COVID 19 Updates

Hello all,⁠ ⁠

We've made the decision this evening to close our Australian retail stores temporarily, amidst COVID-19 uncertainties.⁠

This means that we are now no longer able to take mail orders via phone or email. ⁠

Our store teams in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide have gone above and beyond today to ensure all mail orders placed with them in the last few days have been dispatched. ⁠ Please note that this means our local store emails and phones are now offline. If you'd like to get in touch with us, please use the enquiry form on our website enquiries page, via the link in our bio.⁠

We anticipate that this closure period for all stores in Australia and New Zealand, as well as our Online Store dispatch, will remain for approximately 4 weeks.

We welcome orders via our Online Store during this time, however, please do note that we are unable to dispatch any Online orders placed until our Auckland-based team are able to return. Further information on this can be found via the Online Store COVID-19 Updates page here. ⁠

Our entire team want to express our wholehearted appreciation for your patience and kind words of support during this difficult time ❤️⁠

We encourage you to keep an eye on our Insta feed and blog over the next few weeks as we share in your home-bound creative endeavours!⁠

⁠ Stay safe and take good care! ⁠

Arohanui x ⁠

The Fabric Store Team⁠

Online Store Updates

This is a difficult time for many and we want to let you know that we appreciate your patience and understanding. We welcome and encourage you to continue to place orders with us online, but please do note that any orders placed through thefabricstoreonline.com from Tuesday 24th March onwards will not be processed until we re-open our HQ in Auckland. As soon as we are able to reopen, we will let you know! When this time comes we will endeavor to process orders as quickly as possible, but please bear in mind there may be further delays.

Placed an order Online recently?

If we were able to dispatch an order that you have placed with us online this week, you will receive an automated Shipping Update email with any associated tracking numbers. If you have not received a shipping update email by 10am Wednesday 25th March 2020 New Zealand time, your order will unfortunately not be processed until we re-open. If your order was placed on or before Monday 23rd March and you have not received a Shipping Update email, please email us and we will get back to you with the status of your order as soon as possible.

Our Online Collection Manager will be working remotely during this closure and is happy to help with any queries you may have via email: contact@thefabricstoreonline.com Please note, we will endeavor to respond to your emails within 2 working days, during working hours: Mon-Fri, 8.30am-5pm New Zealand time.

Further Information

For further information from our international shipping provider DHL Express, read their updates page here Online Collection orders to New Zealand are sent via Courier Post and you can read their updates here

An update from our team,⁠

Yesterday we made the tough decision to close our New Zealand stores temporarily following direction from the New Zealand government. This closure is in place from today onwards. We have also temporarily paused on processing and dispatching of Online Store orders, for the safety of our HQ and Online Store teams. We do not yet have a date for resuming yet but will let you all know as soon as we are able to reopen!⁠

Australian Stores⁠

As of today Tuesday, March 24th, our Australian stores in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide will be taking mail orders via phone and email only.⁠ This means today, our doors will be closed.⁠ We apologies wholeheartedly to those who had planned a trip into the store today and we hope you can appreciate that we did not make the change lightly.⁠ We have made this decision at the request of our store staff, as continuing to open with social distancing rules is becoming increasingly uncomfortable for them.⁠

If you are in Australia, we want to encourage you to give the store nearest you a call or email today and place a mail order! We have 1-2 team members in each store for processing mail orders, and they would love to help you out with your homebound projects. Our staff are continuing to follow strict hygiene and sanitation measures when cutting and packaging orders. Mail orders processed in stores will be processed until 3pm each day, so please try to call through in the morning.⁠ Please also note that we will be reassessing this Australian mail order service daily and may need to make swift changes where required. ⁠ ⁠

We also wanted to reassert that this is a difficult time for many. We take comfort in the caring spirit and inclusive nature of the wide-reaching sewing community amidst the COVID 19 situation, both locally and internationally. Please take extra care to ensure your interactions continue to remain kind, mindful and encouraging towards one another on social media.⁠ ⁠

Stay safe and take good care!⁠

Arohanui x⁠

The Fabric Store Team

New Zealand Retail Stores

Following the announcement of the New Zealand government this afternoon, we will be closing our New Zealand stores, effective immediately. Please note that there is no set date that we will re-open as yet, but as soon as we have been advised it is safe to do so, we will let you know.

Online Collection Update

Following the closure of non-essential businesses in New Zealand, thefabricstoreonline.com has temporarily closed order processing and dispatch, effective 5pm Monday 23rd March 2020, New Zealand time. We fully appreciate your patience and understanding at this time. Orders placed through thefabricstoreonline.com will not be processed until we are able to re-open our headquarters in Auckland. As soon as we are able to re-open we will process orders but please expect that there will be further delays. Our last orders will be processed and sent on 23rd March, if your order has been processed you will receive an automated shipping confirmation email with a tracking number. If you have not received a shipping confirmation email, your order will not be processed until we re-open our Auckland headquarters.

Please sign up to our newsletters to keep up to date with any news, we will let you know as soon as our Online Collection and stores are up and running again.

For those customers local to our New Zealand and Australian stores, who have travelled in the last 31 days or are unwell, we ask that you please carefully consider your health and the health of our staff before you come to visit. ⁠ Should you need to stay at home, mail orders are a popular way of ordering from your local store and we'd like to encourage you to utilize this service! ⁠ To place a mail order, simply give your nearest store a call and chat with a staff member about your project needs. ⁠ Alternatively, our Online Collection also has an extensive range of fabrics for your perusal!

A message from The Fabric Store team,

In times of uncertainty, we believe that compassion and hope are essential components of collective well-being. We take comfort in the caring spirit and inclusive nature of the wide-reaching sewing community amidst the COVID 19 situation, both locally and internationally.

Over the last few days, we've had a number of enquiries as to whether our New Zealand and Australian stores will remain open. Whilst all stores remain open at this stage, we are closely monitoring the evolving situation in our local cities and will respond accordingly. Please count on frequent updates from our team, via social media and over email, as to any changes to opening hours or store closures.

The safety of our team and customers is our priority, and sewists visiting our stores over the coming days will notice that we have significantly increased sanitation measures. Please note that these measures have been put in place for everyone's benefit and we appreciate your cooperation. We have also increased sanitation and are undertaking hourly cleaning in our warehouse and online store dispatch areas to ensure no germs are transferred in the handling of fabrics.

We understand that during this time, many of you may want (or need) to lay low. Our stores continue to offer mail order services for fabric and sample requests, and we encourage you to utilise this option. All mail orders over $150, now including those with discounted fabrics, will receive free local shipping and we will work to dispatch your orders as quickly as possible.

As a team, we are familiar with the calming sense of therapy that sewing provides for many people from all walks of life. We know it can play a crucial role in increasing mindfulness and positivity as well as reducing stress and anxiety. Our team want to encourage you to keep exploring new sewing projects and to also reach out and check in with your fellow sewists via social and digital channels during this difficult time. Even the smallest positive actions can make a huge difference to someones day!

Over the coming months we're committing to encouraging your home-bound creative endeavours by providing as many new pattern reviews, creative DIY projects and staff makes as we can via our blog. Aligning with an increase in blog posts, we've also decided to offer 30% off our Exclusive Linen ranges in Heavyweight and Midweight plain weave colours. We love linen and it's a fabric that we know will fit a huge number of projects, from homewares, childrenswear to #memade garments and accessories. We hope that you continue to share your incredible creations on social media, and don't forget, we're here to help with any sewing or fabric queries you have.

Please don't hesitate to get in touch with your nearest store or our HQ team if you have any questions or concerns.

Stay safe and take good care! Arohanui x The Fabric Store Team⁠