Retail decline

There's a brilliant one in Ongar in Essex. And a very old church dating to the Norman conquest.

Apart from the tiny rundown towns; medium sized towns round me seem to usually have a thriving independent fabric, haberdashery, yarn, (crafty) type shop. I find my local one very friendly and helpful.

Birmingham's large indoor market in the Bull Ring has some haberdashery stalls. Although I rarely make the journey into "town", I believe they are still going. Everything you would want you could find with a good selection. Also, some material stalls owned by Asians who have long associations with this market. Tuesday, Friday and Saturday are the best days to visit.

Unfortunately there are very few fabric, yarn and haberdashery shops here so I try to get what I need when in England. Although it's getting more difficult there too. I was so disappinted when I visited Hobbycraft because it seemed to be very bitty and not have comprehensive stock of any particular craft. I suppose I had been spoilt by visits to Jo Anns or Michaels when on holiday in America. My husband used to drop me off and say he would pick me up in an hour. Enough time to really have a good look at everything they offer.

I love wool shops, but there is only two independent ones in our CITY. John Lewis still stock yarn and haberdashery, though have a more limited stock these days. We also have a Hobbycraft, whose range has also decreased since they first opened. Apart from rents, rates etc, I think the actual price of good yarns is quite prohibitive these days. I have just finished crocheting a pretty pram cover, in good quality cotton, and , even though not the most expensive on the market, it still cost quite a bit - I could have bought one more cheaply. My DD and I will be in New York next year, and we hope to find some craft stores there!

We are so lucky here, we have a small family run habadashers that was run from a shed for many years, they have recently moved into a lovely big shop and I hope they’ll be there for many years to come, I love going in and there’s always help and advice available.

We used to have 5wool/haberdashers in my town , when my children were small I knitted all the time choosing from these 5shops and putting wool by, now we have one shop left and they admit to struggling, The wool is quite expensive but the fabric and haberdashers side seems to be doing ok, When I can't get what I need from this shop I do go online to Marriner wools , lovely wool from £1 per 100gram ball , Local shops just can't compete with prices like that, I do try to support the local shop when I can , but we also have Home Bargains, Wilko,s all selling cheaper wool ,

We had a haberdashery stall in our local market which then closed. The stall owner took on a small shop which was due for demolition near the bus station. When they started the demolition work he moved to a shop which had been used for a few years for firework sales and he's still there.

We had a small high end shopping centre full of mostly small independent shops. There were 3 craft shops and a number of quality gift shops and a music shop that I regularly frequented. Sadly many of the properties needed refurbishing and all the tenants were given notice to quit. The site was bulldozed and now we have
another a large Tesco and a number of national chains of shops and restaurants. Like someone else said 'just like every high street in the country'. One of the craft shops took a lease on the high street of my village but only lasted about a year there as the rent increased ridiculously. The fabric shop in the next town closed about the same time so now there is nothing close by. I find Hobbycraft expensive and has limited choice. When my DS and DIL lived in Leeds I found a fabulous fabric shop with an extensive stock of haberdashery items. I spent a small fortune stocking up on lengths of ribbon etc while on my last trip there to help them move. Now they are in Bristol. Anyone know if there is a good shop there or will I have to go online?

Mum had a special knitwear shop in Westcliff on sea but had to close down due to lack of customers,

Marieeliz - I'd long forgotten about "putting wool by"!! I was a keen knitter from about 12yr old. Still knitting for DGS but as DH had been in poor health the last few years I'd sort of lost interest but we have a nice independent haberdashery shop in town. DH passed away very suddenly three weeks ago and I need to fill my days so this post has given me something I might enjoy,

Blacker yarns sell only on line.
They don't do the knitting and stitching shows either.
So I think I'm innocent
Now wait for it......someone will prove me completely wrong

There were three wool shops in my road alone until mid eighties.
They sold "undergarments" and select fashion pieces as well.

If you buy online be aware that if it's cheap the quality may be too. Use common sense. You don't always need to be able to feel the quality if you have experience in using different yarns. Also most of my knitting goes to charity so should be at least washable and hard wearing. If I'm knitting for myself I know which manufacturers I like. Choice is so wide online. Much better than shops usually stock.

Definitely disappearing and at a fair rate now I fear. A lot of the cheaper £ shops seem to stock yarn but only a very limited selection. When out and about if I come across a yarn/craft shop I'm in like a shot and always seem to find something to buy. Younger folk aren't all that interested in knitting etc and it's too much bother to care about hand knitted expensive items to wash anything in other than a washing machine.

Problem was local shop only stocked man made yarn. Then complained when people did not buy. I used this shop from when I was 15 and you could "lay by" collecting a few balls at a time. It was always wool. It was initially run by two Spinster sisters, then their Nephew took it over it survived for years until the Nephew retired and friends of his took it over they stopped stocking pure wool.

It is now a Restaurant and the Wool shop sign was removed only recently.

People are buying online. I am ashamed to say I have done.

I try to buy fabric locally but it can be a bit of a struggle as smaller shops are expensive for me. I’ve recently been to Dunelm for furnishing fabric and they have a reasonable choice and haberdashery to go with it. Fabric has been more of a problem but I’ve found a shop not too far away and my daughter went and told me they had a good choice of fabric. The local market in town has a good haberdashery counter and they are so much cheaper than department stores. They have a selection of individual buttons priced as each, loose zips, etc.
On line i recommend fabricland. It’s based in the south of England and has retail shops as well. I went to one of their shops in Bristol specifically to buy corduroy for trousers as they had a good selection of colours and a range of prices.
I miss being in the midlands as the markets always seem to have fabric stalls and the Asian shops are good for buying dyed muslin lining. I haven’t found any here yet.
The other thing that bothers me is that selections are usually what is fashionable so colours are far more restricted than they used to be.
Our local wool shop disappeared recently but again the market in town has a supplier.
I do think that sewing is becoming popular again, particularly for up cycling old clothes. Pinterest has loads of ideas for makes and remakes, so hopefully the interest will grow. I’m planning to upcycle some polo neck jumpers after Xmas as they are itchy round my neck (wool) but relatively new.
I don’t like Hobbycraft much as it’s quite pricey. I try to buy craft stuff at The Works as they are good for stuff that’s popular. Other stuff has to bought online.
My biggest gripe about buying online - very difficult to gauge the quality and feel of fabric, wool and haberdashery. Browsing ina real shop cannot be beaten by anything online

I go to craft and yarn fairs and buy mine there. You cannot touch the yarn when it's online and the feel and texture is one of the most important things.

Eskay10
Yes I buy from Blacker Yarns.
Beautiful wool.

Sadly, like many other retailers, craft shops are becoming a thing of the past.

We have a fabric shop in our small town, really expensive though. I usually go there just to feel the fabric, to see if it feels right, then go home and order it online as it is cheaper. Sorry small shop, but I cannot afford you.

Isn’t it a case of use it or loose it ... same with all our small specialist shops... indeed all our shops

Vanished years ago, but we do have a good little place just inside the town walls here in Conwy - Godsend.

I'm afraid I'm an internet orderer. Big choice, good bargains no snotty shop assistants, sorry should qualify that. The assistant in our local shop once told me, when I was looking at a pattern and enquiring about yarn , very condescendingly that it was well out of my price range. I haven't shopped there again and find the internet so much easier. No problem with amounts and delivered to the door.

We have a large fabric shop in our nearest big city but I think the traditional haberdashers are sadly a dying breed. IMO I don't think the big stores do this so well.