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Significance of Habby Stats Questioned
Listed under: News
Published: Monday, January 26, 2009
Recent reports claiming the credit crunch, increased media exposure and a desire to learn new skills have resulted in interest in haberdashery reaching new heights, have met with doubt from retailers who claim they have seen little evidence to prove it.
Despite new findings from the UK's largest course provider hotcourses.com claiming an 84% rise in internet searches for sewing and dressmaking, some retailers remain unconvinced. Further reports from John Lewis showing a 20% growth in haberdashery sales and a 45% increase in sewing machine purchases have also been met with caution.
“While we've had a few people coming in looking for things like buttons, I wouldn't say there's been a major change,” explains Angi Stevenson, who owns the haberdashery store Anstey Home Crafts in Leicestershire. “At the moment, I'd say everything is pretty much the same as always. I keep hearing about all these people who are supposedly taking up crafts and making their own clothes, but to be honest I've seen very little evidence of it. I think it's really great that the media are promoting these activities and raising awareness of crafts; who knows, it might even become a self-fulfilling prophecy; but as things stand at the moment I can't say I've seen any evidence to back up these findings.”
What's your experience of the habby sector? Email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to have your say.
“While we've had a few people coming in looking for things like buttons, I wouldn't say there's been a major change,” explains Angi Stevenson, who owns the haberdashery store Anstey Home Crafts in Leicestershire. “At the moment, I'd say everything is pretty much the same as always. I keep hearing about all these people who are supposedly taking up crafts and making their own clothes, but to be honest I've seen very little evidence of it. I think it's really great that the media are promoting these activities and raising awareness of crafts; who knows, it might even become a self-fulfilling prophecy; but as things stand at the moment I can't say I've seen any evidence to back up these findings.”
What's your experience of the habby sector? Email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to have your say.
Here at Teasels Yarncrafts January has been good for haberdashery, but a comparison with last January only shows that that month was poor; I suspect JL figures show the same pattern. Also, with the closure of Woolworths, other stores should expect an uplift in sales of basic haby.
There are not enough Haberdashery shops around and those that are are not decently stocked.
So it is very difficult to buy the items required - most haberdashery shops have now become paper craft shops.