Joann's ad

Wahoo!! Just waiting for mine to get here, then I can scan the pattern books again...lol

Larisa, with way too many patterns at the current time, but still, for that price.................

Poohma wrote:

Joann's ad (Poohma) Just got the new flyer:

30 Aug-1 Sept: Simplicity patterns 6 for $6 (no limit) 24 Aug only- Butterick 60 cents (no limit) The usual 50% coupon and a 40% on-line coupon Lots of craft and home decorating items on sale Beth P

Can anyone tell me why there are never offers like this on patterns in the UK?

The shops that sell them here all seem tied to the same prices and offers.

Sometimes you might get a discount but never anything like this!! And certainly no 99c patterns ( that would be about 60p!)

Thanks

Susan

I know that they sell them as a loss leader (read: Priced below cost to get you into the store so you will buy more things while you are there) here. Maybe the UK marketing practices have discovered that loss leaders don't work or something.

"Poohma" wrote in news:8Bg0b.2431$QT5.858 @fed1read02:

Also looks like Vogue patterns are on sale Aug 24/25 for $3.60. That's up to 85% off, depending on the original price. Looks like it might be worth it to jump into the feeding frenzy.

-j

Loss leaders work in supermarkets over here - hence remarkably cheap bread and milk.

I wonder if the lack of low-priced patterns is because we just don't have an equivalent of Joann's. Our fabric shops/haberdashers are individual shops or small chains.

Sally H

That's probably it! The small players can't afford that kind of deal.

But I bet you get much nicer fabric in them than we can find here.

Yep, Sally, you hit the nail on the head. The big chains can negotiate what's known as promotional prices, and then they can put things on "sale". Retail stores have done this for years, especially the big chains. The bigger, the more clout they have with manufacturers and other suppliers, to negotiate the prices they pay for goods. (And which is why some smaller companies can't afford to do business with companies like Walmart, which is notorious for this kind of deal.)

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

Have you tried looking for the patterns on ebay or seeing what it would cost to order them on Joann.com. Will they ship to UK and if you did order them mailorder will you be paying less. This is the best option I can give you. IT is a good possibility that if they ship to UK you can buy them and get a good deal from their website or ebay with combined shipping.

Or you can always see if one of us might be willing to do it for you. I'm sure some of us ladies won't mind picking them up at 99cents for you. All you need is a paypal account and I'm more than willing to pick up whatever patterns you want if you transfer enough to cover the patterns you request and shipping costs.

Always willing to help out a fellow sewer.

It is a thought anyway.

Huggles,

Vamptasia

That's very kind of you only paypal from the UK costs quite a lot - I have looked into it before.

I don't have any specific patterns in mind at the moment it's the principal that I'm interested in.

Thanks again

Susan

But what about John Lewis?

Susan

In this case, JoAnn's is using the patterns as a 'loss-leader' to get customers into the store. They're willing to take a loss on the patterns because they know that most people will buy things besides the patterns. (they're also large enough to negotiate a really good deal with the pattern distributors.)

They're also celebrating their 60th anniversary with special prices. Usually the patterns are 1/2 off msrp, and occasionally they'll go on sale for $1.99 or $2.49 (vogue at 75% off).

jenn

-- Jenn Ridley snipped-for-privacy@chartermi.net

This is what I don't understand - whenever I've asked I've been told that stores here have no option but to charge the prices they're told to charge by the pattern companies because of whatever agreement has been made to allow them to sell the patterns in the first place.

John Lewis in this country is also a large operation but it seems to be tied to the companies' prices too.

Still puzzeled.

Susan

Apparently, not big enough.

It all depends on the distributors and the contracts and deals that the retail outlets made with them. (There may be government restrictions in place, too, but I really have no idea.)

jenn

-- Jenn Ridley snipped-for-privacy@chartermi.net

JL has 26 stores. I don't know how many JoAnn's has but I reckon it's a good few more. And John Lewis' fabric and haberdashery departments are small in comparision to the size of the stores (and have been downscaled in recent years, I think).

Also, JL has never struck me as particularly keen on being competitive. Remember, this is the chain whose flagship branch used to close on Saturday afternoons so that the staff (who are all partners in the company) could have a nice long weekend. We used to stand on Oxford Street, the country's prime retail site, with money in our hands and our noses pressed against the glass after 12.30 on Saturdays, but there was no way they'd let us hand that money over in the store. They started staying open on Saturday afternoons less than 20 years ago.

Sally H

It has been tested in the courts and held to be illegal in the US. There is a "manufacturers suggested retail price" and in some industries there is a certain amount of nastiness, backbiting, or infighting if someone wants to discount it, but every time it's actually come to court, the courts have held that retail prices are set at the shopkeeper's sole discretion. All the supplier can dictate is the wholesale price. (The exception appears to be alcoholic beverages and tobacco. In some jurisdictions there is legislation setting minimum retail prices for these goods and/or banning discounts or specials, because they are associated with some notion of "sin." )

In publishing, there are publishers who'd rather destroy their books than allow them to be remaindered, and there are a few designer clothing labels who'd rather destroy their clothes than allow their brand to be "sullied" by being sold at prices affordable to, eg, homeless people or the working poor, but if they want to keep the merchant from discounting it to the public, they have to convince the merchant by offering a better deal to buy it back themselves.

Bear

No, it's just a legal difference. In the UK, manufacturers have the right to limit retail prices via contract with the retailer. In the US, retailers have the right to set prices at their sole discretion and the manufacturer can only set wholesale prices. Manufacturers dictating more than just wholesale prices is considered here to be "against public policy" and contracts stipulating such controls are unenforceable.

So, basically, american retailers like Joann's can set prices however they want - they could even go below wholesale and lose money on every pattern sold if they chose to. But in England, the standard practice for pattern companies is apparently to bind retailers against such actions by the wholesale sales contract.

Bear

Re: Why no cheap patterns in UK?

I asked about this once and was told that a store has the choice of buying teh patterns outright or leasing them. If they buy them outright they can do what they want with them when they are obsolete. Obviously that is a lot more expensive. Otherwise they basically have the patterns on consignment and have to trash the patterns and return the envelopes when they are obsolete, which costs them less.

It's the same principle with paperback books -- have you seen a newer paperback book that says that if you got the book without the front cover that it was stolen?