S. Denise Hoyle | April 30, 2009
The Wall Street Journal claims that “even Mom is getting stiffed this year!” A recent National Retail Federation survey found that consumers plan to spend 11% less this year on gifts for mom, down to $123.89 from last year’s average of $138.63.The study showed that although people don’t plan to forgo the holiday altogether, the [...]
Sarah J. Doyle | April 29, 2009
We hear so much about teaching children how to sew; bringing back the sewing hobby by teaching the youngsters, but have you considered doing adult sewing classes?Previous posts to this blog in the “Industry News” section tells about how the sewing hobby is becoming more popular during the recession, and how fabric stores and individuals [...]
S. Denise Hoyle | April 28, 2009
Elias Howe grew up in poverty in Spencer, Massachusetts on his parents’ farm. Born in 1819, he was sickly as a child and had difficulty performing chores around the farm, but he did them anyway. He later got rich from his invention and patent of the lock-stitch sewing machine, considered one of the great breakthroughs [...]
Sarah J. Doyle | April 27, 2009
Is your sewing and craft business getting geared up for the wedding season which traditionally begins the month of June??If you’re not already sewing and crafting wedding items — favors, gifts, satin roses for filling with rice to “shower” the bride on her special day, and a variety of other things associated with weddings and [...]
Sarah J. Doyle | April 26, 2009
With spring breaks from school and warmer weather here, one just can’t help but want to hit the road to a park or someplace for a picnic. We’ve already taken our grandkids to a couple of parks to play, and of course to have our picnic. They LOVE picnics, and we usually throw in a [...]
Sarah J. Doyle | April 25, 2009
Do you know exactly how many customers you have? If a customer comes in to pick up some work you’ve done for them, and they bring a friend who sees and buys an article from your customer waiting area, do you get any basic information from that person, or do you just take their money [...]
S. Denise Hoyle | April 24, 2009
Would you like to see how your website traffic compares with your competitors? You can get that information for free from Compete.com! You can compare numbers for your site and any two other sites without even signing in. Signup for a free account and Compete.com will report and analyze the traffic for up to five [...]
S. Denise Hoyle | April 23, 2009
Fabric.com is celebrating its ten year anniversary with their “Sew” Much Fun sweepstakes. Simply click the banner below and enter to win over $4,500 in prizes including the grand prize seven day trip to Italy which includes seven nights lodging, continental breakfasts and either lunch or dinner each day, airfare to Milan, Italy, ground transportation [...]
Sarah J. Doyle | April 22, 2009
Today is Earth Day, and what better way to celebrate than to figure out ways we can reduce, reuse and recycle — not just in our businesses, but in our homes as well.If we all determined to do a little more recycling of things we’d normally toss into the trash can, we could literally “save [...]
S. Denise Hoyle | April 21, 2009
Many sewing and craft stores are reporting a surge in the number of students looking to take up sewing as a new hobby. The economy has been the most reported influence on choosing sewing as a hobby and classes are filling up with people interested in learning to repair their old clothes, or wanting to [...]
