Michaels bought by a private equity group

I hate it then big stores do that. 👎🏻

I swear that when I lived in San Angelo TX back in late 80s-early 90s our Michaels store was called Ashleys. Same font for the brand name. Cannot find anything googling it. Anyone else shop at “Ashleys?”

Does anyone have a link to photos or a video that showcases how Michaels used to be when they were a scrapbooker's dream?

In Houston at the same time frame, we had Michaels and MJ Designs. IIRC, they were the same family members, started Michaels in Dallas, who split and opened their own stores? MJ Designs had more stuff to be honest, and I was sad when they closed.

I frequently get the 40% coupon in an email.  Sometimes weeks in a row.  Haven't seen a 50% off one for a while.

Whenever they ask for a customer survey, I give them one and tell them their paper choices are awful.  Hobby Lobby has had some of the same papers for years too.  

Me too.  No gift card, but twice I have walked out with nothing. I went late on a weekend so the amount of people in there was very very limited. 

Apollo Global Management. Be prepared for even more changes to the stores. My DH was working at the local “The Fresh Market” (a chain of small specialty grocery stores) when Apollo acquired them in 2016. The stores were very nice. A large selection of specialty items from various vendors, no mass market items, the produce was all organic, the meat department’s was top notch, large selection of specialty and international wines, cheeses, a great deli, a small kitchen item gift section, bulk coffee and candy. They had baked goods from France. It was like shopping in a small international market.

Once Apollo took over it all changed. The floral section is all but gone. Just a few fresh flowers and some potted plants. They eliminated the bulk candy and most of the coffee (this was in 2016, so before COVID). The produce section has all but eliminated the organic line. They have removed most of the tables where they put all the baked goods. I think they are down to about 1/2 of what they used to have. The wine section has shrunk up. Jarred and canned goods, while the sections are still there, they are now carrying brand names like Campbells and Hunts, brands that can be purchased at the local grocery stores for a lot less money.

Everything that was special about The Fresh Market is no longer special. They have removed so many display tables from every section that the store looks bare. Most of the international products are gone.

It will be interesting to see the direction they take with Micheals. I won’t be surprised if they move further away from a Crafts and concentrate more on decor and other items that have a higher margin of profit.

I noticed at least one aisle's worth of planner stuff had been clearanced out too. They had given planners so much space I'm not surprised it's on the decline again now.

A lot of space for Cricut-related stuff, which makes sense - I'm assuming its coupon-excluded. I just saw Zooey Deschanel shilling the little Cricut Joy machine on IG. Seeing more of my cleaning and organizing channels on YT using cutters for their home dec stuff rather than papercrafts, and tbh I think serious scrapbookers are pretty low on Michaels and Joann's list of customers.