Giving Beautiful Fabrics a Second Chance
Paper City Fabrics sells super affordable fabrics, sewing tools, and supplies using a thrift store model. Jeff Cattel gathers donations from community members and retired sewers, which he then catalogs and sells online for $4 a yard. While on a day trip to the Greenfield area in MA, Matt and his partner met the owner of a fabric store with a similar business model, who encouraged them to start their own business.
Jeffrey knew he needed assistance with this business idea, so he jumped at the opportunity to apply to EforAll Holyoke’s Business Accelerator. “I needed Insights into the monetary side of the business and operations. It was my biggest gap,” recalls Jeff.
Being surrounded by people going through the same challenges and supporting each other was extremely inspiring to Jeff. It was wonderful to follow everyone’s progress.” In addition, the support of his mentors, who had skill sets that complemented each other perfectly, helped them with many new business connections.
City Paper Fabrics has big plans for 2023, including an ambitious goal to sell more than 300 yards of fabric monthly! Jeffrey also plans to open a brick-and-mortar store and offer sewing classes using the sewing machines bought with the grants won during the Accelerator.
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