supplying fabric

[lisa One Needle Find all posts View Profile Close lisa]

Hi
I'm new to fabric world never dealt with supplying fabric before still trying to build confidence building my bussiness. At the moment i've dealt with customers own fabric. I would like to start supplying my own fabric and am trying to get to know different fabrics and suppliers, can someone tell me where to get Bill Boman fabrics from> I like their range as they supply to a local retailer.

[Schuhby Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Schuhby]

Re: supplying fabric

Hello Lisa

Supplying fabrics has to be the most important area to arrange if you're to set up a profitable business - both your turnover and profit will increase tremendously. Choose your supplier carefully and look for one with a broad range and a good name.. Personally I would go for Prestigious as a first account, they have a great range, nice website and they also sell the colour box, this is a box of many fabric samples arranged by colour. A very good starting point.

All fabric companies will insist on a Rep visiting you and most will expect the purchase of their sample books to open an account.

Prestigious, Bill Beaumont and many other fabric suppliers can be found in the useful links section.

Hope this helps..

[Jan Three Needles Find all posts View Profile Close Jan]

Re: supplying fabric

Hi,

Can anyone let me know roughly how much it would cost for Sample Books or the Colour Boxes.
What information would i need to give the reps if they called, im just setting up (no room ready yet) but looking and gathering information at the moment. I have the main machines to set up (sewing machine x 2, blind hem machine, intend getting an overlocker as soon as i get a few more orders), just organising myself.....

Thanks Jan

[Louise Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Louise]

Re: supplying fabric

Costs vary per company.......sample books and hangers from somewhere like Chatham-Glyn cost around £20-£45, major manufacturers ask for a commitment of around at least £400 worth of books to open an account, individual books cost around £40-£60, while the colour boxes also cost around £300-£400 (although often you can arrange to pay by monthly installments).

Check the A-Z Suppliers list at [urlnew:3bp9z74v]http://www.my.decozo.com/viewtopic.php?f=67&t=179[/urlnew:3bp9z74v] for the websites of various fabric suppliers.

[suel Pins & Needles Find all posts View Profile Close suel]

Re: supplying fabric

I have accounts and sample books from both Chatham Glynn and Prestigious. If you are on a budget Chatham Glyn might be preferable as their books are cheaper, and they often do a deal if you take a number of them. Be wary of Prestigious, their fabrics are on sale almost anywhere and you may find yourself in the position of trying to compete with other retailers/suppliers in your area. I don't think Chatham Glyn have saturated the market quite so much. Globaltex are another one, however I have decided not to buy any of their books. Just this week a client turned up with 14M of Globaltex fabric bought on E-bay for 5.95 per Metre. Very glad I did not invest in their books.

Be careful and make sure that the books you buy are quite new ones, and not about to be discontinued. Most suppliers will guarantee a 2 year life miniumum of the books, but if they have been out for some time you could end up with a turkey (like my Prestigious Vintage book where I sold ZERO and it is now discontinued).

Sue.