Donna Hoover has owned Fabricland in Williams Lake for 22 years.
The decision to quit a career in banking and open her own fabric shop gave her the flexibility she wanted to spend more time with her sons while they were growing up.
Owning her own business with the support of a small staff gave her the flexibility to volunteer one day a week at her children’s school and be there for their games and field trips. But in the early days she says there was also lots of night and weekend work.
Donna sewed her own clothes in high school and later sewed for her sons so a fabric store is a good fit for her as a business.
“It’s not even like work,” Donna says.
“It’s fun every day.”
As an independent franchise owner, Donna carries all of the required Fabricland fabrics and products but also has the flexibility to carry extra items requested by her customers.
As a result, the Williams Lake Fabricland has a huge quilting section, a large section for yarn crafts, a collection of ready-made curtains, and even vinyl fabric used in making seat covers for boats and vehicles.
Fabricland club members qualify for big savings on purchases and since 2017 is Fabricland’s 40th anniversary, Donna says there will be more sales and giveaways than ever this year.
Except for year end, Donna does all of her own accounting and is proud to say that she even made some of her own shelving units.
For many years Donna has made receiving and baby blankets which she has donated to the Cariboo Memorial Hospital Auxiliary gift shop.
These days she is learning to quilt and has joined the Cariboo Piecemakers quilting club where she serves as secretary.