63 COMPANY PROFILE: THE FABRIC FAIRY when summer arrives. We choose our swimsuit prints every year, months in advance, to have them specialty printed for our shop -so going through that process is the creative side of the business which I love. My favourite fabrics right now are anything that’s eco-friendly including recycled swimsuit prints, solids, swimsuit linings, and our eco-friendly Endurance Athleticwear knits. Hobby & crafts have boomed over the last two years! Have you noticed any new trends? Customers are very savvy when considering purchasing eco-friendly fabrics. Customers want fibres that are organic or recycled. I feel like that market is starting to stabilise since things were so volatile in 2020 and 2021. Now customers are mindful of price and quality. How would you advise a retailer who is interested in stocking your products? I’m a retailer and not a wholesaler, but I certainly can have conversations with another retailer interested in stocking my fabrics on a one-on-one basis. What sets you apart from your competitors? We do our very best to be available not only via email and social media but by phone during business hours to help answer customer questions. In a world that’s so dependent on email and text, having an actual person to talk to is a rarity. We find we can assist customers quicker and have built customer confidence by simply answering the phone. We also have reviews in each fabric listing and an ‘Ask a Question’ option in each fabric listing to make it quick and easy for a customer to read other people’s opinions on the fabric or reach out to ask me to answer a question specific to the fabric they’re looking at. Do you visit any trade shows? Do you plan to visit any soon? I don’t do trade shows anymore. I find being a small business, I can do just as well dealing directly with my reps via email or phone vs spending a lot of time and money traveling. What are you looking forward to most over the next year? We’re looking forward to our creative process for 2025 by starting to design our swimsuit prints and purchasing samples of those designs to then choose our collections for 2025. Every year is different with its feel and vibe. Narrowing down what’s important to our customers is the goal. What new products can we expect from you in the future? Adding new products to the shop is a tricky thing. Being a small business, I’m very careful and calculated when adding a new line to make sure it’s well received with my customers. As of right now, I don’t have plans to add a new collection or line to my shop but as wholesalers reach out to me with options, that may change. Every year, we do get new swimsuit prints in the shop and retire prints that have run their course. THE FABRIC FAIRY 608-577-3280 contact@thefabricfairy.com www.thefabricfairy.com https://www.facebook.com/FabricFairy https://www.instagram.com/fabricfairy/
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