ARLINGTON SEWING
MACHINE SUPPLY COMPANY
A family-owned and
operated business for the past 33 years. David Plant, bought
the small sewing machine business at 308. W. Main St. in Arlington
back
in 1976 in what was by then a five-store building complex, his
store being the smallest of the five. He was only 20 at the time.
Arlington Sewing Machine
did so well that whenever another tenant in the complex moved out,
the sewing machine company took over the space. Today the company
occupies all of the space in the aging building with the exception
of a small cobbler company that is in itself an Arlington institution.
“I think that every
time more space here becomes available we ask ourselves if we should
really take it,” said Larry Plant, the general manager of
the store and also Carla Plant’s brother-in-law – it’s
a family business in a family where several other brothers and sisters
also own sewing machine operations in other cities. “So far
we’ve always taken the expansion route, though we never want
to leave our downtown location.”
Arlington Sewing Machine
has 16 employees, including a near-legend in the sewing machine
industry, 85-year-old Billie Teeter, the first-ever female store
manager in the Singer chain. She’s the company’s
top sales woman and works every day the store is open.
Other employees express
similar dedication. “I don’t have a life. This is it,”
Larry Plant said with a laugh and a wave at the interior of the
store. “We offer expertise in an industry in which expertise
is increasingly difficult to find.”.
At the same time one
tearful customer might be working with a repairman in an effort
to salvage the ancient sewing machine “that mother used,”
while another customer ponders the potential purchase of a $5,000
computerized, video screened machine that receives its programming
wirelessly. The old Singer brand is still around but these days
the business is dominated by Japanese, Swedish and German engineering
– names like Brother, Sharp, Janome, Viking and Pfaff.
“Your typical customer
these days is more interested in sewing as a craft or even art form
than in saving money by sewing their own things,” Larry Plant
said.
Sewing machine buffs
these days lean toward computerized models and scanner technology.
It’s not your grandma’s sewing machine anymore. In
fact the big buzz in the industry involves sewing machines that
combine
computer and video technology. Sewers or embroiders view their
work through a magnified screen, enabling highly precise designs.
Arlington Sewing Machine
has two small classrooms in its store, but frequently has to
find
larger accommodations for special events like the store’s
two-day “Embroidery Party” featuring embroidery design
digitizer Steve Wilson, whose clients include companies like Disney
and the NFL.
“We’ll typically
have 150 people or so sign up for that, so we have to rent facilities
like the Johnny High auditorium,” Carla Plant said.
Meanwhile, Arlington
Sewing Machine conducts an ongoing series of smaller classes, some
for beginners, some for quilters, some for embroidery enthusiasts
and with some courses designed for owners of specific brand machines.
(excerpted
with permission from Fort Worth Business Press)
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