Why, Yes, Trapper, as a matter of fact I do! LOL!!
The needlework industry is indeed in a downswing, for many of the reasons listed already, but also for other reasons. One of them being copyright infringement. I won't get started on it except to say that it is so bad that many designer have quit or are considering quitting because of it. They just can't make ends meet if patterns are stolen instead of sold.
ANYWAYS.....
as for needlework framing - we get a lot of it. Last week I stretched 15 - 20 pieces and before I could even get mats on them we had several more in already. It's been a week and it's time for us to stretch again. On average, I'd say that we get anywhere from 3 to 8 pieces in a week. Summer is slower for this because people are gardening, etc in the summer. In the colder months ( here it's from September to May) people have more time to stitch because they are hiding from the cold
I'll tell you some things I've learned from hanging around the XS boards:
there are some stitchers who do larger projects and put a lot of time into their projects and think that it will be a family heirloom. These are the people who will come into your shop and get NICE framing done because they believe that it merits the best quality.
There are some stitchers who stitch more than they get custom framed. They will bring only their special projects in for framing because they can't afford to get everything custom framed. Mostly gifts for other people.
There are some (many) stitchers who will look for the cheapest possible alternative, including substandard materials and doing it themselves. They all say that custom framing is too expensive.
Then there are some who literally have boxes or drawers FULL of finished pieces that they will never do anything with because they just can't or won't pay to get them framed, and don't think they have the talent to do it themselves. For many of them this is a full time hobby and they just do it because they are hooked on it.
many of the people who want to do it themselves to save some money will order their frames online from places that will cut and ship cheap. I've never visited one of these sites, but I'd think that they have few choices of style so they can afford to offer it cheaply. Some are the kind of places where the sides come premade in different lengths and you would order 2 X 10" and 2X14" sides and they just "fit" together easily.
I will say, I'm hooked too - have been for 17 years and still going strong!