Skip to main content

At Fabric Mart: Buying and Selling

This is where it starts.  Meet our Fabric Buyers!

If you didn't know already, half of Fabric Mart's business is wholesaling fabric to fabric stores, clothing manufacturers, and designers. But in order to wholesale fabric to these customers, we need the fabric first!
This is where Robert and Julie come in, our Fabric Mart buyers. They thoughtfully select the fabric to be purchased from many different places, such as manufacturers lots and sample room inventories, to name a few. This is also why our inventory is always changing and you never know what you will find at Fabric Mart!


Robert is the founder/owner. Since starting the company 35 years ago, he has gained a lot of connections in the industry to make our business what it is today. The process of buying fabric isn't easy. Deciding which fabric, how much to order and negotiating a price are some of the main factors in being a buyer.

Julie is the wholesale manager. Julie is in charge of wholesale orders, purchasing fabric, giving fabric to our retail website, and so much more! She is in constant communication with our wholesale customers and sending out samples to them. Julie also travels frequently to buy fabric and participate in Fabric Trade Shows around the country.


How long have you worked here?
Julie: Since Aug 2008
Robert:  I started the company 35 years ago in Manheim, PA.

Describe a typical day at Fabric Mart:
Julie:  "Julie, Line 1. Julie, Line 2!" *Laughs* I come into work, check my e-mails, answer and make phone calls, send out samples to customers, and select fabric to be put onto the website.
Robert:  Fabric Mart has 15 employees. When I arrive in the morning I say hello to each one. Notice that I usually arrive after the employees get in.  I check to see how many orders were received overnight and I like to see what the customers are ordering. The rest of the day consists of looking at samples of fabric that are for sale, picking fabrics for the website and selling fabric to some of our wholesale accounts.

What do you do when your leave work?
Julie:  Make dinner, go for a walk, spend time with my husband, do some sewing/crafting/creating, relax!
Robert: I live about 35 minutes from the store so I use the drive time to relax. I also enjoy woodworking and gardening.

How do you take your coffee?
Julie: I don't like coffee.
Robert: I am not old enough to drink coffee!

What is the best part of your job?
Julie: Working with customers to get them what they need, traveling to different parts of the country to meet our customers, and buying fabrics!
Robert: Coming into work in the morning and seeing all of the activity. I also enjoy seeing all of the new young employees with all of their ideas and energy.

If you were stranded on a desert island who, from Fabric Mart, would you take?
Julie: Sandy! Just because I think it would be fun and we'd have stuff to talk about.
Robert: Nobody, I would enjoy the peach and quite! Hopefully, I would have some fabric with me so that I could make a tent. I sunburn quickly!!

Do you sew and if so, what's your favorite thing to sew?
Julie: Yes! My favorite things to sew are accessories, clothing and things for my house.
Robert:  Nope

Comments

  1. The people are behind the scenes are my favorite photos. You'll notice a nose print on your window this morning from when I stopped to look in. I was so disappointed that you are closed on the weekends.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment! All comments are reviewed before posting to help us eliminate spam. Your comment will be posted within 24 hours.

Popular Posts You Might Like

Made By A Fabricista: Did someone say FREE??? All about Free Sewing Patterns

Hi sewing friends! I am SEW excited to share this blog post with you today! This is my fifth post with Fabric Mart since I did a guest post late last year and then joined the blogging team in 2024 but I would say this is the post that 1) I worked the hardest to create, and 2) the one that has me the most excited! Today I am going to talk about FREE sewing patterns, showcase a few free patterns I’ve sewn, and then share some very exciting news at the end of this post about an upcoming! First, let’s talk about free patterns – where they come from, why they exist, and how you can find them. But first, here’s a recent free pattern I sewed. This is the Finn Crop Tee from Petite Stitchery . I used an ITY (Interlock Twist Yarn) for this one and I was able to squeeze it out a yard of a fabric. ITY is one of my favorite fabrics to dress up a t-shirt and it wears well across all seasons. And Fabric Mart gets the most AMAZING designer deadstock designs you will ever see! Petite Stitchery offers

Made By A Fabricista: Well Suited for Fall

Fall is my favorite time of the year! The weather is cooling down and I'm always excited to transition into the cooler weather. I get to create with some of my favorite fabrics and I'm always inspired by all the cool fashion trends for the season. So for this month's fabricista feature I snagged some cool medium-weight twill fabric in a beautiful warm cinnamon color.   This fabric has a medium bottom weight feel to it, great for pants, outerwear, jackets, boiler suits and more. I used a needle suited for medium weighted woven fabrics and my serger for finishing raw edges. The color of this fabric is so warm and inviting. I think it is the perfect color for Fall. I couldn’t wait to create a fall ensemble with this fabric. I chose Simplicity Pattern S9893 because I’ve been dying to create this pattern since it launched. It is a cool cape with cargo pockets, storm flaps, hidden buttons at the shoulder, a collar with button tabs and even more button tabs at the underarm. This c

Made By A Fabricista: From Fabric to Finish Line: Creating My Running Gear

In 2021, I ran my first 5k; I was instantly hooked. I loved the instant sense of accomplishment of crossing the finish line & completing something, but all in all at the time I was absolutely no good at running. Now in 2024, I am an avid runner. I absolutely love running & I still love completing races. It had never crossed my mind to sew any running clothes until lately, but I’m sure glad I did.  On Fabric Mart they had the most amazing windbreaker like animal fabric & I knew it would be a perfect match. For the jacket I decided to block it so that it would give it a bit of extra definition. The actual fabric was really easy to sew with & to cut, however, it was a bit hard to pin & left needle marks within the fabric so I suggest using clips instead. I absolutely loved how it turned out. The pattern that I used for the jacket is a free sewing pattern from Mood Fabrics called the Cory Jacket. It is a fairly simple sew & can be made in a day.  For the shorts, I u