The Next Phase of Gotham Quilts

We celebrated our 9 year anniversary in August, hard to believe!

In these 9 years we've already had several "phases" of the business: we started out online-only with our inventory in a mini storage unit, then we had our "studio" in an office, and then the "retail store" phase we're currently in.

Business, like life, is always full of change, and if you don't adapt to the changes, you go out of business.

No one could have predicted COVID happening in 2020 or how midtown Manhattan would not recover after the acute shutdown phase, but that's the reality we are in.

Many factors are working against midtown businesses right now, everything from work-from-home (midtown is where most New York office workers used to commute to) to loss of international tourism & business travel to a major shift to buying online... it's a bad time to be a retail store in midtown Manhattan.

If you're been in our store in the last 3 years, you were likely the only one shopping when you were here. A few months ago we switched to only being open for in-person shopping 3 days a week, and even with the reduced hours, the store is mostly empty when we're open. If you've signed up for a class, you probably then found out it was canceled due to lack of enrollment.

On the other hand, because of the initial pandemic shutdown, we figured out how to expand our online offerings with virtual retreats, lectures, and subscription programs like Stash Society. Our customers continue to shop with us online, attend virtual events, and sign up for subscription programs.

And that's why today, we're announcing the next phase of Gotham Quilts:

By the end of the year, we are closing our brick-and-mortar store.

We will again be online-only like we were at the beginning, but with many more ways to interact with you, including vending at select events.

Our lease ends at the end of December but we don't yet know when our last day of in-person shopping will be, it will depend on how the store closing plans go and how quickly we sell out of stock that won't follow us to the new phase.

Store Closing Plans

In-store shopping hours will continue to be Thursday to Saturday, 12-6pm. Masks are required for anyone shopping in store.

Inventory Sale

All in-stock inventory is on sale, 10-50% off while supplies last!

The sale is valid both online and in-person.

In-person Classes

In-person classes will run through the end of September. Starting October 1st, we will only offer virtual classes.

BERNINA

Once we no longer have a brick-and-mortar store, we will no longer be allowed to sell BERNINA machines.

Our BERNINA partner Pins and Needles in Westchester will be supporting your machines, including with virtual guide classes for anyone who bought a machine from us but hasn't yet taken their lesson.

The last month for BERNINA service in midtown is October 2023.

The last guide class is October 12th, 2023.

In an unplanned coincidence, BERNINA is running their popular Trade In Sale during the month of September. We are participating in this sale, where you can save 25% off MSRP on any new BERNINA when you bring in a machine as a trade in. The trade-in machine does NOT need to be a BERNINA.

The Accessory of the Month offer this month is Buy 1, Get one 50% off on all BERNINA feet. You can take advantage of this offer in-store or online. After September, we will not be reordering any BERNINA feet that sell out.

Longarm Quilting

We are not taking in any more quilts for longarming at this time. All quilts that are currently in the queue will be finished by their estimated due dates.

Next Phase Plans

Online store

Our online shop will continue to be open without interruption as we go through this transition. We have lots of fun things planned for you!

Virtual Classes and Programs

Nothing will change for virtual classes, Stitch Lab, Stash Society, THREAD talks, the Lovely Day BOM, or any other program.

We'll be opening up signups for Color Journey 2024 and Creative Hand Stitching Journey 2024 in October on the normal schedule.

Today we're announcing that we're doing another virtual retreat this winter, on January 25-28th!

Our 9-Patch Virtual Retreat will focus on the classic 9-patch block and it's going to be a ton of fun. Click here to register now and get the 10% off early-bird discount.

Vending at Shows

We've also committed to vending at Quiltcon 2024 in Raleigh, NC!

This will be our first really big show and we're pretty excited about it (and nervous!). We know so many of our customers attend Quiltcon almost every year and it'll be wonderful to see you in person at the show.