tuesday morning sucks!

I had a friend employes there. He said there are no scrapbook supplies available anymore for them to sell.

That might be his opinion, but the manufacturers keep coming out with new releases. Are they making less now because there is less demand, so there are fewer leftovers when more new releases come along to replace the “old” products? Maybe, but reportedly, TM even had manufacturers making products for their store for awhile.

Some of the employees I knew told me that they absolutely hated getting crafts each week because there were so many items (a lot of them small) to put out. They took longer to put out and were a hassle (or so I was told). One store I shopped at always put the crafts out last. At that store, they often didn’t get put out till Monday, even though they got the shipment on Thursday. They procrastinated putting the items out.

I doubt there was a huge profit margin on crafts, so by getting rid of them, they could focus on items with a bigger profit margin, and make the employees happier at the same time.

Mine closed, so —shrug—

I'm not even tempted to stop in anymore.

The closest one is about an hour and a half from me, south of Boston. I don’t get there very often but recently made a little detour and was so disappointed. At first when I found the craft area, I thought it was the clearance section because it was so small. Definitely not going out of my way to go there again. I was there last summer and they had a good selection and I thought there were some recent haul videos on you tube. I had no idea the craft section had been almost eliminated.

I was in the same shopping center as one and didn’t even bother going to check out what I’m sure was a store of disappointment. I did buy today’s peachy cheap deal because I still like me a bargain of older scrap supplies that I’ve missed the first time around 😆

Thanks, scrapnnana. It's good to hear what's happening at other stores.

We have two stores in town (3rd was closed in the first round of closings).  The managers decided to just empty the boxes of craft into 2-3 carts and put the carts in the craft aisle.  Some days you'd have 3-4 women picking through the carts at a time.  Almost every time I went, you'd also see women putting things in the cart onto the pegs.  I often did this with the larger items so it would be easier to pick through the smaller things.  The manager said he liked putting it out on time since crafters all knew/called when the carts would be in a day or two, 90% of the stuff was on the shelves.  I thought that was smart.  His staff didn't have to use their time putting out so many small items and many scrapers are also organizers by nature, so the items available and got put on the pegs.  

I know there are items with better profit margins, but I visit my TM every week and those large items were rarely making their way to the counter.  Crafts, pets, and food seem to be what sold in my area.

Agreed. I do not even go in anymore. The last few months it has dwindled to NOTHING crafty related.

Just stopped at mine...one whole side of an aisle has been reduced to about 4 feet. so sad. I loved finding scrap stuff there!

I stopped by today. The craft aisle had shrunk again. The manager was right there, so I asked her if they are getting rid of crafts. She said that they will continue to carry crafts, but not like they used to. I chatted in the aisle with another scrapper who clearly had seen the craft section shrinking over time, too. I left with nothing.

Since mom ’s store finally got good stuff, I had hopes that perhaps the craft section might rebound……but apparently not.  It’s better for my budget, though, and it’s not like I need anything. TM has contributed plenty to my stash over the last several years. It was nice while it lasted, even if it’s not worth going there anymore.

No kidding! My store is down to about 1/5 of what it had before and the prices just got out of hand. Such a bummer I miss it but at least I have a LSS that has a decent selection (although much less than a few years ago, too).

OTOH, I outfitted our new camper with towels, cooking pans and other assorted stuff that was a fair price for the quality!

I was wondering what happened to all those Youtube people who did those TM hauls every week?
I use to watch one when she would go into the store and show you what was new so I knew if I should check my stores out.

There are two stores in NW Arkansas, both of which used to have a decent supply of scrap supplies, everything from PL core kits for $6.99 to stamps, paper pads, dies, etc., definitely worth a visit if you were in the neighborhood, and a decent option to HL and Joannes. Was at one last week and the other during July. Nothing good left in either other than some older 12x12 paper packs. Won’t go back unless I am in the immediate area, and with no expectations.