Hello Ducklings:
This is my blog for reviews. There is nothing off limit for me to review as I have lots of opinions. I live near Rochester, New York so most of my destination reviews will be in this area but as my world expands outward my reviews may too. So far my plan is to go backwards a bit before I go forwards.
3/11/08
I went to Michael's in Henrietta, NY. http://www.michaels.com/art/online/home. Any crafter already knows what this store is. I frequent a lot of the craft superstores because I enjoy fiber, paper, textiles, and mixed media artwork and there is a little something of everything in these stores. There are very few sections in these stores I don't visit (it's mostly the cheesy wedding section I steer clear of). They aren't the best for very specific or more advanced craft/art needs (I'm looking for chipboard birds). But they are good for basic, low cost supplies.
I had no coupons but everything I bought was on clearance. I enjoy stalking the store for hidden clearance dispersed among the aisles and then I hit the aisle dedicated to clearance items. My big purchase was 20 skeins of Bernat Brella yarn in a variety of neutral brown tones. (I plan to make my mother-in-law a shawl for her birthday). The yarns were marked clearance $1.50 but they rang up for a dollar!
What to know before you go:
Don't come here without a coupon. Michael's does not offer online coupons and to my knowledge they don't do private mailings. You can get Michael's coupons in the Sunday paper quite often. Michael's also accepts competitors (Joann's, A.C. Moore) PRINT coupons. They will not take computer or register coupons. Coupons are only good for regular priced items.
Beware of items labeled "clearance" and check the price. The clearance discount may only be a dollar off. Which is fine if the item was originally 2 dollars but if it was $19.99 it would have been better to use a coupon.
What Ducky didn't like:
I recently had surgery and I can't bend over all the way to the floor. Of course I knocked down 2 coloring books in the main aisle. I explained to a nearby associate that I couldn't bend over but I didn't want to leave the coloring books lying there. She said nothing at all to me and without even looking at me picked them up and went back to what she was doing. It all felt a bit hostile.
Feel free to share with me, I love to hear about other great deals that people find in stores. I also enjoy hearing about projects where craft items cross genres.
2 comments:
This store ANNOYS me! For example, just a few days ago I went in to get a CuttleBug embossing plate and you have to actually take the empty package up to the register and have the sales associate go get the item for you in back before you can buy it. I brought it up, handed it to the lady and she sighed really loudly before she picked up the phone to call someone in the back. I said, "Yes, I know. Fun for all of us" trying to make a joke, but she was not very amused. Yes, somehow I decided personally that I would come up with this policy for the store because I love to wait for them to try to find the item in the back as the sales associate tries to describe what it is over the phone. Of course, everyone was on lunch in back so she couldn't get a hold of anyone and was being severely grumpy. I just told her I'd be back in a bit. I went over to the $1 stamps rack and was squatting down looking at them when she started to talk about how impatient I was to the next customer in line. She didn't see me there until I started laughing about it. It was awesome. Anyway, I don't like their policy on these items as all of the other craft stores just let you buy them off the rack. Michael's needs to either move them up front by the registers (to stop the theft) or have them up front under the register - not in back where they can't be easily accessed.
I also hate that they don't take the computer coupons from other stores. JoAnn's is the queen of coupons as they take anything from any of the stores! Kudos to JoAnn's even though they quadruple their prices on everything - haha. You have to look for the clearance items :) The Duck has this down to a science :)
BTW - I don't hate all Michaels' - the one in Pittsford Plaza is much nicer and friendlier :)
OH! OH! I found a jar of Ranger Distressed Embossing Powder (Old Paper color I think) for $.50 on clearance in JoAnn's! I already have the color, but for $.50, how could I resist? They usually go for $4.99 or $5.99 a jar. Since I already have this color, I will be giving it to Ducky who has recently entered the wonderful world of embossing :)
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