AFTER more than 12 years supplying fabrics, quilting, sewing machines and craft supplies to Mount Isa's most creative, Isa Creative Fabrics has closed its doors for trading.
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Isa Creative Fabrics has been trading in the city for more than 12 years, first in Miles Street before buying the building on Marian Street.
Owners John and Margaret Bishop said the decision to close the shop was a financial one, after suffering from a downturn in 2013, and struggling to pay the rates on their commercial property, which Mr Bishop estimated at close to $20,000 a year.
``A lot of it was due to the extreme cost of the rates,'' he said.
Mr Bishop said they planned to reopen the shop in another location.
``We just have to find a place that will fit the budget,'' he said.
Mrs Bishop said the shop was an integral part of her life and she looked forward to reopening at a later date.
``One door closes and another one opens, we will close for a little while and reassess and see what we can do,'' she said.
``We will reopen somewhere, we will open somewhere else in town, we figure it doesn't matter where in town we go, it's closer than Townsville.''
Mrs Bishop said Isa Creative Fabrics had been a meeting place for the city's burgeoning quilting and sewing society for many years, and has attracted regular tourists through the doors, who were seeking a ``quilting fix'' and fabrics adorned with indigenous prints.
``Quilters follow quilt shops like alcoholics follow pubs,'' she said.
``When they get here they haven't seen one for so long they need to get their fix.''
Having lived in Mount Isa for 22 years, Mrs Bishop has owned the business for more than half of her time in the city.
``It is just so much fun. I have a junior that has gone off and become an accountant and she comes back and works on Saturdays and another junior working at Kmart who comes back on Saturdays, they just love it, it's such a creative environment I guess,'' she said.
