Yesterday, I was at Walmart. This is 45 min from my home, and I purchased some nice material that they had just gotten in. I asked the saleslady, if and when this fabric dept will be closing and she said most likely never.
When customers heard about Walmarts ridding there stores of the fabric dept, all heck broke loose at our store. They were bombarded with phone calls, both at the store and at the main offices. There were protesters outside the store. Customers threatened to stop shopping there. The local schools were going to have to shut down there home ec classes because that is where the students and schools purchased thier needs such as thread, needles, fabric etc...
The woman told me you should have seen it and heard what was going on.
I was happy to hear this, as sometimes they do get some really nice stuff there.
Brenda

Just goes to show what people power can do! I'm glad you aren't losing your local fabric supply.

I'm glad your store isn't closing down their fabric dept. I heard the same thing about ours. This is the only place within 40 & 65 miles to buy fabric, but I make the 40 and 65 mile trips to the quilt stores too. It's nice to have them here when I need material quick. I hope they don't close this one.

Our store recently closed the fabric dept. There was a lot of vocal complaining but was told by employees that it wouldn't matter how much complaining was done, headquarters makes the decision. There is one quilt shop here and it does have a weekly online special that has some reasonable priced fabric.

Ruby

I hope the store can keep the fabric. There is one Walmart left in my area that has fabric but only will have it until then new renovations are done to the store. Non of the WalMart stores have a fabric dept. in the new versions. :evil:

Oh lucky you ours shut down and that is where I got stuff I couldn't find anywhere else.

ours shuts down at the end of this month and no one cares. the employees who work their are so happy they can't stand working that department.

they think lifting the bolts of fabric is too strenuous.

I hope you're joking about that last statement..........geeeeeez.

no i'm not.

i was there over the weekend buying my neice her own stash (she's getting a sewing machine for her birthday saturday) and the girl working there was so angry with me.

i had about 25 bolts and i stacked them according to how much fabric i wanted cut.

she gave me a snotty look and said "do you know how heavy this stuff is".

i told her i was twice her age and if she thinks this is hard work she better not get married, have children, or move out of her mothers home - because it only get harder from here.

Klue...You go girl!

I was in the WM in Lake Geneva WI this week and they still have a lot of fabric (didn't have time to really shop..WM is exchange point for grandkids). Clerk said remodel starts in Feb and the fabric sections is a low profit department!

I'm so glad your Walmart is keeping their fabric. I know the ones in our area are going to be doomed and I'm not looking forward to the day it happens. We have about 6 Walmarts in my area and 2 of them have fantastic fabric departments. The employees in the fabric departments there don't have any idea about when the material will go away - they just say sometime...

We have two Hancock's near by and I tell you what a few weeks ago they had their Xmas material on sale for $1.99 a yard so I went in not that I really needed any to add to my stash but went anyway and was appalled - their $5.99 Xmas fabric was Walmart's $1.50 Xmas fabric last year!!! Yup the star shaped snowmen and whatnot.. yup. Hancock's is selling it for $5.99 a yard!!

I will really miss our Walmart fabric when it goes.

Doesn't seem to matter where I am at...the 2 stores that they said were going to keep open are being slowly taken over by other pooh! They are now down to about an aisle at each store...hardly any supplies at all! I think they are slowly making it go away here...Skeat

I love it!!:)Bet she thinks twice before speaking ignorance again!:)We hope!:)Skeat.............who thinks you must be a great aunt too!

Good for you. It is exactly her attitude that is causing us to lose the fabric departments in Walmart........whoever in Corporate that made that decision must of been her parent......and I repeat....geeeeez!

this news may not be of use to anyone who lives within a few miles of a walmart fabric department ...BUT for those who drive an hour or more each way to find one, i recommend you check out this webstore instead: http://stores.shop.ebay.com/CROWSNES...1QQ_fsubZQ2d33

here's the thing: most of their fabrics are $2.99 per yard (before shipping). the selection is waaaaaaaaaaaaay huge compared to walmart. most of it is Red Rooster which is several notches nicer than the fabs walmart now sells for nearly $5 per yard. AND if you scroll down to the GENERAL FABRICS CO. GOODS section you'll also find a surprising number of the same fabs walmart carries. that's pretty close to the same price walmart charges.

now, if you buy 5 or 6 yards, it'll ship in a flat rate envelope, so you add roundabouts $1 per yard for shipping ... about $4 per yard. walmart's nicest stuff is selling for more than that.

this shop can stuff up to 28 YARDS into the $10 flat rate box. so, if you buy enough to stuff the box, you're adding less than 50 cents per yard for shipping. (regardless of the amount you buy, they're always great about figuring out the least expensive way to mail it to you.)

now, think about the gas it takes to make a 2-hour round trip, PLUS the walk from and to the parking lot, the standing on line, etc, etc, AND the value of your time. buying online at webstores like this one saves me googobs of time and money ... and my walmart is within walking distance. (well, it would be if i wasn't so lazy. :lol: )

i put in the link because it happens to be my favorite starting place when i'm searching for savings on fabrics. but, it isn't the only place online to find nice fabs for a steal IF you're willing to shop around and build a favorites list of the places that always have a good selection of low-low prices on their clearance pages.

i buy so little now from walmart that i feel guilty when i pass the department. i make a few purchases now and then as a show of support to the wonderful ladies who work the department but that's about it. AND i can shop in my jammies - which i can't do at walmart unless i want to get arrested or hauled off in a straightjacket. :wink: :lol:

sorry to be so windy, but my point is to let you know that there is life after walmart. what goes around comes around. sooner or later, ignoring their customer base will catch up to them because we will all be laughing our way through the internet to spend our $$$ elsewhere.

Sadly enough, most Walmart employees do not have any idea what their main office is planning for them. I usually stopped at my Walmart once a month and would pickup a few things in the fabric department. I usually asked if they had heard anything about losing the fabric dept. and was always assured they would not be losing theirs. Long story short, it was there in March and April and was gone in May.

You nailed it!

Agreed, good for you!

The main reason Walmart is doing away with the fabric is the new directors think fabric is too old fashioned and won't attract the 'upscale urban' customer Walmart is trying to reach. The image of little old ladies buying fabric is not the image they want. I heard this from a Walmart buyer. They went with the excuse of the fabric dept. takes up too much valuable space for little profit. I seldom go to Walmart these days.

well i'm upscale and urban and the only time i go to walmart is to buy fabric for my niece.

Good for you klue. Too heavy! geez. I would like to have told her, "people like me keep you in a job." ! Our wm fabric closed down last year and boy do we miss it. at least we got a good stash before hand of some nice fabrics.

I very seldom go to Walmart, now they don't have the fabric dept, one more reason not to go! There are 4 Walmart's in this area, and I think one has fabric left, may have to go just to see! Not sure even that interested.

Thanks for the link Patrice. Put it in my favorites.

My WM still has fabrics, but not as much as they used to. I also found it hard to really get a happy employee in that dept to wait on you. Especially if I had to ring the bell......

last time I went into walmart fabric dept, I waited 30 some minutes for someone to help me, never got any help or fabric, did meet a great lady who made quilts in who spare time,she is a student and a full time nurse. We got to know each other a bit while we waited and waited and waited. I finally left, I expect better customer service when I let go of my money or they don't get it! I don't mind telling people so these days.

Same thing happened here. I was told since we are down here on the penninsula we'll most likely keep ours as pooh, I AIN"T driving to Seattle for fabric. That's 3 hours away. No thank you. I used to get alot of fabs at Walmart clear back when I was making shirts for myself. That was years ago and I'm still wearing the shirts......

Haha, great response. Laziness in individuals is always something that really irks me. And I would rather be beat with a big stick than go to Wal-Mart specifically for the kind of encounter that you related. In my opinion, WM has a severe issue with not instilling a desire to provide the shopper with a pleasant shopping experience - they are too driven with a focus on $ to worry about whether customers have any desire to ever come back. Which is why I always go to Target, Kroger, or anywhere else I can for what I'm needing at the moment before I force myself to have to go back to WM for it.

Sorry for the rant, but I feel better now. :)

Now, back on topic. Our WM is a Superstore and has a fabric department. The lady who normally works it is super nice and always helpful. I hope we don't loose it, as it is nice being able to go close for notions and what not. There is a also a WM Superstore in the next town over about 5 miles away and it does not have a fabric department. They have a very small crafts section, with a few sewing notions thrown in as an afterthought.

Thanks forthe link Patrice. I don't have any stores close...WM or otherwise. I like shopping in my jammies but with fabric.....I really prefer to feel it before buying. I'm having to "get over" that. :roll:

Our town just opened the lastest style/updated Wal mart this week and guess what-no fabric department.

OH MAN, THIS IS GETTING SCARY. WE ARE SUPPOSE TO MOVE ACROSS THE HIGHWAY IN THE NEAR FUTURE

Boo hoo - they should be happy they have the job. Lots of people don't right now. And puh-leeze, how heavy is a bolt of fabric?????

I must say, at my local Joann, when I have many bolts, I apologize, and their response has always been, "Hey, no apologies necessary, this is job security!!!" I don't like one of my two local Wal-marts at all, not just the fabrics/crafts department, but the whole store. I don't go to that one often at all, but last time I was there, it took 45 minutes, and asking 4 times to get some help to cut one measly little yard of fabric. I was p-o-ed, to say the least, and I gave the manager an earful for that. The other Wal-mart is much better, I should have just gone there - I would have been in and out in about 10 minutes.

My Walmart is horrible in the mornings, so I have 2 favorite gals in the fabric/craft area, so I got their hours and go when I know one or the other is there. I sometimes stood there forever and asked for help several times, That urks me to no end. My 2 gals I just love. I get ideas and a very nice attitude. One gal gets the newsletter from here, and loves our forum. I put the bolts on the cutting area......And they glady cut it.. Its sad when you get a crappy sales person. I've gotten that at Joanns ... Just a while back I asked for 4 yrds of fabric cut in 2 , so 2 Two yards cuts. Good Lord ya think I was asking her to cut off her arm. :(

Actually, the one Wal-mart near me that I like has an elderly woman that works in their fabric/craft dept, and I adore her. But she LOVES to chat. A lot!!! Stupid me, the day that I waited for 45 min. to get that one yard - I went to the crappy Wal-Mart instead of the good one, just to avoid that woman - I was "short on time" - yeah, shows me, doesn't it!!! I tried to save a little bit of time by avoiding a sweet person, who I really do adore, only to be avoided for 45 minutes at the other store. That should teach me!!!!

we get in our chatty moods at our walmart too :D

My local WM still has fabric because there are no close fabric stores or LQS. Don't know hoe long that will last. :?

BellaBoo,
We had our WalMart build a new store and changed it to a Super WalMart and it has a fabric department. We are a relatively small town and the locals complained and wrote and called the HQ and we still have a fabric department. Guess we squeeked our wheels loud enough and they listened.

Chris

I am sure there are some very nice and helpful people in the Walmart fabric department! I just don't know where they are! Wouldn't Sam Walton have a hard time with how things are done today! RIP Sam!

and they will lose the sales of other items that we purchased while we were in the store!

I would guess that the majority of us buy at least one or two things besides fabric while we are there

Well perhaps as a consumer we are just asking and expecting too much!Shame on us!....................no, I think not,more like shame on them!

I really do have a beef with customer service these days! I will say I did stop by our local Wallyworld tonite on the way home to pick up a few things, (not my favorite, but not sure I have a favorite) the check out gal was really sweet! They have a lot of good people that work there. Why aren't they in the fabric dept? I am all about customer service, if we can get it! I provide the best service I can where I work! We are just lacking that in today's world, praised them when you get it!

Oh, that is right, they don't have a fabric dept anymore! Silly me!
OK, I am done.


I think :roll: