Hi Folks,
I hope this note finds you and your loved ones in good health.
We’ve been receiving many inquiries lately about the possibility of reopening our brick and mortar store. I’m reaching out to the community to address these questions and give some insight on what our daily operations at Stonemountain have looked like since shelter in place came into effect. Understandably, many people are anxious to get back to what life looked like before this pandemic, but there are many things we have to consider before we open our doors to customers again.
After much consideration, I have decided that the best service that Stonemountain & Daughter can provide to our community is to stay focused on fulfilling orders through our website (with continued curbside pickup) and keep our brick and mortar location closed to the public for the foreseeable future.
Many states and counties are allowing retail stores to open with restrictions in May and June, but our store will take more time before reopening to ensure staff and customers are safe. The fabric buying experience is intimate and hands on, and it is important we consider all safety measures before reopening. Stonemountain has always held a vision of connecting sewists around the world with fabric and patterns, empowering creatives to quilt and sew clothes that matter, and igniting passion through fabric. Continuing to focus on our online business will allow us to do this in the safest possible way.
When the pandemic hit we responded immediately and closed the store on Monday, March 16th in order to protect all staff and customers. None of us could have prepared for the local and global shutdown and uncertainty that was to come. It has taken a huge toll on each of us, our families, and all brick and mortar shops struggling to serve in our communities. As a team, we are having to create many new procedures and policies in response to dynamic challenges. Each day we do our best to keep going and figure things out. Thank you for all your positive comments as we have gone through this challenge. We all are holding out for less stressful times ahead.
Since our brick and mortar has been closed to the public, our team is working with creative team schedules to keep everyone safe. THANK YOU for your patience and understanding. There is nothing we want more than to get you your orders as soon as we can. We really appreciate your kindness as we continue to process orders and figure out new ways to work in our space as safely and orderly as possible. While much has changed recently, the mission of Stonemountain & Daughter has not. We continue to connect sewists and empower creatives with ideas, fabric, patterns and so much more. THANK YOU ALL for your amazing, ongoing support for our family run business. Fabric has always been about vision and hope, and we feel this more deeply now than ever.
While we strive to keep our staff safe and serve our customers, we wish for you to be healthy, safe, and creative. We will all get through this together and we look forward to serving you online and seeing you sometime in the future.
Kind Regards — stay safe!
Suzan Steinberg – Owner, Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics
Here are just a few of the email responses from our generous community
That was the best email! My family gallery feels the exact same way. This email gives me helpful guidance on how to word our own announcement. I adore Stone Mountain and Daughter and it’s mission. You have brought so much creativity and joy into my life through accessibility to gorgeous artful fabric. Because of your store I have found my own passion for textile design, finding a middle ground between my love of painting and sewing. Looking forward to continuing to shop at Stone Mountain through the website. Best wishes to you and your staff.
Thank you for your amazing continuing service. I recently made an online order, had to wait a bit to get my wishes fulfilled, but perhaps that made the experience a bit sweeter. Curb side delivery was fabulous! No parking, standing in line, etc. I secretly hope you keep this as an option.
I’m feeling more respectful (If that’s possible…) about everything that your shop is!! Though we’d all like to roam the aisles feeling fabric and visualizing art we can create, I’m appreciative of caution and curbside pick up!!
I just want to let you know that while I look forward to being able to shop inside your wonderful store, it is not yet the time for that, and I agree wholeheartedly with your decision to keep the brick and mortar store closed. You all are doing a great job with the online orders!
Thanks you so much for making this difficult decision to protect the health and safety of both your employees and your customers. As a new online customer, I have been ordering from Stonemountain and Daughter throughout the closure and have had wonderful service while knowing my purchases were not endangering others. I’ll continue to order in the future, knowing you are a company with the moral strength I wish to support.
I appreciate this response and am pleased to see it! We will keep sending orders..thanks
Thank you for being the voice of reason in this day and age of impatience. And thank you for hanging in there.
Really love that you’re focusing on staff safety. Thank you. I am watching how businesses behave to know where to continue to spend my dollars, and I’m happy I’ll be able to continue to shop at Stone Mountain! Take care out there.
Dear friends at Stonemountain and Daughters Fabric— This is just a quick note to say that I’m glad you’re not trying to reopen the bricks and mortar store right now. Living in Connecticut, of course, I’m a long-distance, mail order customer (by necessity). But I think many of your local customers will be slow to venture out. And above all, you’re doing a great job filling orders by mail, and it’s smart to avoid exposing yourselves to others. Stay well, and thanks for your great shop and the terrific service.
Thank you for your message. I am so happy to hear of your decision, not because I want you to stay closed but because it shows you are looking at the big-picture impact of all your decisions. It’s smart and will serve you and your employees well, I’m sure.
Good for you, keeping the store closed until you feel comfortable reopening. Your health and that of your staff’s is more important than public pressure. You are doing the right thing. I love coming to SM&D and eagerly await its reopening, but I am patient; it’s kind of like saving the best part of something for last just so you can savor it! I will savor my first visit after you reopen, whenever that is.
I love your online presence as a sewer in Washington. I applaud your decision as you have outlined it below.
I received your email regarding the continued closure of your brick and mortar store this morning.
I want to thank you for putting the safety of your staff and customers first!
I have been very happy with my online orders and will continue to take advantage of this fine service.
I strongly support your position and wish you much success in these difficult times!
Rooting for you guys! Keep doing what you’re doing.
Thank you for your measured approach to reopening your brick and mortar store. The health and safety of your staff and customers is too important to rush this decision. I, too, miss seeing and touching your fabrics in person, but it is a small sacrifice in these times. Thank you for the online shopping and curbside pickup.
Dearest everyone at Stonemountain, I just got your newest newsletter. I am impressed with your care, love and concern for your staff and customers. You have always been ahead of the curve. Especially so in this challenging time. Thank you for taking superb care of yourselves and each other an us! I personally can’t afford fabric at this time but someday I will and I know exactly where I’ll get my fabric! Stonemountain rocks! Thank you for being so creative and flexible in your business. As Jerry Garcia said it’s been a long strange trip! But we’ll get through it! 
️ Love, and virtual hugs to all of you!
Bravo!! I will continue to patronize you!! Thank you for keeping us safe.
Thanks for your careful consideration and for your concern about your staff’s and customers’ safety. Impatience and wishful thinking does not equal sensible public health policy. It seems like a lot of stores are taking the approach that “well our customers want it so we have to do it.” There have to be adults in the room when these decisions get made! While it could be soothing to come in there and browse like in the old days, ultimately it is irresponsible to pretend we can just go back there at will. It seems interminable but soon enough there will be safety, we just don’t have it yet. I am fully in support of your cautious approach.
Thank you for your well thought out policies to keep you and your employees safe as well as the public who love your store. Continue the good work keeping us in fabric during this pandemic.
Thanks, Suzan. This is smart. Being protective is best course and I respect your thinking. We should all be watching to see what actually happens as we slowly open back up. Those who are wanting things to go back to the way they were are not reading the science. I will be your customer as always!
Thank you for providing one of the sanest courses of action for retail that I’ve seen recently! Thank you for helping to protect the rest of the world.
Dear Suzan, Thank you for making the difficult decision to keep your brick & mortar store closed for now. I appreciate your continued effort to put the safety of your staff and customers first. I’ll be sure to place an order through the website and continue to support your store. Hope you are safe and healthy
Thank you for taking this crisis seriously and prioritizing your customer’s and employee’s health! Wish more businesses would make this decision! Thank you!!
Love you guys!15 days is no biggie we all can cope….I’m thrilled that you are able to go on and keep providing us sewists with the best! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I am new to shopping at your store. As a retired Nurse Practitione, I just wantted to commend you for your wanting to protect your employees and customers!
Thank you for your far sighted response to this pandemic situation. In my mind, it is the right choice and I hope you Receive good support on this from the rest of your customers.
As a nurse and a seamstress I applaud your decision to stay closed. This virus is not going away, increasing numbers of people are both known and unknown carriers, fabric masks do not fully block the microscopic viruses, and most of the general public are not sufficiently informed or even generous of spirit enough to ensure they will comply with the inconvenience of precautions necessary to guarantee safety in communal areas. It is a very difficult time calling for much patience, creativity, fortitude and stamina. Again, I appreciate your decision and consider your exposure limiting actions protective of our entire community.
Thank you for this message, Suzan. I commend you on your decision to put safety first. It will benefit us all in the long run.
As a Georgia resident who believes this state opened far too soon, I wanted to say THANK YOU for holding the line. Will be placing an order soon to support you (and because your fabric is amazing…)
As an immunocompromised sewist I really appreciate all you are doing to keep people like me safe. Stone Mountain is the best. ️️️
Thank you so much for sending this out and making the decision you have. It is brave and shows you really have the lifes of actual humans to the forefront. Appreciate you so much Stonemountain and DaughterJ
Love your beautiful note and glad to hear you’re prioritizing your staff & customers’ safety – I’ll try to get an order in for curbside pickup soon. All best to you & yours – you’re AWESOME.
Good for you…being cautious and caring about your customers!! Smart small business owners!!
No need for you to reply to this, but, just want to applaud your singular decision and your well-stated reasoning behind this latest update , as well as those you made since early March. Way to stick to what you’ve determined to be the “highest good for the most people”, including your staff, their families. Also, it seems like this is an example of using this Great Pause to consider, contemplate and to explore & develop in your expanded reach and creating of a sewists network! All good! Thanks for having created a distinctive store that’s evident in its caring and warm professionalism when we’ve been on-site — and, for carrying this same attitude into your newly created services for today! Good job — thanks!
I really want to say that I very much respect and support this decision. I recognize that it must be difficult to make such a decision but in light of the information I have been consuming about the virus This truly seems like a decision to best support the health of everyone.
Kudos to you for having the courage to stand firm. Thank you!
As much as I miss going into the shop, I want to commend you for your wisdom in keeping the brick and mortar shop closed until the coast is clear! Be well! And sew on!
Thank you Suzan! I know all of us regular customers miss visiting the store and miss you, but I’m sure you have made the best decision.
Thank you for your careful and kind reply. Please continue to keep your staff and yourself safe
I wanted to write and say thank you for doing what’s best for you and your crew. Reopening too hastily seems dangerous, so I really appreciate that Stonemountain & Daughter will remain online only for the time being. That must have been a tough decision considering the uncertain economic climate.
Three cheers to you for being sensible. A short wait beats a forever internment!!
I hope to order some more fabric from you soon.
Thank you for the update and thank you for your thoughtful analysis of the situation. I look forward to the day I can shop with “both hands”. Stay safe.
Thank you for your message. Glad to hear that you’re doing the prudent thing by staying shut. My husband is a dentist and he’s not rushing to open up yet either. We don’t need to do what they tell us to do. Just do the smart thingTake care
Thank you for this. Thank you for keeping your staff and community safe. You’ve made a loving and responsible decision. You guys rock. Xo
Thank you so much for not opening the store yet – I really appreciate your efforts to keep staff and customers safe. When shopping for fabric, feeling the yardage is a key part of the experience, and I can’t imagine doing that any time soon. I’ve been shopping at Stonemountain since the 80’s, and it is one of my favorite places in Berkeley. Thanks for everything that you are doing.
Thank you. This is the message I was hoping to read.
Thank you for your thoughtfull response, I am in agreement with you. I would love to come in and restock my sewing supplies, at a time when I’m using them most! But, I wouldn’t come in yet, if you were to open. I’m 65 with underlying health issues and though very active, we haven’t even gone to the grocery store yet! We receive a vegetable box and shipments are ordered to restock our pantry. That’s it, just neighbored hikes, for us. Thank you for being available online, during this time!!!
I’ve been shopping at your store from when you first opened (perhaps a little less in recent years) and wanted to let you know that I thought this was a very considered and thoughtful email, with a serious and much needed message. And I wanted to offer my support of your decision to do what you think is best for your staff, your business and yourself. I hope your customers will support you when you decide to reopen, and under whatever conditions that may look like. None of us know what the future will bring and I hope we as a community have the wherewithal to be patient and understanding of all those around us.
You’re all doing great!! Keep up the good work, keep those positive energies flowing, and keep maintaining the balance between physical health and mental health as you foster creative outlets for the Stonemountain family! 😀
Thank you for being so responsible when under so much economic pressure. I think you are doing the right thing
Hi there, I recently received my first order from your store! I am truly blown away by the amazing fabric I received. I am not used to buying online, and your descriptions and pictures are really helpful. I just ordered even more fabric! I also really appreciate the amount of notions and other supplies you have available. It’s so wonderful to not have to rely on Amazon for basics right now. Thank you for your outstanding customer service during this crazy time! —KN
I so wish I could come and visit your shop – I hear it is pretty magical. A day of fabric shopping with dinner at Chez Panisse sounds like heaven and as many great restaurants as Omaha has (many more than you’d expect!), none of them are the legend that is Chez Panisse and our fabric stores are either JoAnn or nearly exclusively quilting cotton. —NE
Just wanted to thank you!The fabric is beautiful–even prettier than the pictures you have on your website and the color representation was excellent. Thread matches are perfect.We are going to love wearing these masks!!! —BB
I just want to say thank you for being there now and all of the times I have snuggled happily into your wealth of beautiful textiles and enthusiastic comrades in sewingTake care —GE
Hello, Longtime customer with a random thank you for being there. I’m a nurse & have been making masks for work with my Stonemountain stash. You’re all amazing & appreciated.Best wishes —DK
Thank you to all of your staff who are working so hard during this time!!! —MF
Hello! I read the memo on the website and am totally prepared for this – it’s no problem, the timeline is yours. Times are weird, I’ll be grateful for a shipment of fabric no matter when it shows up on my doorstep! Thank you for keeping me in the loop, and stay safe. 🙂 —KT
My emails from you always make me happy and help to balance my mood and my outlook on life….currently and ….always have. Thank you for all your hard work and thank you for being the BEST fabric store for MILES!!! —JK
Thank you for helping to keep us busy right now with projects. <3 —JB
Thank you so much for your responsible actions that will hopefully help control the spread of the virus. I have been so impressed by the many businesses that are voluntarily closing for the greater good of society. I love your store, and would be happy to buy a gift certificate now to spend when this is over, if that is possible through your website. Again thank you so much for your actions to support all of us, at the expense of yourself. Take good care — RM
You guys are wonderful! I totally endorse what you’re doing and I will be online if I can figure out anything I need or want. Good luck! —RM