Stores and Information and Internet
dawnb...@aol.com
I was in New Orleans last weekend and visited The Quarter Stitch, a
needlepoint shop in Jackson Square in the French Quarter. I knew about
them because someone had posted a question re shops in that area back in
December and I had saved the answers. I was chatting with the lady in the
shop, and told her where I had heard of the shop. She was astonished, and
kept saying "But I don't even have a computer".
Dawn
Thurman Frey
dawnb...@aol.com writes: "I was in New Orleans last weekend and
This is what's so wonderful about the 'net - please pass this on to
those independent shops out there who might still have PC-phobia or
net-allergy. So long as they deal with Wichelt Imports, Gay Bowles,
Hoffman Distributing, etc., they DON'T to have the computer themselves
- they advertise by having their shops listed on these home pages and
they benefit from folks like you viewing those pages and looking for
the geographic distribution of retailers listed there.
DH attended an industry trade show recently and tried to
communicate some of this in a workshop there. Apparently, there is
still much fear of the unknown/whatever from those shop owners who are
not technophiles, computer literate, or ever -want- to be. They miss
out on some great opportunities. Wonder if it was the same back in
Gutenberg's time when printed copy came into being?
Carol in MD.
Mary Winters-Meyer
In <5dfk6v$r...@dfw-ixnews12.ix.netcom.com>, cyb...@ix.netcom.com(Thurman Frey) writes:
>dawnb...@aol.com writes: "I was in New Orleans last weekend and
>visited The Quarter Stitch, a needlepoint shop in Jackson Square in the
>French Quarter. I knew about them because someone had posted a question
>re shops in that area back in December and I had saved the answers. I
>was chatting with the lady in the shop, and told her where I had heard
>of the shop. She was astonished, and kept saying "But I don't even have
>a computer".
<grin> At our weekly stitch-in at our local needlework shop, we're always
discussing some new design that just came outon the net. Since the owner of
the shop has one of those automatic shipment setups for new designs, she
doesn't order things simply because we've been talking about them. However,
usually by the next weekend, the item we've been discussing will have come
in. "Look! Here's the design you were talking about!" she'll say, allowing us to
drool over it in person rather than over our keyboards! ;->
Sometimes she'll even ask if we've heard anything about xyz product on the net
if she's trying to make up her mind about ordering something. She's never
complained that our group being on the net has lost her purchases, probably
because she knows that when we find out about a pattern, we come to her
to get it first! (As our smoking credit cards will attest to!) ;->
So even though a lot of small independent shops may not be able to afford a
computer, they still can benefit from it, and should be shown this.
Mary Winters-Meyer
Handcrafted Crochet and Bead Art
mjwm...@uiuc.edu
Evelyn Chagnon
dawnb...@aol.com wrote:
>
> I was in New Orleans last weekend and visited The Quarter Stitch, a
> needlepoint shop in Jackson Square in the French Quarter. I knew about
> them because someone had posted a question re shops in that area back in
> December and I had saved the answers. I was chatting with the lady in the
> shop, and told her where I had heard of the shop. She was astonished, and
> kept saying "But I don't even have a computer".
>
Dear Dawn,
I am planning a buying cum pleasure trip in March...New Orleans is one
of my stops. Could you please share the shop list with me?
Needles, AYE!
evelyn
Nancy Eddy
I think one of the MAIN problems is time. I have spoken
about the internet in two of the shops I go into - both
owners are interested in what people have to say. At a
third shop in my area, one of its employees infrequently
posts here. One of the two owners reads rctn sometimes -
the thing is, she doesn't really have time to keep up -
she is busy waiting on customers, putting up stock, etc.
Nancy Eddy
Sharon G
It is only a matter of time. Lots of the stores have computers and many
more are getting interested.
An inside industry story...TNNA os lucky to have as one of it's members
Jim Hedgepath of Pegasus Designs and also Web Master for Needlecraft
Showcase.
Jim made a statement a few years ago that by 1998, the internet would
become a necessary marketing tool for shops. He was wrong...it happened
already and there are many success stories. He also said the year 2000
is coming COD! ...Change Or Die!
Smart man!. He is doing seminars for shop owners at the trade shows and
tons of them are signing up. I hear shopowners who I would never dream
getting into the computer age talking about it. Lap tops were all over
the place at the last show.
So, your shops are getting there. Maybe you could teach them something!
Encourage them to get with it.
Sharon G
madeu...@aol.com
I think I understand -- my FAV shop owner told me that she gets up at 3:00
(or else goes to bed that early) answering her e-mail. I know she ALWAYS
answers promptly, even when AOL loses my mail to her, and sometimes 2 or 3
times (LOL).
A web site is in the works. I don't know what I'm waiting more
impatiently for -- my order or her web site (and I've only been waiting 3
days, so don't take this as a criticism of HER, only of the slow days).
Tere
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for Noticing Me ~~ Eeyore