Mary Jo's Cloth Store, 60 Years and Counting...

Holy smokes, time flies. Mary Jo is celebrating her 79th Birthday and the Anniversary of the 60th year of her beloved Mary Jo's Cloth Store. Our annual trip down memory lane is in order during this very special anniversary week!

First a bit about YOU.
We are blessed to have the MOST wonderful customers. You are talented, fun, bright and man can you sew. Thanks for sending us photos of your projects along with your sweet stories. We love to hear from you and it is always a pleasure for us to post your beautiful work, made from our fabric. So a big thank-you, to all of you, for showing up, logging on and buying your fabric from us. We know you have a choice and are so happy you have chosen us.

Mary Jo & her Cloth Store, the story...
In 1951 when Mary Jo's Cloth Store first opened, Mary Jo made a promise to keep prices affordable. Her original goal was to be able to serve a Grandmother making a dress or quilt for her grandchild or a young Mother who needed to make affordable clothes for her children. Since the beginning Mary Jo has held tightly to this philosophy. Over the years her business has grown, the location has changed and people come from all corners of the globe to shop. "Mary Jo's Cloth Store" has been doing mail order for many years and has now launched an online component that will serve her customers easily and still be very affordable. It is important to Mary Jo that she continues to bring her customers the highest quality fabric at the lowest price.

Mary Jo's Cloth Store, Inc. was opened on her 19th birthday in 1951 by Mary Jo (Margaret Colien Cloninger) in the back of her father's grocery store in Dallas, North Carolina. She began by selling unbleached domestic (muslin) and later added other makes of fabrics.

Throughout the years, the business prospered, outgrowing the Gaston Avenue grocery store. As business progressed, Mary Jo's relocated to a site at the corner of Trade Street and Gaston Avenue, whereby the adjacent buildings were eventually purchased and incorporated into Mary Jo's Cloth Store, Inc. However, on December 18, 1981 this location was destroyed by fire, resulting in another move to the vacant Ben Franklin Store at Windsor Center on Highway 321 located outside of Dallas.


Working with an inventory of salvageable goods, Mary Jo's reopened at its Windsor Center location on February 17, 1982. The store at Windsor Center was 22,000 square feet. By the spring of 1986 Mary Jo's had outgrown this facility and in August of 1986 the company moved to 32,000 square feet in the Gaston Mall.

Through the years, the Cloth Store's reputation has come to be widespread. Because of the varied selection of goods, at the best possible prices, and the assistance of a very knowledgeable staff, the Store's reputation has grown, servicing customers from within a 250 mile radius on a daily basis.

We now sell fabric to folks all over the world. The website Maryjos.com is open 24-7. So no matter what your schedule is you can shop for the fabric you want at a time that is convenient for you.

If you would like to send us a "Mary Jo's" story or a recent project made from your Mary Jo cloth, please drop us an email today.