Moonta, South Australia
Let us start in the middle of the pandemic of 2021. As an active member of the local community I had collected a group of avid crafting friends over the years. They would come visit me at my home in a large group and we would sew the day away with much banter and lots of giggles.
In Australia here during this time restrictions were being put in place to stop the spread of the Corona-19 virus. Well I had many friends whom used this group as support group and could stand the thought of them being secluded in there houses for long periods of time. After much brainstorming with my daughter we thought we might jump into a business so that we could manage and support our local ladies while maintaining our love of quilting.
YP Quilting Fabrics was thus born after securing a building.
With the help from local people and my talented husband we moved into Owen Terence
Wallaroo. The shop was just perfect for our budding business as it was small
with space to grow. Locals and quilting enthusiasts alike came from all around
to support our new venture. Throwing ourselves into learning how to run a
business. With Susan having experience in retail and customer service and my experience
in running a small business. We both had a passion for quilting and people we
were on our way.
Offering a learn to sew group on a Tuesday night and sit and
sew classes during the day along with the shop offering a selection of 100% cotton
quilting fabrics and haberdashery we were off to a great start. All this was
about to change when on a quite morning in November at 6:15 am in the morning I
received a phone call from the Local café owner at Lyn’s Trash and Treasures cafe’.
The chemist next door to the quilting shop was on fire.
After jumping out of bed my husband and I went to the shop to see what could be
done. The smoke was the thick and the country fire service was already at the
scene. There was a amber zone put in place so the public was removed from the
area as there was suspected chemical smoke coming from the building. Looking at
our new little shop my husband and I went home, as the fire was being fought by
the fire fighters. Safe at home I received many phone calls from our customers
and family to find how the shop was but we had no idea to extent of the damage
but we were secure in the knowledge no one was in the building, so there was no
there was harm to any person(s).
Susan and I later went back when the fire had been subdued to the premises to the extent of the damage. We could not enter the building and a fence had been erected in the front of the building. Looking through the window we could see everything in the store had been knocked down and there was amassed into piles of black heaps of damaged furniture, stock and property that we owned.
Getting into the building later to have to see the extent of
the damage we were met with Sewing machines sat on tables where we left them, display
quilts we had spent hours making had burn holes through them, our bright shop
was now coloured in blacks and browns. I just this overwhelming feeling of despair.
Later on, I would
have to report the theft of the sewing machines as the building was left for
the assessor to see. It was an odd at the time.
Susan returned to Adelaide, and I was left to chase the
insurance. Have you ever delt with insurers after a fire? I would soon learn it’s
a very character-building experience. I have learnt so much in how continually follow
up on e-mails and phone calls. E-mails these days seem to be the preferred way
of communication these days, myself having little to no computer experience I
guess you can see how this was for me. There were endless calls for help and instructions
how to attach items and people, how to copy and paste, lots of little things I
just never knew about. Susan did the inventory for the store from the paperwork
at home. To this date we are still trying to receive what was lost in the fire.
After some time had passed in January I started to scout for a new location for the shop because of the fire the buildings surrounding Wallaroo were filling up quick. Due to the accessibility of the internet small business in the area was doing well. One afternoon my husband and myself were taking a walk down the main street in Moonta when we came by sign offering the Old Bank for rent. The bank was full to the brim with antique furniture so checking if the space was challenging. I took some photos and sent them to Susan in Adelaide. Receiving a text back from Susan saying that we would be surprised how much space was there once all the furniture was removed.
It was crunch time, either we picked ourselves up started
again or we took our losses and moved on. We decided to give it another go.
In February 2022, with my very talented husband in tow we began to build new fittings for the new store. Stock had continued to come so we had enough to open. With little signage and marketing it was hard to get people to know that we were in the district. The local community had been without a functioning shop for so long they didn’t even notice we were there. I sneaked Gertrude on the front of the building, the current doll sign. I love this design that my cousin had made for us. We were now visible to the community, people started to drop in and the community started to indorse our shop encouraging the growth of our budding business.
Thanks to the continuing support from the local community, we are proud to offer along with our knowledge and experience classes, sit and sew, Knit and natter, retreats, outdoor seating area and a selection of sewing supplies for purchase.
We are a proud retailer of Juki domestic sewing machines. We
encourage people to take a trip to the lovely seaside town to come have a try
at these amazing machines. It’s a great day trip.
Thank you for supporting us and please buy locally from
small businesses. Regards Tania, owner and quilter guru.
Comments
Post a Comment