Mood Q&A Time: “Why Doesn’t the Online Store Have the Same Fabrics as the NYC and LA Stores?”

Dear Mood: You drive me crazy. You post all these photos of great fabrics on Instagram but often they’re only available at your brick-and-mortar stores. Which are nowhere near to me. Why can’t I buy these same fabrics online at MoodFabrics.com?

We get asked this question all the time by our customers. To answer it we need to first explain about the two types of fabrics Mood buys from its vendors and sources: reorderable and closeout.

Reorderable means just that—when we’ve sold nearly all of the fabric (or trim) we can reorder more from the vendor. Reorderable fabrics can be found in both our stores and online. These tend to be staple fabrics in solid colors that never go out of style, like all kinds of silks, ponte knits, jerseys and more. Home decor fabrics usually are reorderable for periods of time.

Closeout means the fabric or trim will not be reproduced again and is only available until the last inch is sold. The fabrics Mood buys from designers—including Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs, Thakoon, Anna Sui, etc.—are generally always closeout fabrics. Once a closeout fabric is gone, it’s gone for good.

If there is not enough quantity of a fabric or trim to sell online, then it will go just to our two stores. When amounts are very limited we’ll sell it only at our flagship NYC store. We get much of our designer fabrics from the NYC area, so it’s cost-effective to bring them to the NYC store without having to get shipping involved.

In a perfect world there would be always enough fabric to sell via all of our distribution channels, but Mood’s situation isn’t that dissimilar from other retailers with brick-and-mortar stores and online sites. Our customers who can shop online and in our stores know how lucky they are!

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Future questions we hope to answer on Mood Q&A Time: How do I make a Mood board? • Why should I order a swatch? • What’s the difference between double cloth and double face?, and more. Let us know here if you have questions you’d like answered.