A 20-year-old Wichita business on Rock Road is closing

The greater Wichita area has lost a few quilt shops in recent years, and now it’s losing another, but it’s not because the store is struggling.

“Quilting’s still very popular, and business has been great,” said Hen Feathers Quilt Shop owner Peggy Engel. “I just need to slow down.”

She’s owned the shop in the center at the northeast corner of Douglas and Rock Road for almost all of its twenty years.

Engel said she had some buyers express interest, but for various reasons, it never worked out, so she’ll probably close by Thanksgiving.

All fabric is 33% off, and the rest of the store is mostly 25% off.

Engel said a lot of shops like hers close because “people don’t realize the time involved.”

“They enjoy fabric or they enjoy quilting. They don’t think about the book work.”

She said classes and clubs take up a lot of time, too.

“It’s just a lot of hours in a week — like all small businesses.”

There’s been a lot of joy with the store, though.

“The great part about having the store for so long is the friendships,” Engel said.

“A lot of people begin quilting at maybe a difficult time of their life. It’s very therapeutic to do because you’ve got to focus entirely on what you’re doing, so you don’t worry about anything else,” she said.

“I just can’t tell you how many people have come up and said what a difference I’ve made in their life. That’s really nice.”