fabric of which we have bought the whole collection. Have us get out ALL THE BOLTS for you, open each, tell us about the quilt you plan to make, and ask approximately 1 ZILLION questions about project construction and technique, then thank us for showing you the fabric and make for the door telling us that you are SO VERY GLAD we have the collection since you really wanted to see in person it before you ordered it online.
And people wonder why some quilt store owners drink.
Having a quiet Sunday and trying to make myself feel better after burning both the bacon and the blueberry pancakes (my stove has a mind of its own today). Ran across this and read in entirety. You have made my day honey. Husband is dying to know what finally made me laugh: it was this wonderfully witty although truthful piece. Thank you. I think I am a great customer! Never done any of that. Amazed they can!
Ok my friend own a quilt shop …. Omg let me tell you it true all ,lol .
I had work in service clients for many years , people expect red carpet but gave you sand paper .
You made my day sweetie , love to read you !
Marie
It seems some of the comments are from defensive shoppers. They must not have read all the words in this essay. Either that or they are guilty of some of the rudeness described. This is not about shop owners it is about the customers that are ‘hard to love’.
I have a local quilt store I love and I have seen customers act this way occasionally. But it is the only quilt store for at least 50 miles in any direction and most of us know how very lucky we are to have it in our rural area and treat the owner and her shop like the treasures that they are.
That said, I have worked retail. Glad I don’t do that anymore. Some people just feel entitled to be the queen and treat all the rest of the world like worker bees.
I’ve made a point to visit many quilt stores in my city. Some have been delightful. More have been a pain in the behind. I’ve had some tell me how stupid I am to think I can make a quilt without taking their classes. I’ve had some almost attack me when I walk in the store (give me time to look around, please) and watch me like I’m going to steal something. Some act like it’s a pain to cut a small amount (I love I spy quilts). Then, there’s a minimum of a yard of anything that’s less than $12.00 a yard. (Why? They are just standing around talking to each other. What would it hurt to cut a half yard? It’s a sale. You know, I might come back and I might buy multiple 1/2 yard pieces.)
Then, there was the delightful lady who spent a great deal of time to talk to me about batiks and paper piecing. There is this wonderful shop that has bunches of quilting machines who told me to feel free to come back if I had any trouble with my first quilt. (Yes, I did, and they helped me work it out.) Then there’s the chain stores. They are always nice and let you shop. They give you all the time in the world to look at and feel all their fabrics. Yes, they talk to you, but they don’t stand there doing nothing watching you. They never gripe, grimace or roll their eyes when you just want an 1/8 of a yard of something.
I always go to that wonderful little shop for anything I can buy there. They quilted my first quilt. I don’t buy much fabric there, as their specialty is modern, but I always feel welcome. I make a point to spend some money there.
Retail works both ways, you know.
Dan’s Mom, You are TOTALLY right it does work both ways and a store needs to earn a good customer just as much as a customer needs to do their part to become a favorite customer. While I am sure you don’t know it one of my other functions as the BadAss Quilter is working with shops to help them with their sales culture. To help them understand the art of sales and salesmanship so that every customers is able to make their perfect purchase. There is never a time we quit learning how to be better. Each store is at their own place on the path with some having a harder time than others making progress. My hope is that you find more good than bad and when able reflect to the store owner what you liked and what made your visit unpleasant, that is one of the few ways anyone learns.
O my! As a manager of a sewing machine shop located inside that big ‘ol nationwide big box craft chain, I can sympathize completely. We have the customers we love, the one’s who love us, and then, well… there are the rest! But, we try our best to take care of them all, as though every one of them was our fav! Thanks for tellin’ it like it is!
I am so sorry that you all have to answer questions and actually help people. I am guilty of asking a lot of questions and also asking for help with what colors and patterns go well together as I’m fairly new to quilting.
I have gone into many quilt shops where the owners/employees ignore you, are rude, and my favorite – condescending. I first saw this article when my (formerly) favorite shop owner posted it on her website. I had been in the day before to buy some wool for a class I’m taking at the quilt expo in October and when she found out what/where the class was became extremely irritated. The person that was with me even noticed and asked later “what was her problem?” Imagine my surprise when I read this article and found out that I’m only allowed to go to ONE quilt shop exclusively, never allowed to look anywhere else, mention anywhere else and GOD FORBID ask questions?
She does not have to worry about me bothering her or her staff again, I will never step foot in that shop again. And to think I was going to wear the t-shirt from her shop to the expo! Actually, during a class at her shop several years ago the instructor (an employee of the shop) said in front of everyone about the sewing machine I was using – “you know, you can get a big girl machine”. I guess that should have been my first clue…
There are 2 very nice shops in the town where I live and I’ll go there, but since reading this article I’ll feel very uncomfortable if I have to ask for help or ask any questions.
And if anyone ever mentions a place OTHER than the 2 shops in town I’ll cover my ears and sing LALALALALALALALALALA. I
Sherry, I am sorry that you took from my post that you are not welcome to ask questions. Quite the opposite, I think most quilt shops are happy to help you become an established quilter so that you do have the confidence to tackle any pattern you set your mind to. In all honesty I am confused by your comments to the point where I went back and read the post again since I did not remember saying anything about being irritated by a customer asking questions or seeking help. I will say that having a customer come in and monopolize one of my shop assistants time for 2 hours and then announce she would then be leaving to go buy the fabric that she really liked at the other store ( who was not willing to help her plan out her whole quilt) was a real kick in the pants but I don’t see that you did anything like that based on your comment. Quilt store owners are people, people trying to make a living, we have good days and bad. This article obviously hit a sore spot with you and I feel safe in saying that sore spots are usually something we need to look inward about. I am sure your other two shops will be happy to answer you questions and I hope you reward their time and effort with your dollars.
The quilt shop in my area very recently went out of business. The last person that owned the shop had many of the very behaviors that you describe. And she wondered why business was so slow before she closed.
How about those people who bring their children or grandchildren in and let them lose?!? Candy/chocolate on their little grabby, grubby hands….I ran a craft and gift store for many years and those are why I put out a sign that said “Unattended children will be sent home with a puppy or kitten!” Obviously the worst offenders took me seriously because they started reeling their kids/grandkids in or else stopped bringing them in altogether. And of course in my shop we also had the time-honored sign “Lovely to look at; a joy to behold, but if you break it, consider it sold!”
This is so sad…especially because this behavior is 95% by women disrespecting other women shop owners struggling to make a decent living.
I buy as much as I can from my LQS and I also have been known to put away some bolts or at least put them back in front of the rack when I just picked out too many!
Online shopping hasn’t killed brick & mortar quilt shops entirely but it’s a real danger. Anyone….remember locally owned bookstores–very rare now!
I’d like to assume you’re joking but I guess I’m not truly surprised. I am “sort of” guilty on one of these charges and I’d like to know if I was in the wrong. I’d like to say that NOW I always ask before taking photos but I was VERY new (had only made one quilt) and I honestly didn’t know any better. It was the first time I was in this particular shop (nice shop, small town). I shop with my husband who picks out 99% of the fabrics I buy. I am not even sure I know what I was looking for that day, if anything specific. But hubby kept pulling out bolts for me to look at and there was this one… it was just so beautiful. I was instantly in love. Now, like I said, I was very new. I didn’t yet understand the concept of a stash. I only bought fabric for whatever project I was tied to… but the fabric was soooo pretty. So I took a picture of the bolt, and one of the end so I could make sure to find it again. As I was taking the picture, one of the ladies who worked there walked up to me and asked “What do you think you’re doing?” She wasn’t curious, she was rude. I just froze… then explained that I loved the fabric but wasn’t sure what I would use it on yet and I wanted to be able to locate it again once I knew how I would use it and how much I’d need. She snorted and said “Why, so you can go home and buy it online?” I said that was not the case and the lady walked away. I was so frazzled… I almost chose to never go back but my husband called the store the next day and talked to the owner about what happened and I spoke with her as well. She apologized for the rude exchange (it wasn’t her) and explained the plight of the brick and mortar vs the online retailer. I did and I still go back often, but they almost lost a very good customer.
I want to point out that I buy 90% of my fabric in my local quilt stores, only buying online when I need something specific that I can’t find in my LQS. I also spent over $100 in the shop that day on other fabric and I did go back a couple of weeks later and buy 4 yards of that fabric – and used it in a beautiful quilt.
I am so sorry that you have to deal with people like this everyday. I have seen some of the stuff you mentioned, but some of the other things baffled me. Does common sense and courtesy not exist any more? I live in Ca and I wish you are closer to me. I love your store.