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: Playing with Classic Silhouettes and Timeless Color Palettes

When it comes to sewing, few things excite me more than reimagining classic designs and breathing new life into timeless patterns. As someone who has been sewing for over 25 years, I thrive on exploring unique details and construction techniques that make each piece feel special. Recently, I found inspiration in a previous look I’d created and decided to take it a step further, crafting a full outfit that plays with volume, texture, and classic styling. See below my dress from 2011 that I drew inspiration from. The Fabric For this project, I chose a Glen Plaid Suiting fabric from Fabric Mart, a timeless yet versatile pattern that instantly elevates any garment. The fabric’s classic black-and-white palette gave me the perfect base to experiment with silhouettes and pairings while keeping the overall look chic and cohesive. I love how this fabric’s pattern gives off an air of sophistication yet lends itself beautifully to bold, modern designs. The Dress For the dress, I used the VikiSew...

Made By A Fabricista: Liberty Snow Day

Hi everyone! While we’ve been blanketed with snow out here in Southeastern PA, I decided to conquer my fear of button holes and make NewLook pattern N6749. I was able to snag a few yards of the Jess + Jean print Liberty of London Tana Lawn for it. It’s always exciting when Fabric Mart is able to get Liberty fabrics in! I always make sure to grab some.  Cutting into a beautiful piece of tana lawn is scary every time. The fabric is such good quality, I’m afraid to mess it up! I had to be extra careful as this is also the first directional pattern I’ve worked with. But one of my assistants made sure all of my pieces were laid correctly. Something I wanted to try out with this dress was finishing the inside seams using the overlock stitch on my domestic machine. Normally I would french seam, but it was nice to not have to worry about cutting seam allowance in half, sewing, trimming, flipping, and sewing again. Next time I would cut the seam allowance back before overlocking, but I thin...

Made By A Fabricista: Ghostly School Uniform

When Fabric Mart asked me what fabric I wanted for my first project I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to make, Nene Yashiro from Toilet Bound Hanako kun (a weird but cute anime) but as cute as the design was, I knew I'd need to adjust the colors to a slightly warmer tones to better suit my complexion and undertones. For the main dress I was so happy to find an off white cotton/Lycra stretch twill that was opaque enough to not need a lining and stretched enough that I could continue avoiding my nemesis; zippers. I wanted to try out having a seamless center front panel, so I modified one of my existing go-to bodice patterns, and after figuring out what length I wanted for the skirt, was able to have the center front panel incorporated into the center front panel of the skirt. I then had the rest of the bodice as their normal waist length so that I could add an additional panel to the skirt to be able to have enough width to have volume and gather it down evenly around my waist. The hem h...