Nearly 15 years ago, Page Burns left her job in insurance and created something of her own — with the help of mother’s sewing supply collection.
Since opening her resale store Fabric Recycles in Overland Park, the sewing and crafting supply store has racked up a loyal following from the community.
Getting to know and catching up with the shop’s regular customers became a consistent part of Burns’ day-to-day life. As the store ends its time in Overland Park, she said, that’s the thing she’ll miss the most.
Burns officially closed Fabric Recycles at the end of October, in order to prepare for retirement.
Fabric Recycles was at 9268 Metcalf Ave.
Burns’ mother taught her how to sew when she was 8 years old, and it became a hobby in adulthood as she started quilting with her own children.
Fabric Recycles was Burns’ first business of her own, so she put 18 months into forming a business plan and working with mentors from organizations like SCORE Business Mentoring.
After working in the corporate world for many years, Burns said she’d felt nervous to take the leap into something new — particularly during a recession.
“I don’t know why I was so nervous, I guess it was the finality of it all,” she said. “But it just took off. The community latched onto us and just kept supporting us.”
Fabric Recycles sold sewing and crafting supplies
The store offered a wide range of fabrics and sewing and crafting supplies — from yarn and sewing machines to needle points and feathers.
Customers could make purchases at the store and bring in unused supplies of their own to be resold.
“We really took great pride in the inventory that we kept in the store,” she said. “We had a big variety, and we wanted to make sure we had a little bit of something for everybody.”
Burns also opened a second Fabric Recycles store in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, but that store closed in January 2018 after operating for roughly five years.
The store could continue on under different ownership
As this chapter closes, Burns and her husband intend to start a new one by relocating to Florida to retire.
The Fabric Recycles brand itself is currently up for sale. If someone else did want to purchase it and keep the store going, Burns said, she’d be willing to show the shop’s new owner the ropes.
After all, Burns has learned from her customers that there’s a strong sewing and crafting community in Johnson County that would continue to support it.
In its last few days, she said, it wasn’t just the local customers who showed up to say their farewells. Some customers flew in from across the country, just to stop in one last time.
“Our customer base is just phenomenal,” she said. “They just made me cry every single day after I announced that we were closing. They’re sad the store is going, and hoping that a craft store will come back into this space. It definitely left a footprint in this community.”
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