Tales Of A Fourth Generation Textile Executive: Time For Some Change
A lot of people are creatures of habit, myself included. Unfortunately, we sometimes get so caught up in the habit that we don’t realize that we need to make a change because the marketplace or the world is telling us to do so. I hate to keep bringing this up, but the people at Quilts Inc. for example are creatures of habit because they are not willing to make change based on what the market and current fabric business environment commands. Sometimes people can get away with not changing the habit like Quilts Inc., for the time being, but others that don’t change habits could be left for dead. The worst part about this problem is that it happens very fast so you need to pay close attention. 
Jaftex Corp. (parent of Studioe Fabrics) has managed to stay in business for 85 years because my family members before me have frequently taken long hard looks at the business to reevaluate, reassess and make change. Some hard and pivotal decisions that were made over the years, especially under my father’s watch, included: buying out relatives, selling the print plant, switching from the lingerie and sleepwear business to the over the counter fabric business, purchasing other businesses, separating our chain divisions from our quilt shop divisions and now once again we find ourselves in a position to reassess, reevaluate and reinvent.
So here we are nearing the end of 2015 and things they are a changin’ again right before our eyes. The major change that we need to contend with at Jaftex relates especially to our A.E. Nathan division that caters mostly to the chain stores. Currently, the by the yard fabric business with the chains has become near impossible due to the extreme pressure on the chain buyers and pricing pressure on suppliers. Not only that, but more and more of the chain business is being done directly with the mills i.e. the middle-men (A.E. Nathan) is being cut out. Unless you have the license for a must-have property i.e. Star Wars, NFL, etc., you are potentially in big trouble and most likely getting squeezed on any business you do have. The chain store business pie is shrinking and there are just too many companies out there to survive in an environment where the overall dollars up for grabs are dropping so hard and fast. This became especially clear over the last year when Wal-mart started skipping over the middle-man for the first time. That was the last straw and that really shrunk the pie down to mere morsels. 
So here we are in a bit of a quandary. Without going in to the boring details of what we are doing to tighten up the belt buckles and batten down the hatches, let me just tell you that we are looking at every aspect of the business and adjusting accordingly. The problem is that some tough decisions need to be made and people don’t always adjust well to change especially when they have been doing the same thing for so long. In any case, we are going through some painful steps to transform ourselves yet again, but we are going to do it because it is a matter of life or death….of the business.
So Scott, what is the point? My point for all the independent quilt shops out there is that you too need to be looking at your business all the time. Don’t just be a robot and go through the motions because that is how you have done it in the past. Ask yourself hard questions and make hard decisions. Step away and take a look from the outside. What do you see? Is change needed?
Good luck!
“Change Is Good” Scott