The final yard for Fabric Place

Economy, lifestyles tear at family business

Annie Isaacson and her twin sister were children of the Great Depression. As early as age 11, they picked blueberries in the woods around Framingham and sold them door to door, carefully guarding every penny earned. Their childhoods were spent moving from one foster home to another, and working, always working: babysitting, housecleaning, and, eventually, sewing.

The lessons they learned helped them create Fabric Place, which became a beloved institution in downtown Framingham before spreading across the region. At its peak, the family-owned company had seven New England stores earning $33 million in annual revenue, with 550 employees.

But that was a few years ago, before the economy started to slide.

Now, much to the dismay of its loyal customers, the original store, which opened in Framingham in 1946, will be the last to close, sometime in the next month or two.

"I can't believe it," said Isaacson, now 90, in an interview last week in her Framingham home. "It makes me very sad."

The only other remaining store, in Woburn, is also scheduled to close, and both are selling off their inventory. A Fabric Place design center in Newton shut down earlier this month.

Despite decades of success, the stores could not survive the recent economic downturn and its effect on the home-decorating industry, as well as lifestyle changes that left fewer shoppers with time to knit, quilt, or sew.

"The old folks passed away, my contemporaries," Isaacson said. "They were the sewers."

Fabric Place is in many ways a throwback to an earlier era. You can still buy suede elbow patches to repair a sport coat; trolley garters, presumably to hold up your stockings; and various bra parts (lingerie rings, anyone?) in case you really want to mend that favorite undergarment.

But what customers still love, and say they will miss dearly, is the massive variety of inventory. Also hard to replace: the customer service that started with the twins and then grew to legendary proportions over the last few decades.

"That's the thing I'm going to miss - you come here and they tell you how to do everything," said Frank Ball, a Millis resident and one of the rare male customers.

At the Framingham store, Ball was toting around a piece of foam that had just been cut for him, and he was looking for fabric to cover it. He said he and his wife were making a replacement cushion for their daughter's couch. There are no other stores that have the selection or the expertise, he said.

Fabric Place was also well known for its dozens of classes. In addition to journal quilting, needle felting, lace patterns, and upholstery, the store offered many more traditional classes for adults and children.

In 1946, when Isaacson and her twin sister, Betty Weitzler, were 28 years old, the original shop, called the Sportswear Store, opened on Kendall Street, one block away from the current Howard Street location. Their husbands, Leo Isaacson and Marty Weitzler, worked at the store, followed by their children and grandchildren. The shop sold more and more fabric over time and officially became Fabric Place in 1980. Through the years the twins never drifted very far from each other - they lived together, and then one floor apart, and finally across the street.

Both women retired more than 20 years ago and their families took over the business. Betty Weitzler died in 2003.

Despite her sadness, Isaacson is philosophical about the end of Fabric Place.

"I'm happy we were able to help the families," she said of the five children she and her sister had between them. "And we employed a lot of people."

For many customers, the store's closing is not just a practical loss but a farewell to good memories and even family traditions.

"I used to bring her down in the baby carriage," said Hopkinton resident Martha Jackson, referring to her daughter, Meagan, now 32, who was shopping with her for quilting supplies.

Martha Jackson said she made all her daughter's baby clothes with fabric from the store, as well as many Halloween costumes, Barbie doll outfits, and dance recital finery.

Mother and daughter said that after the store closes, they might make shopping trips out to the Midwest, where they have family. And they agreed that the Internet is not really a viable replacement for Fabric Place.

"You gotta feel the goods," said Martha Jackson, adding that fabric colors aren't always true to Internet photos.

Customers come from all over, from New Hampshire, Vermont, Cape Cod, and Western Massachusetts, according to staff.

Joanne Loveitt, 61, is a regular shopper who lives in Plymouth. Last week she was in the store for red and green yarn needed to knit Christmas stockings for her eight grandchildren. She said she's been a customer for at least 30 years.

"This is a heartache," she said. "Can't they just downsize?"

Alexander Vezina, chief executive officer of Fabric Place, said he originally thought both the Framingham and Woburn stores would close in November, but the discount sale has been going so well, the inventory might not last that long.

Because it's not a high-profit business, a small change in sales has a big impact, said Vezina. The last few years have been tough, and the company decided that business was not likely to improve. So, trying to avoid bankruptcy, the company decided to close; the stores will finish their final custom orders during the sell-off, he said.

The recent "do-it-yourself" trend and the popularity of television shows like Project Runway, which glamorizes clothing design, helped for awhile, said Peter Isaacson, Annie's grandson and a senior buyer for the company. But that boost has already faded, he said, and women just aren't buying yarn, fabric, and all the accessories like they used to.

Adding to the troubles, customers tell him they aren't so happy to come to downtown Framingham anymore. The influx of Brazilian immigrants helped the area, said Isaacson, but the introduction of more and more social services did not. There are people loitering, even in the Fabric Place parking lot. Plus, traffic has become a nightmare with more trains passing through, he said.

"Downtown Framingham is just a horrible place," said Isaacson.

Roberta DeAngelis, who has worked at the store for about 30 years, is one of the remaining 150 employees. A former home economics teacher, DeAngelis said she used to sew all of her own clothes but now it's much less expensive to buy them.

The closing is tough on employees and customers alike, she said. Many staff members are like family and have watched each other's children grow up.

"I feel like I've been going to a wake everyday," she said, tearing up. "A lot of people are mourning."

Lisa Kocian can be reached at 508-820-4231 or lkocian@ globe.com.