We have an update and an explanation for the mystery of why the Venice toile fabric has been out of stock for so long.
The story of the Venice toile fabric starts in January of this year. Someone ordered some of it. The old bolt was finished, so I opened a new bolt to discover that it was flawed. It was about three times as heavy as it normally was, with all kinds of flocking woven into it, and it also had a dye flaw.
I called the company to return the bolt, and to order a replacement. They said they would have the bolt picked up, but… and here is where things went slightly awry….they were out of the Venice toile, and a new shipment would not be in until early March.
This seemed a bit odd to me. We have always been able to get it. We never have had it out of stock at the company level. And two months seemed a long time for it to be out of stock, as companies will run a fabric when it gets low. The only explanation I could think of was that they had just put in the order, and I had just missed the last of the old stock.
For those of you who are wondering
this is the Venice toile fabric.
The Venice toile fabric has different scenes of Venice
with famous buildings in the background.
There is everything from a restaurant on a quay
being set up for lunch
to laundry fluttering in the breeze.
It is unique!
So, March came, and by the middle of the month the fabric was still missing in action; so I called the company. I was told it was now expected in around the end of the month. Not a problem, what was a couple of weeks?
But, again, it did not show, and people were clamoring for it. So, yesterday I called the company.
I spoke to the very nice lady in customer service. It is now not expected until the middle of May. What happened is this.
The fabric is printed in the USA, but the ground cloth is imported. There has been some problem with getting the ground cloth. The mill abroad has had problems, and could not supply it.
It is now on a boat, headed to the US, and should land in about a week. It then goes to the mill to be printed, cut, and rolled, and shipped to the companies warehouse to be redistributed to those that sell it.
So, while that might now be what people want to hear, at least we have a definitive time line for it!
THE VENICE TOILE FABRIC
I will keep you updated!