Wow! First off you are right around the corner from me!! I too go to the White Lake Joann when I go. I live on the boarder to White Lake and Waterford. We must meet up sometime soon! I know what you mean about this store. we don't have a lot of options for sewing machine shopping in our area since the Universal Sewing Center closed a few years ago. I understand there is a sewing machine store in both Royal Oak and Ann Arbor that might be a better choice for shopping for a better machine.All that being said, the JAF near us does not have the friendliest persons in the sewing machine section. I have had much better experiences buying on line only after trying someone else's machine. Or having a demo of a machine in the shop. One thing I just recently did was check at the local repair/vacuum shop. The repair person gave me some good advise on what machines might be best for what I wanted and said he would keep an eye open for one that came in the shop that someone decided not to get repaired. I could make and offer and get it repaired for far less than a new one. That to is a thought.