SEGUIN Doreen Taft stands in solitary protest at the parking lot entrance to the Wal-Mart Supercenter, where she has been found most days for the past two weeks, handing out fliers.
Over the years, Wal-Mart has faced demonstrations from people complaining about the chain's environmental policies, its anti-unionization efforts, its impact on small businesses and its worker benefits.
But the retail giant has never faced an upset and determined Seguin grandma.
Taft is on a one-woman quest to save the store's fabric department, slated for closure by the company.
She said the local fabrics store was driven out of business by Wal-Mart and once the giant retailer cuts that service, people will have to drive to New Braunfels or San Marcos to get fabrics and other sewing supplies.
Despite a hip injury and a hurt foot, she stands a lonely vigil for a couple of hours most days, urging shoppers to contact Wal-Mart corporate headquarters in Arkansas to protest.
We're too far from anywhere to close this one down, she said. I am going to keep at this until I hear something. I'm a hard-headed homegrown Texas woman.
Many Wal-Marts across the country are closing their fabric centers and replacing them with Craft and Celebration Centers, which focus on party supplies and do not have a cutting table or employee there to sell lengths of fabric from bolts.
Forbes.com reported recently that as many as 80 percent of Wal-Mart's 3,000 stores are making the switch.
Analysts like the change, noting that the fabrics sections have lower sales per square foot than most other departments in the stores and take a dedicated employee to cut the fabrics to custom lengths.
It's a tough business to be in these days, said George Whalin, president of Retail Management Consultants in San Marcos, Calif. The number of people who sew at home has dwindled dramatically.
It just doesn't make sense, economically, when you can buy a dress for $20.
There was a time when every department store in the country had a substantial notions department, but those days are gone, Whalin said. It's a tiny niche market now and Wal-Mart has to react to changes in the real world.
Taft's not alone in her efforts. A nationwide Internet-based petition protesting the end of the fabrics departments has garnered almost 29,000 signatures.
When she found out about the plan from a Wal-Mart employee, Taft got all of the store's How are we doing?
forms that let shoppers offer customer service suggestions. She put a sign on her scooter that reads Help, help me save the fabric department in this store, and gave them to customers in the store.
I did it for an hour but they kind of frowned on that, she said.
So now she stands beside a road and hands out copies of a letter people can forward to Wal-Mart headquarters. So far, she's handed out more than 3,000.
Like a piranha you swallowed all the small businesses and then slowly you have quit providing a lot of the products that they gladly provided us with, her letter states.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Jami Arms said the company will monitor the change to see if it is being accepted by customers.
We are always willing to listen to our customers, she said.
In the meantime, Taft said she will keep up her protest and hope that she can change the minds of Wal-Mart's executives.
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