Thought for a lifetime

Einstein made the very important observation that " Imagination is more important than knowledge ".

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Britex Fabrics; Four floors in 25 minutes

Britex Fabrics 146 Geary St, San Francisco, CA 94108

In the heart of Union Square in San Francisco is the four story wonder store: Britex Fabrics.


And every other Saturday there is a 25 minute tour of all four floors starting promptly at 11am.
Pre registration is required at http://www.britexfabrics.com/events


Mary was my fearless guide and although I have been shopping at Britex for decades she shared lots of interesting tidbits about the history, the selection of merchandise and lots of amazing fabrics.


First Floor
An amazing 120-foot wall of woolens that was created by founder Martin Spector back in 1952 when the store opened over 60 years ago. And it's still run by family 
There are also beautiful silks and imported laces on this floor.

Lace and feathers and each dot on the lace is a tiny bead.
Unbelievable and $1,100 a yard

Behind a red velvet rope are the most amazing handmade laces from France and Europe.


And we actually got to handle these amazing laces whose beauty cannot be conveyed in a photograph.


Second Floor
Cottons, blends, knits and velvets; oh my!
This is also where there are Home Dec fabrics.


Third Floor
My most favorite floor in the store because it's all 
the trims, buttons, ribbons, embellishments, notions your heart could desire.
There are 2,500 buttons 
and the woman that hands customers the button box has worked there for 26 years!
She'll only give you two boxes to choose from because it's so overwhelming.


And don't even get me started on ribbons!
My current obsession is ribbons and trying to pick just a few is impossible.


Fourth Floor
Discounted remnants, and also tulle, muslin, interfacing, felt, oilcloth and more on the top floor.
And the tour was over.
image downloaded from http://www.britexfabrics.com/our-history.html
As I stated at the beginning I am no stranger to Britex but, there is so much selection packed into this building that I now know NOT asking staff for input and suggestions is really cheating yourself.

And I'll tell you one last secret;
 the tour lasted more like 45 minutes because there is no way to quickly cover all the 
four floors of fabulousness that is Britex Fabrics.

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