Fabric is not like books or videos that inevitably fell victim to the digital age; There’s a practical need crafters have to touch materials, judge their thickness, stiffness, stretch, and overall quality. We’re already in short supply for these shops in San Francisco — and now we’re about to lose our best one.
Fabric Outlet announced this weekend it would close its doors after nearly 30 years in business, with its last day on November 23rd. I went today in the early hours of opening, and it felt like a massive funeral procession, with customers snaked in line around the store, hugging their favorite bolts all marked at 40 percent off. The line took two hours to stand in, and by the end I had spent just about $500.
“It’s sad. I feel very sad,” said Yvonne Lin, who lives in Lafayette with her three children. She moved two years ago to the East Bay from New York City to open a trampoline park.
“Places like this need to exist. There’s certain things that can’t be replaced by the internet. You need to smell, touch, and feel things,” she said. “I know they’re going to keep it on the internet, but it’s not the same.”
Fabric Outlet opened in 1995 in a basement on 2109 Mission Street that was once occupied by another fabric store — New York Fabrics — in the 1980s. It’s been home to pretty much all kinds of projects, but in particular I feel it is both a pillar and meeting station for queer and Burner communities. For years I’ve stumbled into drag queens and costume-minded friends scouring Fabric Outlet’s shiny lycras and ample selections of sequins and faux fur.
“We get pretty much all the organics, anything that’s fire safe here, that’s our goal,” said Avary Kent, an Oakland-based fire performer with Ministry of Flow. “And then the Burning Man costumes, and kink costumes, too.”
Fabric Outlet has the best selection for fire performance, Avary said, adding that the staff is always helpful. They always ask what project you’re working on — and apparently, they’ll light fabrics on fire in the store. (Burn tests are typical in the sewing world, but I’ve never heard of them done in-store.)
“The other stores didn’t have the same selection or the same deals,” she said. “I’m devastated, I love this place.”
Fabric Outlet always has a discount, like when you go to get a silk it’s $13.99 a yard and 25 percent off. But us regulars knew to be on the email list for 50 percent off sales, which included much of the store and one cut of sequin or wedding fabric. As an avid online shopper, I can also personally say the markup was basically just enough to keep the store afloat, and certainly worth the price of going in person.
They also hunt annually for a lot of deadstock — meaning the fabric is no longer in production, so the bolt you find may be the last in existence. I remember that for this metallic mesh floral I found one day last year. They sold out in the store and I almost threw a hissy fit over it, until I learned they had 7 yards online. I’m still saving the remainder for a rainy-day project.
Their online store will continue to operate — it ships fabric from a storage spot in Modesto.
I briefly cornered Bob Cooney, who until today I did not know co-owned the store with his wife Gina, pictured on the above right in blue. He said the writing had been on the wall for five years.
“Everything was good up until the pandemic. But people’s shopping habits changed after that,” he said. I asked if there was a way to save the store and he said no; The 30-year lease on their rental was coming up, and he didn’t give the landlords the option to put up a new price.
“I know what places are going for around here now,” he said.
This is a place I made my first project a decade ago and one I’ve repeatedly revisited for pretty much every project since then — whether it’s a total piece done in Fabric Outlet materials or just top layers. I have a closet worth more than $1,000 of raw cuts still in it, and even some of their cheapest bolts have become costumes and gowns worth tens of thousands, and featured in the New York Times and New York Post.
People always ask me if I got my fabric at Britex — owing in part because I wear my creations to San Francisco’s most expensive events. Britex is our most expensive fabric store, and I was quite frankly galled recently to see this adoration in the SF Chronicle about it; I love their selections but the vibe is often a bummer, living somewhere between very pricey fabrics and a fairly temperamental staff. I say that with as much love as I can because omg Britex stay in business — we can’t afford to lose another one in San Francisco.
Contrast that to Fabric Outlet, and I agree with the sentiment today that it’s the “people’s store.” The staff is beyond interested and helpful in wanting our projects to come to life. And this ultimately is why I came back time and again beyond any other option like Mendel’s and Discount Fabrics. (I suspect many of us will now frequent the latter’s location on Cesar Chavez.)
“There are other discount places, but the vibe is a lot less organized than Fabric Outlet. The staff is a lot less helpful because they expect people going in there to be professionals who know what they’re looking for,” said one shopper who lives in South of Market.
I will just miss this place so much. No closure in San Francisco has gutted me like this one. If you need to get something from Fabric Outlet or just want to support, head there before November 23rd — otherwise, you’ll have to head to the online store, though that experience is hardly cut from the same cloth.
Saul Sugarman is editor in chief of The Bold Italic.
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