Mill End Store

What Mill End Store does

Mill End Store is a third-generation, family-owned specialty fabric retailer headquartered in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. The company operates two physical stores — a 50,000+ sq ft flagship in Milwaukie, Oregon (since 1918) and a second location in Beaverton, Oregon (since the 1980s) — making it Oregon's longest-running continuously operating independent fabric store. It sells an extensive assortment of fabrics (fashion, quilting cottons, active wear/outdoor, bridal, and home decor/upholstery), trims, decorative notions, and sewing supplies sourced both from major brands (Moda, Michael Miller, Kaufman, Timeless Treasures, Hoffman, Kravet, Duralee) and from first-quality manufacturer overruns and designer closeouts sourced nationwide. The business does not operate an online store; sales occur in-store, via phone order, and through a swatch-by-mail service that supports nationwide reach.

The company's core operational technology is conventional retail — no proprietary e-commerce platform, no API/integration surface, no mobile app, and no data/AI layer. Differentiation is derived from the depth and breadth of inventory (50,000+ sq ft of rotating, hand-picked stock including limited-quantity designer runs), 100+ years of family ownership and textile heritage (founder Roy T. Bishop was the son of Pendleton Woolen Mills founder Charles P. Bishop), and old-fashioned personalized service. Additional services include sewing classes at the Beaverton location, special orders for 50+ yard wholesale quantities, and a customer rewards program.

The revenue model is straightforward retail: one-time transactional fabric sales (with phone/mail order as an analog channel) plus ancillary services. Pricing is not publicly listed; the company operates a portfolio of discount programs — Customer Rewards (1 pt/$1, $15 reward at 100 pts), Teacher/Student (10% with ID), Business Discount Card ($15/yr, 10%), Senior/Military (15% Tuesdays 10am-1pm) — and a wholesale tier for 50+ yard orders. Customer segments span individual hobbyists (quilters, sewists, novice sewers), professional users (film/TV costumiers, fashion designers, interior designers), and institutional buyers (teachers, schools, businesses). Customer segmentation is hybrid across persona and business-unit lines, with no enterprise contracting or subscription model disclosed.

Name

Mill End Store

Legal name

Mill End Store

Website

https://millendstore.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1918

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Family-owned fabric retail business operating two stores in Oregon's Portland metro area since 1918. Sells 50,000+ sq ft of fabrics, trims, and notions to sewing enthusiasts, professional designers, businesses, and hobbyists via in-store, phone, and mail orders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

SIC

Wholesale-Apparel, Piece Goods & Notions (5130)

akta.pro primary industry

General Fabric & Textile Stores (CRALADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Quilting & Patchwork Shops (CRALADAB), Weaving & Loom Supplies Retail (CRALADAL)

Keywords

• Fabric retail
• Sewing supplies
• Quilting fabrics
• Upholstery fabrics
• Sewing notions

Headquarters

HQ city

Flint, Michigan

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Retail Fabric Sales: In-store retail sales of fabrics, trims, and notions. The company operates physical retail stores with over 50,000 square feet of inventory. No online store exists; all sales occur in-person or via phone/mail orders.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Mill End Store is a family-owned retail fabric business operating two physical store locations in Oregon (Milwaukie/Portland flagship of 50,000+ sq ft and Beaverton), selling an expansive assortment of fabrics (fashion, quilting, active wear, bridal, home decor/upholstery), trims, and sewing notions sourced from manufacturers and designers nationwide. The company has no online store and serves walk-in customers plus nationwide buyers via phone orders, mail orders, and a swatch service.

Product overview

Mill End Store is a family-owned fabric retail business operating two physical store locations in Oregon (Milwaukie/Portland and Beaverton). The core offering consists of an expansive fabric and notions product portfolio organized across multiple categories: fashion fabrics (wool, silk, linen, cotton blends, and designer lines), quilting cottons from major brands (Moda, Michael Miller, Kaufman, Timeless Treasures, Hoffman), active wear and outdoor fabrics, bridal fabrics, home decor/upholstery fabrics, and general sewing notions. Additional services include a swatch-by-mail service, phone/mail ordering, special orders for large quantities, and sewing classes at the Beaverton location. The Annex section offers discounted flat-fold fabrics at budget prices. The company operates without an online store and does not offer digital products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 66% reduction in power consumption through state-of-the-art lighting and computerized sensors

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Hobby Lobby: National arts, crafts, and home décor retailer with fabric departments across 900+ stores. Overlaps in fabric, trim, and notions categories but fabric is one of many categories versus Mill End's specialization.
• Jo-Ann Stores: Largest U.S. specialty retailer of fabrics and craft supplies with nationwide footprint and online store. Directly comparable product categories (quilting cottons, fashion fabrics, notions) but vastly larger scale and broader assortment than Mill End Store.
• Fabric.com (Amazon): Amazon-owned online-only fabric retailer carrying cotton, home décor, and notions. Directly competing on fabric categories via e-commerce — represents the digital-native competition Mill End Store has chosen not to pursue.
• Michaels: Largest U.S. arts and crafts specialty retailer with fabric assortments and strong e-commerce. Comparable on sewing notions and basic fabric categories but fabric is not the anchor category.

Direct peers

• B&J Fabrics: Family-owned NYC fabric retailer carrying designer closeouts and high-end fashion fabrics — closely comparable curation model serving a similar professional and enthusiast customer base.
• Hartville Fabrics: Family-owned Ohio-based fabric retailer combining physical store with online sales. Closely comparable family-operated business model with multi-channel retail.
• Mood Fabrics: Iconic NYC-based fabric retailer serving professional fashion designers and TV/film costumers — the East Coast analog to Mill End Store's professional clientele. Strong comparable on designer/film customer base, with the differentiator of operating an online store.
• Pacific Trimming: Long-established NYC notions and trimming specialist serving fashion designers. Directly comparable on notions, trims, and fashion-designer customer base.

Emerging players

• Cotton Cuts: Online fabric retailer specializing in quilting cottons and custom cut-by-yard service. Emerging digital-first competitor that overlaps in quilting category with Mill End's Moda/Michael Miller/Kaufman assortment.

Regional players

• Vogue Fabrics: Family-owned Chicago-area fabric store with online ordering — comparable specialty fabric store with regional U.S. focus and similar curation of designer fabrics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mill-end-store

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mill End Store