Employee hours are based on sales made on that particular day a year ago. If sales were down so are the hours. It is immaterial if today happens to be a sale day and last year wasn't. Most of the manager of fabric stores (most not all) do their best. These stores are run by office people and numbers on paper. The more customers spend, the more hours the clerks get. Simple economics. More people are shopping on line so now more Fabric Stores are closing.