By Fiona Stavrou
When you walk into Larry Shapiro”™s Banksville Designer Fabrics in Norwalk, your eye is immediately drawn to the array of vibrantly colored fabrics lining the walls. There are endless rows of silk, cotton, linens and woolens ”“ everything from bold prints to intricate laces and soft seersucker.
For anyone who has ever dreamt of designing his or her own clothing or home décor, Banksville Designer Fabrics should be a first stop. But it isn”™t only fabric that has customers flocking to Norwalk from all over Fairfield County ”“ the store holds the largest selection of buttons, ribbons, leathers and more in the area. It is the only high-quality fabric store of this magnitude outside New York City.
“I try to bring the New York City experience, but at a lower price,” Shapiro explains.
When Shapiro opens up about the store”™s operations, you can tell the business is in good hands. He speaks passionately and articulately about what makes the store run. His responsibilities are extensive ”“ he is the store”™s main buyer, who purchases fabrics in bolts from clothing manufacturers, a salesman and the business manager. But if Shapiro feels overwhelmed with responsibilities, he hides it well. When asked how he is able to run a business dominated by much larger fabric warehouses such as Mood in New York City, Shapiro says, “Where it”™s at is your contacts. I think one reason I”™ve been quite fortunate is because the people I deal with like me.”
When Shapiro welcomes customers into his shop, he greets them like old friends, showing off merchandise around the store with the contagious excitement of a kid showing off his favorite new train set. He is a chatty and lively guy, “a character straight out of Curb Your Enthusiasm,” one colleague explained. It is not surprising, therefore, that he has the contacts necessary to survive in the dying business of fabric sales. It is because of his close personal contacts that Shapiro gets first pick when buying from clothing manufacturers, and thus turns the greatest profit.
When Ralph Lauren has leftover fabric he wants to get rid of with a wholesale price of $25 a yard, he sells it to Shapiro for $7 or $8. Shapiro can turn around and sell it for $15 dollars a yard. Meanwhile other fabric merchants, who get there second, have to pay $9, $10, even $11 a yard. This, along with other logistical challenges, drives fabric stores out of business.
“It”™s not an easy business to go into,” Shapiro explains. “To start a company from scratch like this today, from the yards and yards of fabric (the store has a large area in addition to two basements that are packed with fabric) to all the inventory supplies, it”™s a lot. It would probably cost about $1 million.”
Banksville Designer Fabrics remains dedicated to strong business ethics. It gladly helps local seamstresses, bowtie makers, scarf manufacturers, belt makers, pillow makers, saddle-pad makers and purse makers by recommending them to clients for free. For those clients with minimal or no sewing experience, the store offers instruction kits at a low cost and helpful guidance for free.
As the business begins to use Facebook for increased exposure and a mail order system to broaden its clientele base, it maintains a strong hold on its business ethics. The spirit of camaraderie and equality is evident in the way Shapiro describes the people who work at Banksville Designs (“My job is to hire people better than myself,” he explains) as is the superior approach to customer service.
Shapiro says the secret to being a good salesman is “understanding what the customer wants. People I buy from and sell to benefit because I am not under pressure [to fiscally perform], so I can give the customer breathing room to come to the realization of what they want themselves. I guide the customer and keep them out of trouble, but I”™m not haggling with them.”
