Craft Store Rant: They SUCK!

[Paul F.]

This could get long... so be forwarned.

Ran some errands today, and stopped at Michaels Crafts and Art Supply (big chain store) looking for a few things... simple things... all art and craft related...

Sodium Carbonate (aka "washing soda" or "soda ash"). Used extensively in dyeing fabrics, plating of metals, and general cleaning solutions. Just the sort of thing I SHOULD find in the tie-dying or fabric dyeing sections, right? Nope.
As long as it comes in a little tube of "tye-dye", for $7, I can get it..
Otherwise nothing. Oh, and glitter.. they have lots and lots of glitter...

Epoxy. Looking for a two part resin and hardener... little thinner than the standard "one step" 5-minute expoxy to use on some fiberglass mat to repair a fiberglass bumper on my dad's lawn tractor. Epoxy.. simple, very "craft and art supply" sorta thing.. right?
Nope. I can have JB Weld, Devcon 5-minute expoxy, or Elmers glue. Seriously.. that's ALL the glues they had. The spot for Gorilla Glue was empty.

Wax.. parafiin or beeswax.. used to make candles. They have an entire AISLE of candle making supplies... So they'd have the Wax.. right?
WRONG! I can buy any of 50 varieties of candles... molds... lots of different ungents, ointments, pigments, and smelly stuff to put IN candles to make them smolder, smoke, stink, or whatever. NO WAX.

3/16" leather punch. Now, here's something ANY craft store should have, right? Just a punch to punch a hole in a leather rifle sling that I need to modify.... Leatherworking.. Craft Store.. No brainer, right?
Wrong again!
But if I need leather moccasin kits, or leather cord FOR said moccasin kits, I'm covered. What a releif! God help you if you actually need to cut, punch, dye, finish, tool, or stain any leather... They have NOTHING.

OK..
1/16" thick cork sheet...
It's a CRAFTS STORE, about 3 ACRES OF CRAFT STORE...
They have GOT to carry CORK SHEETING!
NOPE!!!!! I can buy a 2'x4' bulletin board... but no cork sheet.


Last try...
I need some acetone... use it for cleaning metals for a variety of things.
Do you think they just might carry ACETONE?!?!? The SINGLE most common solvent ON THE ENTIRE PLANET?!?!?

OH MY GOD! YES! They DO carry Acetone!!






In a 9 oz plastic bottle.


For $9.99.
The same price as a QUART at the hardware store.






It's a REAL good thing that none of the employees asked if they could help me on my way out...
They would REALLY not have liked my language.


Now, except for the acetone which I can get at the hardware store... I will spend $30 over the internet, plus probably $50 in shipping, to get what I need for some SIMPLE DAMN PROJECTS!


If I need a picture frame, or some glitter, or plastic flowers, I'll go the Michaels.
Otherwise, they can kiss my "Art and Craft Supply" using arse.

[AlphaDog]

Hmmm. For most of the stuff on that list, I'd go to my local Ace Hardware store. I swear they have all kinds of really weird stuff that one wouldn't expect to find in a hardware store. The cork sheeting might be a bit tricky, but I bet they have the washing soda, the epoxy, the wax, the leather punch, and the acetone. Did you try there?

Edit: I forgot to add that I'll do almost anything to avoid a Michael's store anyway.

[Go To Top]

Michaels: Happy to be crappy.

[Paul F.]

AlphaDog;

Our good local Ace is not THAT local...
I happened to be going to the stores on either side of Michaels today anyway...
Next time, I won't bother!

I'll probably try Ace or another local hardware store friday...



Oh, and I was wrong about the cost of a quart of acetone.... my last can says $6.99... not $9.99.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Paul F., Ace is having some sort of sale this weekend. You might want to look for circulars before you go. I do not know if the sale is on the stuff you want though.

[rgG]

Look for the soda ash at a pool supply store. HD or Lowes might even have it in their pool section. Look for something called PH UP, but check the ingredients to make sure that it is sodium carbonate. It is used to raise the PH in pool water. If you lived closer than all the way across the country, I might even have some in the basement that I could give you.

[Pam]

I go to local hobby stores instead.

[Paul F.]

Pam;

If only there WERE any local hobby stores left!
The best one, that I used for years, changed owners and moved towards being a TOY and hobby store rather than a HOBBY and toy store.
Except for some model building supplies, there's not much left.

Hell, there's not even a local coin shop locally to get plastic coin holders! (OK, there's one I haven't checked yet... but the sign in their window says "Closed Until July 20" right now....).

rgG;
I'll check the local hot tub supply... We don't really have that many pools here on the far-northern coast of California.. Too long a rainy season.
But hot tubs we have a-plenty

[macphanatic]

We stopped by a Michaels two days ago to get some model rockets for the boys. Guess what, the store near us doesn't sell them. The one 8 miles away does. Ours just has loads of crappy craft kits for $1 each.

[Don Kiyoti]

Paul I agree with you that Michael's sucks. Ours is 3 acres of twig baskets. We had a Ben Franklin which was surprisingly good, with a real art supply section including airbrushes. It closed.

As for local hobby shops, they're a dying breed unfortunately. The modeling board I read has frequent posts lamenting the closing of yet another local shop. Of course these posters are the same ones who buy their model kits, paint & so forth online so they can save a few bucks.