Spotlight: Montavilla Sewing Centers

Montavilla Sewing Centers exists to inspire the community it serves with quality products, expert guidance, and lifelong support. The business has been a family-owned business since 1949, centered in the Montavilla neighborhood and now with five locations around the metro area. It offers a large selection of sewing, quilting, and embroidery machines, sergers, notions, fabric, furniture, and more, in addition to a full roster of classes, clubs, and events.

“We are one of the largest sewing machine stores in the US, and we sell all of the best sewing machine brands, which is fairly unique in our industry. Each of our locations has factory trained service technicians, able to service and repair most machine makes & models,” owner Brett shared.

What is your favorite part about owning a small business?

Brett: My favorite part about owning a small business is the relationships with our employees and our customers. We are in a sweet spot where we see lots of familiar faces every day, but we still meet new customers regularly. A lot of our customers are very loyal and committed to their craft, so we see them often. We’ve developed strong relationships with a countless number of customers over the years. It really does feel like a huge extended family.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Brett: Our biggest challenge has been trying to translate our community-driven, customer-focused values into an online marketplace. We have always stood for carrying quality products, and helping to inspire and educate our customers, but it has been tricky to hold true to those values while also shifting our business to an online model.

What's your best advice for someone who wants to start or run their own small business?

Brett: One thing that helped me was that every Tuesday morning at 7am, I get together for coffee with other small business owners. We all talk openly and honestly about how our businesses are doing; our finances, problems, successes, all of it. The advice that I have received from this group has been incredibly helpful over the years. I give this community credit for giving me the wisdom and strength to open another location in 2018. So, I would highly recommend creating a community with other business owners.