Reaching 70 years in business can sound rare in today’s fast-moving retail world. Some might assume that specialist sewing shops have struggled to survive in the age of online marketplaces and automation. The truth is quite the opposite. For seven decades, we have grown by listening carefully, adapting confidently, and staying close to our customers, from home sewists to local fashion college students and industry professionals.
What began with £100 and seven second-hand sewing machines has developed into a multi-location business built on experience, service and genuine customer support. In this article, we look back at the milestones, people and partnerships that shaped Franklins, and share how we plan to keep sewing forward for generations to come.
From One Shop to a Trusted Name in Sewing
Every business has a starting point. Ours was modest, with no large premises or national presence. Just experience, practical knowledge, and a determination to offer proper service and customer support. From the very beginning, the focus was not simply on selling machines. It was on helping people use them well.
Those early days were built on conversations across the counter. Listening carefully. Explaining clearly. Making sure customers left confident, not confused. That approach quickly earned trust, and trust brought loyalty.
As the years passed, strong communication remained at the centre of everything we did. We worked closely with local schools and colleges, including the nearby fashion college, supporting students who were just starting their creative journeys. Over time, that same commitment extended into industry, supplying and advising professional workshops and manufacturers.
Growth did not happen overnight. It happened steadily, through relationships, reputation, and a genuine belief that service matters. What started as a single shop gradually became a larger scale specialist business, but the principles have never changed.
Milestones That Shaped Our Journey
As our customers’ needs evolved, so did we.
In the 1980s, we expanded into knitting machines, broadening our product range at a time when home crafting was experiencing renewed popularity. Around the same period, we began attending retail trade shows, connecting directly with manufacturers and keeping pace with emerging technology in sewing and embroidery. Those events gave us insight into where the industry was heading and helped position Franklins as a forward-thinking specialist rather than simply a local retailer.
Our Colchester high street shop
In 1984, we opened our 10,000 square foot store in Colchester, a significant step that reflected growing demand and confidence in our direction. The 1990s brought further progress, including becoming the European distributor for Universal embroidery software, strengthening our technical expertise and expanding our reach beyond traditional machinery.
By the late 1990s, leading manufacturers recognised us for innovation within the industry, a milestone that affirmed our commitment to staying ahead rather than standing still. Expansion continued with the opening of our 7,000 square foot Salisbury store in 2012 and, more recently, our 6,000 square foot Ipswich store in 2023.
Our Ipswich high street store
70 Years of Supporting Makers and Businesses
If there is one thread running through the past 70 years, it is communication.
We have always believed that selling a machine is only the beginning of the relationship. Whether helping a home sewist choose their first model or advising a factory on embroidery software integration, the real value lies in ongoing support, honest guidance and dependable after-sales service.
Over the decades, we have worked with hobbyists creating garments at kitchen tables, students developing collections at fashion college, and professionals running busy production floors. The questions differ. The scale differs. But the principle remains the same: listen first, advise clearly, and stand behind what we supply.
In earlier years, support might have meant a phone call or even a fax. Today, it could be a video call, remote diagnostics or online ordering. Technology has changed the way we communicate, but not the importance of doing so properly.
For us, supporting makers and businesses has never been transactional. It has always been relational. And that is why so many customers return, generation after generation.
Adapting to Changing Trends in Textiles and Technology
Sewing in 1956 looked very different to sewing today.
Machines were mechanical. Communication was slower. After-sales service often meant a customer walking back into the shop with a question. Over time, the industry moved through computerisation, automation and increasingly specialised materials, and we moved with it.
The shift from faxes to video calls is more than a change in tools. It reflects a wider transformation in how businesses operate and how customers expect to be supported. Computerised machines replaced many purely mechanical systems. Automation reshaped production environments. Embroidery software became as important as the hardware itself.
We embraced those changes early, not because they were fashionable, but because they offered genuine benefits to our customers. Becoming a distributor for embroidery software in the 1990s strengthened our technical capability and allowed us to support a new generation of digitally driven makers.
At the same time, one thing has remained constant. Machines may become more advanced, but they still require knowledge, patience and skilled hands. Technology supports craftsmanship; it does not replace it. Our role has always been to bridge that gap, ensuring customers feel confident in both the machinery and the craft behind it.
Our People: The Heart of Franklins
Franklins has never been just about products. It has always been about people who genuinely care about the craft. Over the years, we have invested heavily in training our engineers, ensuring they remain skilled in both traditional mechanical systems and the latest computerised technology. That depth of knowledge gives customers confidence, particularly when dealing with complex industrial equipment or specialist embroidery software.
Our retail staff share that same passion. Many are experienced sewists themselves, able to offer practical, hands-on advice rather than simply reading from a specification sheet. Customers often come in with an idea, and leave with clarity.
What makes us especially proud is loyalty. We have team members who have celebrated more than 25 years with Franklins, building long-standing relationships with customers who return year after year. In many cases, they have supported the same families across generations, helping parents, and later their children, choose their first machines.
Seventy years of business is not sustained by products alone. It is sustained by trust, experience and the people who show up every day ready to support the industry they love.
Celebrating Our 70th Birthday
Throughout March, we are marking the occasion with special anniversary offers, including 5% off Prym products and 15% off StyleCraft, with further promotions and announcements planned across the year. These offers are a small way of saying thank you to the customers who have supported us for decades.
But the celebration is not only about discounts. It is about recognising the community that has grown around us, from students and hobbyists to industry professionals. We invite customers to visit our stores, share their memories, and be part of this milestone.
70 Years Strong, and Still Sewing Forward
The values that shaped Franklins from the beginning, experience, service and genuine customer support, remain at the centre of everything we do. We continue to work closely with schools, colleges, industry partners and home sewists, supporting the next generation of makers with the same care we offered in 1956.
Seventy years has taught us that trends will change, technology will evolve, and markets will shift. What lasts is trust.
To every customer, supplier, engineer and member of staff who has been part of our journey, thank you. We are proud of our past, confident in our present, and ready for what comes next.