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It’s been a ‘good venture’

Fabrics Plus in Marshall to close because of retirement

Photo by Jim Muchlinski Fabrics Plus owners Tracy Veglahn and Cami Nichols plan to retire in 2021, leaving after 13 years of successful service to sewing customers.

MARSHALL — A cornerstone of Marshall’s business district will see changes in 2021.

The Fabrics Plus store will close its doors after selling off its inventory. Owners Tracy Veglahn and Cami Nichols both want to retire.

“There’s no target date for closing,” Veglahn said. “We have a sizable amount of merchandise that we’d like to sell to customers. We’ll keep selling until it’s gone.”

Veglahn and Nichols bought Fabrics Plus 13 years ago. The quilt portion of the business was purchased from retiring owner Elaine Nyquist. The sewing machines and fixtures were obtained from Southwest Sewing Center.

Thirteen years later, they find a desire to spend more time with their families and to enjoy life. They’re finding that it’s hard to part ways with a personalized type of business such as a fabrics store.

“We’d keep going if it weren’t for wanting to retire,” Nichols said. “It’s been a really good venture for us. There’s a good market for fabric and sewing sales in Marshall.”

They said some of their customers come from about a 100-mile radius to shop at their store. They operate a Block of the Month club for quilt blocks that has about 300 participants.

Thus far they haven’t heard about potential interest in buying their business, but said that they’re very open to the possibility.

“It would be great if someone wants to buy it from us,” Veglahn said. “I’m pretty sure there will continue to be a fabrics store in Marshall. If it doesn’t happen right away this year, it’s likely to happen eventually.”

She said fabrics retailing demands people skills, creativity and the ability to handle business details. That combination has appealed to them throughout their 13 years.

“We both have business backgrounds, but we also both have a creative side,” Veglahn said. “Some of our recreational interests relate to what we do at the shop. It’s rewarding to share that interest with the customers. Many of them are very dedicated.”

Nichols said she’ll look back on her Fabrics Plus experience as a source of satisfaction. Much of it comes from interacting with people, and additional rewards occur with using her own creativity.

“I’ll remember the customers and the projects we helped with,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of very loyal support. They understand our need to retire, but they’ll miss the store and we’ll miss them.”

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