Martha Stewart and Michaels?

Don't know how true it is but a manager friend said it had to do with the amount of $$$ MS wanted and some other licensing dispute.

This topic and many of the comments were enough to make me create an account after months of lurking...mostly to watch the SC drama.

Recollections isn't all a knock off. Most of the washi, for instance, is the same stuff that I buy overseas directly from China and often I am able to buy tapes that are sold from MME and Little B in the same shops as the washi that I'm finding at M's. Also, I've been to the AC Warehouse Sale in Utah and they sell Recollections stuff. And I've also purchased a warehouse box online from MME and there were Recollections paper pads in there. I'm fairly certain that much of the stuff that they sell under the Recollections brand is licensed material manufactured by the big brands for Michael's as an added source of revenue. These relationships are probably why the Hot Buy paper pads from big brands/names under the American Crafts umbrella are showing up there. I'm not saying everything is a partnership, but I'm positive that a lot of it is and is the same as if you bought it from the big names with their branding. A lot of it is probably perception that an 'exclusive' brand has to be better than a store brand so it automatically makes us think less of it. I felt the same way about Making Memories and never liked any of it because of it's branding...and yet, many of the same styles of fonts and finishes in alphas that were MM brand are being released with Heidi Swapp's branding and suddenly they are much more appealing to me. It's marketing, branding, etc that can make consumers think they are getting something different even when it's really the exact same thing.

I love MS punches, but I can see that with all of the mixed media projects available that she is probably correct.

So now Michaels will own Pat Catans.

Now if this is true and they're bringing in more Ranger and Tim Holtz, I'll be a happier customer!

I actually have a couple of pieces of MS furniture - a local thrift store used to pick up "scratch and dent" items from Home Decorators. My best score was one of these for a fraction of the price: Flat File Cabinet

Yes - it's awesome. Very well built. Granted, I got it "scratch & dent" so it came with a few corner dings, but the drawers work great. I also have one of the one drawer file cabinets and I'm not as happy with it. Again, could be the scratch & dent thing, but the back bows out so the metal pieces for the hanging file folders pop out.

My friend has several of the green pieces. They didn't seem to sell as quickly at the thrift store, believe it or not! At first, we didn't even realize that the pieces were MS, until we found them online. Once we did, we bought what we could whenever they had them! It was a great deal while it lasted.

I don't live close to Michael's any more but when I do go I always say I am going to the Recollections store. :)I hardly buy anything at Michael's. It is so sad. I loved that store.

The last time I went my Michael's did have the punches on clearance. I only bought one. I was wondering if Martha is phasing out areas of her paper crafting business since her magazine lines have been taken over. I hope not because I do like Martha's products. I always think her punches are the best next to Stampin Up. I know both those companies punches are produced by EK Success. EK Success punches are some of my least favorites next to Fiskars.

I really enjoyed this thread. I learned a lot and it will help me make better purchasing decisions. Thanks to everyone who commented.

Wasn't all of the Martha Stewart stuff exclusive to Michael's at first? They never let you use coupons on any of it either. Now anybody can sell it so I would imagine it doesn't sell as fast or for as much because there's more competition out there.

I, too, was just in Michaels and there was nothing MS left except for maybe a punch or two. Is Walmart still carrying MS? I bought some of her chalk paints maybe just in time?

Pat Catan is local to me, it's been around as long as I can remember. They are headquartered in Strongsville, Ohio. Nice line of stores, carries everything Michaels does, just some different brands. If I'm not mistaken Lamrite/Pat Catan/ Darice are owned by the same people. I think this is about Michaels acquiring the Darice brand and manufacturing capabilities, not so much the chain of stores. So, I think that maybe why some brands might be disappearing is because Michaels plans on marketing their own brand (Darice) products.

This is off topic but does have to do w/ Martha Stewart and Staples. It looks like the Office by Martha Stewart line will be returning March 1st. Originally it was a collaboration w/ Avery but doesn't say if MS is partnering w/ another company. I love the pieces I bought when it first came out and look forward to seeing what will be new.

I have some of those pieces too, and they are nice. I have a cork board, a couple of the magnetic dry erase boards and a couple of the little slat wall pieces next to my desk. I was sad when I heard they weren't available anymore because I wanted to put some of the wall pieces over by my sewing machine on the other side of my studio. I'll have to check it out next month when the new stuff comes out.