What is happening at your Hobby Lobby and Mikes?
 

Hobby Lobby told the world, when they discontinued their coupon, they would offer great prices on more items throughout the entire store. I have shopped their ad, website and store and I can't find anything on sale this isn't always on sale. The stores seem like they are putting things on clearance and not bringing anything new in, so shelves are pretty empty. Is this happening in your store?
I went to Michaels and it seemed as though they were going out of business. I know they have been purchased by someone so maybe they are going to make big changes in the stores. I was having a difficult time finding staple items. What are you seeing where you live?

I’m going to Hobby Lobby next week. It’s an hour away. I was at Michaels yesterday and the papercrafting aisle was down to nearly nothing. I asked an employee if they were getting rid of all that, and she said she thought they were just revamping. Hmmm. My friend said Jo-Ann is nearly empty as well.

I've definitely noticed in my area. Ending coupons at Hobby Lobby has made a change in my shopping, and I know I've spent a lot less money there than previously. Yes .... paper crafting shelves are sparsely filled at our Michaels and JoAnn. This was apparent last year after the Covid changes became strongly enforced, and I haven't seen a resurgence in paper crafting items being well-stocked.

I have noticed our Hobby Lobby has RAISED their prices on watercolor cardstock (Bristol is up $2 a ream) and also, their double sided tape is up $2. And now they never go on sale :(.

I was in JoAnns yesterday and it was depressing. There was very little in papercrafts and nothing that was new or unique. I did buy some thread and elastic which is why I was there and boy! is it expensive. I have not been to Hobby Lobby since December. I will try to make a trip in there within the next week. The nearest Michaels is Joplin MO and I am in NW Arkansas so I never go there. I have been shocked at the number of empty storefronts in our area. It is not pretty.

Thanks for your responses. I was hoping this was just the case in my area, not all over the states. I hope this is just temporary due to supply shortages. I usually prefer to shop in a brick and mortar store rather than online, so if this is how it will be going forward I am going to be depressed. As the stores are now I don't know if they will remain in business. There really is no need to shop empty shelves. I understand that some craft items have been having record sales (Cricut machines for example) during the pandemic. Covid has put a lot of places out of business. I really hope the craft stores are able to hang on until supply chains are up and running again.

My local JoAnn's closed down Spring of last year. I gave up on Michael's years ago. We have a Hobby Lobby now. Some prices are okay others are too high. Unless I'm in need of a cheap bottle of acrylic paint or some gesso, I don't bother going in.

I think Covid effects will resonate for months or years to come. I think one of the effects we'll see is fewer brick & mortar stores and an increase in online stores that allow third-party sellers (such as Amazon and Walmart).

I like being able to see, touch and feel an item before I buy, checking for quality, heft, sturdiness or softness. It won't bother me as much if the online places have a good return system where I don't have to pay shipping or restock fees. That's one thing I like about Amazon. I can make returns at my local Kohl's and not have to pay postage.

Our local HL is going through it's semi annual 'reset' - I think that is what they call it. Clearancing old stock and bringing in new. They had the 12x12 gel press marked down to $13.99 so they had some good deals. They have raised so many prices though that I don't bother much now.

My closest Michael's recently changed everything around to make more room for home dec and seasonal stuff. All the usual paper crafting, jewelry, paint, etc., stock was there, just rearranged and squished together. Hobby Lobby is a different story. There are two new huge stores near me and IMO they will soon become stores you go to for home dec, Christmas stuff, kids' crafts and some sewing things. The paper crafting aisles have shrunk to nothing and it depresses me to shop there.
(My observations from northern Colorado)
Mary Beth

I have done more online paper craft ordering then in store purchasing. My Michaels paper craft section is empty. Zero. Nothing. Cashier said next month they expect paper craft shipments but don't know what.

My Hobby Lobby has all the same stuff, nothing new and very low on supplies. And their card stock is low and all the same designer paper packs, no new paper at all.

My Joann's is the same as Michael's they have stock but it's all old stuff, real old.

Cardstock and paper pads are hard to find at any store. No new stock and those super value 12 x 12 paper packs at Michaels I think personally they are horrible designs and 12 x 12 to me is to big of a design for cardmaking, I'm not a scraper. Just my opinion. I know that some people are just going crazy of Michaels 12 x12 paper packs, but they are just not for me.

Port delays and lack of containers is a big reason so many stores have low stock.

https://www.npr.org/2021/01/06/95408...rts-overloaded

Well, that's from January. I recently read an article that said there are Huge losses from containers falling off ships! Blaming high seas. I think probably more like poor shipping practices with not securing the containers well enough AND not knowing how to deal with the high seas that have always been around. LET'S STOP BUYING MADE IN CHINA.

Until the American companies stop sending their products overseas to be manufactured we the American public have no choice.

These American companies feel purchasing overseas manufacturing plants and hiring employees from that country to produce their product and have it shipped back here is cheaper than purchasing manufacturing plants in America and hiring American workers. Until Change is made with American manufactures we have no choice as to buy what American companies manufacture in other countries.

Because everything from car parts, phones, computers, electrics, household appliances, clothing, craft items and the list goes on and on are majority made in china and other countries.

We need to tell the companies we want to buy from about our preferences. Altenew stamps are made in USA but dies are made in China. Sizzix dies are all from China. ETC. Sometimes you have to ask the company before buying and sometimes they won't tell you!

It's not just material things either. Some people might be shocked to know how much of our food comes from outside our borders. One of these days, our country is going to be in for a major food shortage and a rude awakening.

The ship that is currently stuck in the Suez Canal will cause even more delays as there are hundreds of ships waiting to go thru the canal, but cannot until they get that ship out of there.

I was in the construction industry for almost 20 years, and if this were a normal year, I'd tell you that big box does this refresh quarterly - Toys R Us would rearrange the entire store - we'd move power, all the shelving, etc and work overnight to change up all the displays so they could redo the inventory. Same with HL, Michael's, Target etc. It changes buying patterns if things are in different places. For years, I've seen questions about if papercrafting was going away when it was just the quarterly refresh, and I used to comment on those questions, because it was just a specific experience I knew about.

This year the supply chain has been broken for a year and the Suez canal thing certainly isn't helping. The ports are a mess. Every conceivable thing is hard to get. There are some products that haven't been in my local grocery stores for a year - common things.

Sad and scary for sure.

Totally Agree.
Our Country right now can sustain itself, but the people running it feels it's better to buy from other Countries.

I thought we had a pretty good wake up when Covid hit but apparently not.

I can't help but think that if more patterned paper was made and printed by more North American paper mills, maybe so many mills wouldn't be permanently shutting down.
We rely FAR too much on China to manufacture the goods we buy.

Not everything from China are US company sites. People are simply ordering from Chinese factories...or in other places like Indonesia, etc.

I have always said if we had import tariffs like Europe does....it would push companies back here to manufacture but I know people don't agree with me. It might well catch items we dont/cant make here as well.

Some of this frankly is our unions. Some jobs are just not worth more than X/hr and pushing for more pushed factories out of here. Take cars. Many of the workers made way more than min wage but it was never enough. I think unions have a real role like safety and harrassment...but for sure there are some around here that do nothing but new contracts when they come due. Plus our higher min wages...if people are willing to pay 25 for a tshirt then sure, I can point you to US companies. Americans need to learn to do with less. It is very telling that having something made on the other side of the world and shipped here is still much less expensive than from here to start with.

We need to change corp law in America-as it stands. the law literally mandates CEOS to make the most profit they can legally-which is not the same thing as morally. Some have said they dont like things they do but if they dont, their boards will kick them out and get someone who will.

Food:
Well....the US still makes DDT even though they cant sell it here since 1972. Guess where it is going....you might want think twice about produce out of season from other countries. Just sayin' Looks like it is down now to just a few areas so that is good-and this is dated.

https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-dd...mpacts-1708897

And yes it is true that our food products often are not from where we think. We have "fake honey" from China, "Italian products" from Spain or elsewhere...labels are confusing. A US distributor is not a US mfg and that is the same around the world. So dont be fooled by Italian distributors that it is actual Italian product. I carry a mag glass to the supermarket and allow more time now to shop so I can read the sub-zero fonts on things. I wish they would make the ingredients, exp dates and place of mfg bigger.

Which is NOT to say all Chinese product is terrible. Less expensive is not always poorer quality.

I was in HL today and the shelves were full with lots of new things. the crafting area was full as well.
new stamps, dies Tim Holtz, paper anything you could want. Maybe the stores are just getting the new stuff in in your area. It all happened in the last week before that there was bare spaces in the crafting area. I did look at a few things I buy and the prices had dropped $1-2 on them. I did read somwhere that paper prices were going up so maybe it just isn't HL raising the price.

AbbysGrammy,
Thanks for sharing. That sounds like encouraging news. I hope we will all see new inventory soon, or at least no more empty shelves.

In my Michael’s in Canada the stamping supplies have been dwindling . There is tons of paper and Ranger products still the same. I was told by a lady that has worked there for years they were just reorganizing......mostly a lot of Recollection brand products.
thank goodness I have two independent stores that are well stocked as well as carry all the newest or will order it in for you.
they have been great during this time with many live videos as well as indoor shopping ( limited number at a time) as well as curbside pickup and will also mail out orders.

I was reading a tutorial tonight over here and decided to peek at the forum.
I don't live near Michael's or JoAnn's any more. I do live close to Hobby Lobby. I was in there earlier this week.
I went in at a bad time. They were getting ready to deep clean the store. They were about ready to close. The only customer's in the store was a guy buying quite a bit of furniture and I had a huge $200 storage haul. Some other things fell in my cart too. :) I know the employee's were happy to see us leave, lol.
My store was nicely stocked. Had lots of new cute things. The paper crafting aisle's did seem smaller because the items they are selling now are smaller and don't need to take up so much aisle space. Punches are no longer a big in store seller so they don't have as many. The die display was expanded. They had a whole slew of cute new stamps.
I have been doing a lot of online ordering at Hobby Lobby and they have a lot of things too. I noticed they are starting to carry a lot more EchoPark/Carta Bella lines online.

My local Jo Ann's and Hobby Lobby have been well-stocked all winter and spring. I live outside of Memphis, TN. I haven't been in our Michael's for quite some time.

agree

Went to my local Hob Lob and Michael’s yesterday and sadly am not seeing any refresh with paper crafting. The Cricut aisle sure was fully loaded and art areas also seem fully stocked. Hopefully they are just waiting on supplies and not panning yet another reduction in their offerings.

A lot of American companies are also having their products manufactured in other countries, which adds to the problem.

I went to Hobby Lobby after I got vaccinated this week. They had so much new stuff. Everything was so cute. I am broke now, lol. I did need things there. I needed more storage.
They have a bunch of cute new dies. The dies were really cute & trendy. The Cricut Mug press display was already up. Silhouette Cameo/Portrait items were well stocked.
They did get in some new stamps.
Tim's area was a bit riddled. I don't know if that was due to Tim's things being on sale.
Lots of cute new stickers in cute new themes.
I think they got some new paper in.
The jewelry department had new items in that were beautiful.
Art department was still resetting after their big clearance deal a couple of weeks ago.
Sewing had a lot of cute new fabric's. They were resetting the floral department when I was in there.
A couple of ladies were talking in the yarn aisle about all the new yarn. I did buy yarn but I only buy what I like. I don't know yarn trends, I am sorry.
I live about five hours away from headquarters. I think my Hobby Lobby is one that gets reset pretty quickly with new things.

JoAnn I don't live near it at all. My store is the size of a closet. I don't really shop there. People I follow have said that JoAnn is getting in a lot of new trendy items including major new scrapbook lines.

To be fair I haven't really gone out a lot for almost fourteen months so all of these things might be new to me. I have ordered a lot of things from Hobby Lobby online. I spotted all the new things coming to their store online.

Yep I know, car manufactures and clothing I think are the top two.

The nearest HL is about 10 miles away. It's small with half the store dedicated to home decor stuff. I don't bother shopping there, I have a closer M's and J's that have as much if not more of what I'm interested in.