Dylan Fabrics is moving to Silverdale

Owner says she’s ‘losing business’ because of lack of parking in downtown Bremerton

BREMERTON — The door to Dylan Fabrics in Bremerton is closing … and another is opening for them in Silverdale.

June 22 was the last day the fabric store was open in Bremerton, a fact that saddens owner Melissa Dylan. However, she said the store should reopen, in Silverdale, in time to celebrate the business’s one-year anniversary — and her birthday.

“I’m really going to miss downtown,” Dylan said. “I love it down here. I love the vibe, the other business owners, the community. It wasn’t an easy decision at all. But you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do.”

The biggest impetus to the location change, Dylan said, was accessibility.

“The biggest reason — the primary reason — is the feedback from my customers has been that if there’s anything that they would change about the store, it would be the location,” she said.

Dylan said she started seriously considering a location change when a new customer, attempting to attend the regular “Stitch and Bitch” events at Dylan Fabrics, called to say she’d been driving for 45 minutes looking for a parking space before eventually giving up and heading home.

“I’m not sure if I’ll ever see her again,” Dylan said. “So I realized, we’re really losing business. I started doing some formal polling, seeing how people really feel about our location. While a lot of people love it and think it’s great, enough people said it hindered their decision to shop here. [Moving] was a prudent business decision.”

The new location will be at 3381 NW Bucklin Hill Road in Silverdale. The new building is about 3,000 square feet. Dylan doesn’t have a re-opening date yet, as she’s waiting for permits, but she said there will be a re-opening celebration.

The business will offer its regular classes and events, and because the classroom will now be on the ground floor, there will be no accessibility issues. Plus, Dylan said she’ll be partnering with a costume maker who will be working in-house.

“She’s going to be making custom clothes and costumes, and she’ll do seamstress work, so people who don’t sew their own things can come in and talk with someone in person about getting stuff made,” Dylan said.

Dylan said she loves the Bremerton location, but it just wasn’t working as well as it could for her business.

“I don’t want to discourage people from doing business around here,” Dylan said. “But just the type of business we are, we’re sort of a destination location, and so a lot of people who come to my store are here to see us, not necessarily here for the ‘stroll around downtown’ sort of feel.

“I want to thank everyone in Bremerton for making us successful so far, and for really embracing us,” she added. “We’re not choosing to leave Bremerton, we’re just choosing to do something that works better for us.”

Dylan said about the move that she’s “really excited, and sad at the same time.”

For more information about Dylan Fabrics and when it will reopen, go to www.dylanfabrics.com or facebook.com/dylanfabrics.

— Michelle Beahm is online editor for Kitsap News Group. She can be reached at mbeahm@soundpublishing.com.

Melissa Dylan, owner of Dylan Fabrics, celebrates the grand opening of her store Aug. 23, 2016, in downtown Bremerton. Before the one-year anniversary, Dylan Fabrics will be opening in its new location in Silverdale. Michelle Beahm / Kitsap News Group file photo

Dylan Fabric’s sells all kinds of fabric, as well as other things needed for clothes and costume making, such as ribbons, zippers, buttons and patterns. Michelle Beahm / Kitsap News Group file photo