Gala Fabrics

I checked out the Gala Fabrics Vancouver location today.

In size, it reminds me of an average Philly or New York non-chain fabric store: not extremely wide side-to-side, but it goes back a ways. Unlike some of those stores, it's very well organized, well-stocked but not overfull, and all of the fabrics are labeled with content, width, price, and sometimes origin. The salesmen were nice and helpful.

They have a lot of what looks to be very nice suitings and formalwear fabrics. I didn't focus so much on those today — it was just too hot for me to think about silks or wools — but I noticed Italian suitings, lovely Chinese brocades, different silk types, and many fancy laces and metallics. Over toward the other side, where I paid the most attention, they had quilting cottons and batiks, denim, cotton voile and shirtings, solid and cross-dyed linen and blends, some knits, a little bit of hemp, and some rayon-like fabrics, including Tencel, bamboo, and cotton/rayon blends.

There is a wide range of prices, from the sale tables and remnants up to the really high-end fabrics. This is not a bargain-basement type of store, but I doubt that could work given the location. I think the prices are quite fair given the service, the labeling and organization, and the quality and sources of the fabrics. There are also enough notions that it should be possible to rely on this store to be able to complete a wide variety of projects. I'm glad it's there and I plan on returning.