• rhythmisaprancer@moist.catsweat.com
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        17 hours ago

        Ya unfortunately Joann’s really was the big chain for that. We bought my niece a starter sewing machine for Xmas at one last year. Michael’s has some stuff, maybe they can fill the gap. Hobby Lobby can burn.

        • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          17 hours ago

          Who knows, maybe Michael’s will see the market opportunity and expand into fabrics.

          Maybe not for a long while though, building that kind of inventory and supply chain takes a hell of a long time across 1200 individual stores, and the sheer square footage required to have the wide selection of fabrics needed in retail might not work for Michaels. My sample size is small but the Michaels I’ve been in are significantly smaller than the Jo-Ann’s.

          • tpyo@lemmy.world
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            9 hours ago

            They don’t need to mirror inventory across all stores. They could rebrand some of the redundant stores to set them apart from their general craft stores

            Big name chains often do similar things, splitting off more niche or focused locations

          • rhythmisaprancer@moist.catsweat.com
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            17 hours ago

            I confess to not being in many Michael’s… I had wondered if they could buy up what Joann will likely liquidate but of course I imagine they are operating on a similarly strained budget. A smaller footprint would make it totally unrealistic unless they swapped stores.

          • rhythmisaprancer@moist.catsweat.com
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            16 hours ago

            That’s interesting to hear. I remember that from when I worked for them approximately… a long time ago, and sometimes cut fabric, but their stores were different then. I imagine they will be the option for many folks anyways, but even more so now.

        • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.world
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          19 hours ago

          The one near me does but admittedly their selection is kind of crap.

          Walmart does also in select locations, with the same problem. (That, and finding someone to help you there is nigh impossible. On balance, you could also just grab the entire skein of whatever you wanted and leg it; it’s doubtful anyone there would notice or care.)

        • Death_Equity@lemmy.world
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          18 hours ago

          Probably because market demand was too low. Check and see what other sources of bulk fabric there are in the area. Definitely check for wholesale places.

          If there was a Jo-Ann’s down the street, there will be more incentive to offer fabrics now.