Tales Of A Fourth Generation Textile Executive: What’s In Your Bathroom?

Hey Everybody,

Last week I had the great pleasure of hitting the road with a Studioe sales reps down in the South.  As you probably know, I love to be on the road because I always learn so much from customers and love to see our sales reps in action.  Of course, this trip was no different.  I learned loads, but there is one thing in particular that I wanted to focus on now that I learned while on the road.

on-the-road

Have you ever seen the Capital One Financial ad where the guys says, “What’s in your wallet?”  Well, forget that guy and imagine yours truly in the ad asking, “What’s in your bathroom?”   I know.  I am sure you are thinking, what the heck is wrong with this Studioe guy?  He must be losing his marbles.  You probably wouldn’t be surprised if he was losing his marbles since this industry could drive even the most seasoned and sane professional crazy, right?  Anyway, didn’t we learn as kids not to talk about the potty or to use bathroom words?  You know me, I love to break the rules whenever possible.

bathroom

So what am I talking about?  I am talking about the hottest new place to merchandise and advertise your store’s fabrics.  Really?  Yes, really!  On this trip, I only had the opportunity to visit 2 shops, but both of those shops had so much eye candy in the bathroom that I was astonished….and distracted at the same time.  It was unreal to me.  Let’s call a spade a spade, everyone has to go to the bathroom at some point or another, so why not advertise there?  What’s the expression….location, location, location?  If you aren’t putting fabrics up in your bathroom, you should definitely consider starting it now.

bathroom-1
Note how I am an equal opportunity photo poster as, but for the Stof Glimmering panel to the left, none of these fabrics are from any companies related to Studioe Fabrics.

With that short spiel, I am challenging all the quilt shops out there to post one great bathroom photo from their shop on the Studioe Facebook page. The only requirement is that you need to have a toilet or a sink in the photo.  It would definitely help if the fabric in the photo is from one of the Jaftex related companies (Studioe, Blank, Henry Glass, A.E. Nathan or Stof).  The top bathroom photographers will get some prizes from me….and I tend to give out away some pretty good prizes.  Dazzle me, please!

bathroom-2
You see the paper towels and the hand sanitizer? That is definitely the restroom.  Also, that black and white coloring fabric is from The Blank Quilting Corp.  (related to Jaftex/Studioe)

Finally, please note that all the above and below bathroom photos are from either Quilting Sew Easy in Gaffney, South Carolina or Quiltpatch in Matthews, North Carolina.  Thanks to the owners of those shops for sharing their facilities and fabrics with me.  Most importantly, thanks for potty training me.

bathroom-3
More lovely bathroom fabric from our competitors.  You guys are welcome.
stitchers-prayer
This isn’t advertising per se, but it was a good read.
quilters-alphabet
What better place than the bathroom to work on the most important ABCs?  I love letter “Y.”

Please don’t tell anyone that I never come up with some novel ways to crack this fabric industry.  Get working on that bathroom right away and see how you can become flush (I couldn’t resist).

Good luck!

Until next week,

This is Scotty in the Potty

2 Comments

  • Joanne Hubbard

    What a fun post! Both of the shops in which I teach have quilts hanging I their bathrooms. One of the shops, owned by a Mennonite family, asked if I thought it was ok to do that or did I think it would offend people. I just about screamed “Yes!” because I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had student come back to class and ask about the pattern, the fabric, or if I’d teach a class on the project in their. It’s fun to see the reaction and hear the comments when the quilt gets changed.