(Left to right: Carolyn Akers, Lois Akers, Glynda Woolums, and Joana Shelor)
by Colleen E. Grecus
Located at the corner of North Locust Street and Penn Avenue, poised atop a hill across from the Floyd Historical Society, is one of the more charming gems to be found in scenic Floyd, Virginia.
Deriving its name from the building’s historic beginnings, the legendary Schoolhouse Fabrics has been serving the community of Floyd and its visitors since the early 1980’s.
First commissioned by Henry Dillon in 1911, the brick structure was built on the site of the 1846 Jacksonville Academy, which had been established by Governor Floyd, himself. It is said that many of the bricks used in the new structure were part of the original Academy!
The new building began serving as a grade school for the county upon its completion in 1913. Built in the Georgian Revival style, defined by balance and symmetry, the schoolhouse features large and arched windows, dormers, and simple columns to draw attention to the large stoop and entryway.
It operated as Floyd High School until 1939, and later, Floyd Elementary School until 1962. Needing more space, the schools moved again into bigger, newer buildings. This left the old school building vacant and available.
Eventually, Mr. J. Murphy Thompson, who had long lived across the street, purchased the building, and rented out rooms to various small businesses. There was even a daycare!
With affordable space available and having sensed a great need for the service in Floyd’s relatively isolated community, Clester F. Duncan decided that 1971 was the year to pursue her dream of opening a shop for fabrics and other notions. She rented out one of the front rooms of the old school from Mr. Thompson and turned it into a more modest version of what has since become a superstore – now managed by Clester’s sister-in-law’s granddaughter, Joana Shelor. It had been called “Stop and Shop” at the time, and the business savvy Clester, along with the help of her fun, loquacious, and friendly son, Jerry J. Duncan, built a following.
By the early eighties, extended family, including a teenaged Joana, joined, and worked to grow the business until they took over the entire school building around 1985. That was when Stop and Shop Fabrics Incorporated changed their name to “Schoolhouse Fabrics.”
As the years passed by, however, Schoolhouse lost its founder, the beloved Clester Duncan, in 2004. Just sixteen years later, it also lost her son, the irreplaceable Jerry. Jerry was such a beloved and fundamental part of Schoolhouse Fabrics that staff and customers alike still feel his loss. His presence remains in every fiber. “He always made us feel as if it was as much our business as it was his,” says Joana. “It was really motivating.”
Before his passing, however, Jerry Duncan made sure the business passed safely into the capable hands of Joana’s mother, Lois Ann Acres.
Lois had been sewing since the sixth grade and had been working at Schoolhouse Fabrics for forty years. As the company’s former secretary, she was always the most adept at keeping the books, and her warm smile had long been there to greet the customers and offer assistance. This diligence and dedication had always been recognized by Jerry, who, before his passing, made sure to leave Lois in charge.
This is how she came to be the current owner of Schoolhouse Fabrics and explains how she’s managed such a successful and seamless transition. Even with such an extensive history and background within the business, Lois remains humble and unpretentious. Still, she has the knowledge and experience to answer most any question and point anyone in the right direction for what they need.
Lois and Joana owe the bulk of Schoolhouse’s success to the family’s commitment to business ethics and customer-focused service. Even the staff is still comprised of family, including Joana’s two sisters, Carolyn Acres and Glynda Woolums, as well as Glynda’s mother-in-law, Arnita. Together, they set themselves apart from larger chains and competitors with the range of materials they offer, as well as their ability to special order and serve their customers more fully. They truly consider their customers to be friends and family, and it shows. These values have been stressed consistently in the fifty-plus years that this family has been in business, and they remain an integral part of Clester and Jerry’s legacy.
Whether collecting silk organza and guipure lace for a custom couture wedding gown, or taking up cross-stitch, there is something for every creative mind at Schoolhouse Fabrics. Sourced from New York, New Jersey, California, and North Carolina, Schoolhouse has just about any type of fabric and anything one would need to create a garment of any kind. From room to room throughout the building’s three floors and annex, materials are organized and grouped by variation, material, and type of craft. The sheer volume of the massive inventory may take several visits to fully sort through and appreciate!
The main floor houses the theme room, with seasonal and sports fabrics. There is also the quilting room, featuring organic and traditional patterns. The craft room, as well as an accessories room, provides threads, yarns, ribbon, trims, buttons, cords, pins, hooks, sewing tools, and everything else one might need to finish off that special project. There are even pillows on this floor!
But it doesn’t stop there. A short trip down the staircase reveals rooms filled with clothing fabrics. There are wools, cottons, polyesters, and blended fabrics to create everything from business attire to snappy day wear, to dressy evening wear. There is even a special room for formal and wedding fabrics, containing an extensive variety of appliques, as well as artificial flowers, trims, and special touches for those most important of special occasions.
Finally, the topmost level features the finest of fleeces and flannels, along with rolled fabrics for curtains and interior décor, and the annex behind the main building houses the upholstery.
By far, the most popular items are the quilting materials. For decades now, Schoolhouse has contributed both helping hands and gift cards to Floyd’s biennial Quilt Guild Show, which used to take place every other May. Covid temporarily impacted this schedule, as the 2020 show was cancelled, but Glynda and Joana hope it will resume within the next year.
There truly isn’t another comparable store in the region, and it attracts attention from all over the country. When asked from how far her customers have come, Joana admitted to having repeat patrons from New York State, which is a surprise considering their relative proximity to giants like the world-famous, “Mood.”
There are also some Floyd folks who have Alaskan relatives that make sure Schoolhouse Fabrics is a part of every family visit. This wide-spread following can be attributed, at least in some part, to the ambitious selection the store maintains, as well as their competitive prices. Schoolhouse Fabrics is an invaluable resource to the community, as well as for the surrounding areas and visitors from far and wide! It is most definitely a sewing-craft-lover’s dream!
2021 was both the 90th anniversary of the building and the 50th anniversary of the business. Sadly, still in the thick of the Covid fallout, with staffing shortages and supply chain disruptions, there didn’t seem to be enough time in the day to celebrate. Thankfully, however, Lois, Joana, and the staff at Schoolhouse had maintained such a stockpile of fabric in their numerous rooms that they were able to continue offering a viable inventory for their shoppers.
As a result of their preparedness, Schoolhouse Fabrics managed to successfully serve their customers fully throughout the pandemic, and their business managed to thrive when many others struggled. In the early days of Covid, floods of people bought up large quantities of the stockpiled fabric, as well as lots of elastic, to make masks. After a time, and to this day, drapery and upholstery fabric sales have soared. With so many staying at home, folks have become increasingly motivated to update their interiors.
Joana says that, except for hard-to-come-by wool, shipments are coming in more regularly and frequently now. As a result, Schoolhouse has beefed up the upholstery and upholsterer foam selection, devoting the entire external building to that division. They call it the upholstery building now, and it’s most definitely worth a look. Gone, however, is the giant, famous Button Bin. Though many no doubt have fond memories of sorting through the bin to find good deals on spare buttons, organization and inventory management have become greater priorities.
The fabrics and crafts business has changed a lot in a half century. Thirty years ago, it seemed everyone and their mother was dabbling in such arts. Around that time, Schoolhouse Fabrics had about eleven on staff to keep up. With so many distractions and modern conveniences, however, sewing, knitting, and crochet are now among the more rare and precious skills of bygone days. For some time now, they’ve operated with only the five family members on staff.
Despite their small numbers, they are all equally committed to being there for their customers, and they manage to spread themselves in such a way that it makes them seem plentiful. They are sure to give every guest the help and attention they need and to make them feel welcome.
As well as Joana and her family manage, they are striving to keep the business going strong and are looking to hire one more employee soon. It is the belief and hope of this reporter that the business will remain successful, and perhaps even grow with a resurgence of interest in homesteading and DIY within the coming generations. Schoolhouse Fabrics is open Monday through Saturday, 9:00am – 5:00pm. For more information, to ask questions, or to place special orders, please visit them on Facebook, or call (540) 745-4561.
Schoolhouse Fabrics • 220 N Locust St, Floyd, VA
540-745-4561 • www.facebook.com/Schoolhouse.Fabrics