The economic forecasts are shaky, the news is filled with reports on retail bankruptcies, business failures and the falling stock market. While nothing is certain at this point, all the leading indicators seem to point to a future that is tenuous, at best; and possibly quite difficult, financially, for many of us.
What might this mean for those of us NOT in the executive levels of big finance? I believe it means that a lot of the NEW things we’ve embraced may need to revert to the OLD ways - the way things were before multinational big business and technology were such mainstays in our lives.
I have been thinking about this in a general way for a while now. Then, I watched a YouTube video about some of the challenges with selling on Etsy that seemed to underscore some of my concerns. It also supported my thinking around what we may need to do in this “Wild West” of technology and small business that seems to have arrived.
It’s no secret that AI is creating chaos in the crafting world - especially for designers. For example, when an image is shared on social media of a crocheted piece that is obviously an AI-generated image, a furor erupts in the comments. These dustups would be amusing if the larger issue wasn’t so serious: small business owners, designers and artists are competing with big companies - often overseas and largely out of reach of our laws and regulations - and it’s an unfair fight on every level.
On platforms like Etsy, small business artists are reporting that their goods are being replicated and then manufactured and sold by overseas companies like Shein and Temu, and I’m sure I don’t have to explain the price differential here.
What can we do?
When this question comes up for me in various settings, I have learned to start by separating the issue into 2 buckets:
Things I can do something about
Things I have no control over
As hard as it can sometimes be, I ignore the 2nd category other than remaining aware of the issue and its potential impact on my life. I focus my time, energy and attention on the things I can control.
In the crafting space, this means a number of things. We are going to have to step up our game around supporting local crafters at neighborhood craft fairs and similar venues. This means we should stop thinking (or saying!) “I could make that” and walking by, and making at least a single purchase if it’s something we are admiring. In addition, I feel strongly about not supporting people at craft shows who are resellers. There are venues for reselling - I just think that they should be separate from a craft fair or show.
Next, we are going to have to recover from our conditioning around the price of fabric and yarn at Joann's and start supporting local fabric and yarn shops more regularly. Before everyone loses their minds and sends me messages about not being able to AFFORD local yarn and fabric store items, ask yourself this: how big would your fabric and/or yarn stash be if you didn't have a store that continually ran ridiculous sales and offered crazy coupons?
My guess is that we would ALL shop more intentionally and less mindlessly if the items we were buying weren't priced "25 items for the price of 2 !!!".
Yes, I'm exaggerating just a little, but I think I've made my point. If we have a stash of a decent size - and by decent size I mean more fabric and/or yarn than we will be able to crochet, knit or sew in our lifetime - maybe, JUST MAYBE - having a local supplier that isn't giving things away will be helpful to our downsizing and decluttering efforts.
Also, when we support small businesses owned by local residents, we are putting money back into our communities. When Joann's made a profit, I can tell you that the people in the green aprons weren't the ones reaping the benefits. Most were making poverty wages, and scraping by with minimal benefits, including retirement. Shopping small helps pay people a living wage, and serves to support our local communities. There are stories of bonuses paid to Joann executives once the company was sold to private equity (beginning around 2010, I think). A number of those execs were making million dollar salaries, and being given bonuses for meeting short-term metrics that numbered in the hundred-thousands. In other words, they were all making more in a month than most, if not all, of the store-level employees made in a year.
Lastly, it should go without saying that if we are outraged by these practices as they impact us and our areas of interest, we should not be supporting these same questionable practices (& the businesses that promote them) in OTHER areas of our lives - even if it’s more convenient, and cheaper.
If we want to support local businesses, it needs to be more than wind work (all talk). We need to break our addiction to 2-day delivery and “free” shipping - which on most platforms just means that the seller is raising the price of the item to cover their costs around shipping. In other words, it’s not really free.
Similarly we will want to vet websites that claim to be small business owners and artists, and also support them as we can. This will help to balance out any isolation or narrowing of our options, while still supporting people like ourselves, instead of the millionaires who want to jump to billionaire status on the backs of people like us.
Technology will continue to evolve, and the odds are stacked against the regular person when it comes to competing with overseas copycats who steal our unique designs, and multi-national entities that are able to price things so low that regular business people cannot compete. What we CAN do is band together and forge a sub-economy within a more regional area. These include in-person gatherings; trading and/or bartering fabric, yarn and other craft supplies at these get-togethers; and inviting local craft-adjacent vendors to attend some of our events OR partnering with local businesses to be a part of the gatherings.
I'm going to predict that the market is going to overreact to all the AI and copycat/mass marketing of "craft" and handmade items, especially overseas, and that we are going to see a renaissance in and an appreciation and desire for hand-created items. In fact, I believe this pivot back will be a great solace for many of us as the tech-oligarchy subsumes the remaining stores and businesses we've grown up with and shopped at for the "best prices".
The "bad" news is that these changes are already in motion, and we cannot stop their forward roll. The GOOD news is that the playbook for navigating away from it was already written by our mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers.
They weren't dealing with a billionaire, tech oligarchy that controlled everything - but with a world that was smaller and simpler. I can't think of a better tonic for the world right now - especially in our corner where fabric, yarn and crafts are at the heart of our favorite activities,
(C) 2025 Stitch 'n Dish
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