Here is an email I rec'd today from WalMart.

Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding the fabric department in your local store. As with any merchandise decision that we make, we have based our decision to reduce the stitching and fabric departments on customer demand, which does not appear to be as high today for a full stitching and fabric offering in some markets as it may have been at Walmart in the past.

In keeping with our emphasis on being a store of the community, Walmart is converting the fabrics and crafts department in some stores to a newly expanded assortment of merchandise that focuses on life's celebrations. We are thrilled to offer our customers this exciting new crafts and celebrations center that makes available craft and party planning needs along with information on current trends and new ideas in the area of life's celebrations, such as holidays, weddings and birthdays.

In those stores where the new crafts and celebrations center is placed, merchandise commonly referred to as 'notions' will be included in the product offerings - such as sewing machines, yarn, needles, thread, etc. As a part of this conversion, most of our new and remodeled stores that opened earlier this year, as well as a small number of existing stores, will feature the new crafts and celebrations center in place of bolt fabrics. Walmart will continue to carry cut fabric in most of our stores. Due to the continued evaluation of our stores, we are unable to share a list of existing stores scheduled to receive the new crafts and celebrations center at this time.

Sincerely,
Walmart Customer Care

That is the same one they sent to me :cry: They don't even love us enough to give us a personal answer :wink: LOL

I'm willing to bet "Life's Celebrations" won't last very long. Paper plates in a thousand different colors, streamers and fancy napkins don't seem to be a very popular in my local Wal-Mart and it's taking up a huge amount of floor space. Bolt fabrics on the wall, taking up very little space in the next closest one to me always has a line waiting and no one was clamoring for square yellow paper plates or party streamers. Oh, and my local wally world now has copy paper in at least 4 different places. Come on! Really! How much shelf space do you need for copy paper?!! BTW--I wasn't even looking for fabric or copy paper. We were looking for a deep fryer.

Besides there are so many places that you can get the plates, cups , etc for much cheaper :wink:

Are they serious? How many customers demanded Walmart to get rid of the fabric dept? that is just plain nonsense and they want us to believe that? They wanted a more upscale image and needlework did not fit that image. At least they could be honest about it. WalMart will never be upscale. Can't do it with the customer base that keeps them in profit.

I got the exact same email yesterday, word for word.

Maybe I'm the only one that sees this as a GOOD thing :) Those locally owned, sole proprietor LQS who can't come close to competing with Wal-Mart on price . . . .will stand a better chance of surviving as a result.

Across America, there are locally owned shoe stores,grocers, tire centers, hair/nail salons, photographers, etc. who spent a lifetime building up their business only to have business dry up when the Wal-Mart SuperCenter went in.

I have to agree with you on this Clair. One of our 3 local walmarts sells fabric and the quality isn't very good at all.

Yeah, um...I'm not so sad to see the Wal-Mart fabric section go (Ours has been gone a year or more) that they're trying to PR the heck outta that and make it all shiny, happy....CELEBRATION AISLE! I call b.s. on that one. There's already a "celebration" section. And there's also a "seasonal" section for every holiday known to man. Whatev. Seriously.

We're losing ours....and I've called the 1-800 number 3 times.....I will be so sad to lose ours!

it's sad for those who rely on WalMart's fab departments. lets respect that.

the loss of WM fabs as an option is not likely to help the bottom line of surrounding LQS. as nice as i'm sure they are, the fact remains that customers chose WM because they can't afford the LQS. that will not change.

unless the LQS take steps to add new lines of fabrics at much lower prices they still can't hope to benefit from the demise of wally fabs. the customers will just go online.

adding a section of bargain fabs might horrify some of their most houtre' customers but that demonstration of respect and concern for the most budget conscious in their market would go a long way toward broadening their customer base.

and those LQS would be the first places their new customers will shop when they're ready to "step up" to the pricier stuff.

At least you got a reply. I have sent several emails to WM and didn't even get an acknowledgement.
WM definely filled a place in the quilting world. Not every quilt will be a keepsake or masterpiece. Patrice has the right idea about the LQS. I love to visist them,but the budget hates it.

I'm still getting lost looking for toilet paper since they remodeled our Wally World. Saw enough copier paper though.....hmmmmm,

I grew up with only mom and pop local owned stores and it was the pits. The only choices of items were what mom or pop wanted to sell and they only ordered what did sell. Never nothing new. One quit shop closest to me orders the same floral fabrics lines and the muted reproduction fabrics. That is what the owner thinks sells the best. Well, yeah, it's the only real choice given to buyers. The owner doesn't want to buy a line of new fabric and risk it not selling. I don't like that reasoning so I don't shop there. Give me the big store with lots of choices. If not that then a catalog.

I think perhaps my point was lost here...

MORE THAN the fabric department going adios, it bugs me that they seem to be blowing smoke up people's you-know-what about how great the "CELEBRATION" department is. As in "much better than fabric!" It's a redundant section that replaces the fabric section.

I've noticed that most of the crafty stuff changes really rapidly, as in one setup and when it's gone they don't get more....just get another fad setup, while ignoring the slow and steady day in day out we want it to be there always stuff.

All of the Walmarts here have shut down there fabric departments. They still have FQ'S but when you buy them and open them they are not FQ'S at all they are way smaller. so sad. :(

i have to agree. that confuses me quite a bit, too. how many parties do they think we're going to throw? :?

I'm with Rebecca, I sent my "complaint" and got the same form letter in response. Who do they think they are..???? Oh yeah they are walmart, but with as little of my business as necessary.

I also received the same form letter. I would like to purchase a new sewing or embrodiery (sp) machine but will have to drive 95 miles away in order to test them. The Walmart in my town and the town 25 miles away still sell machines but I would like to try them out before purchasing them plus there is no one around here to go with problems.

That's the exact same letter that I got too. I asked why they guys could still have their automotive dept but us gals couldn't even buy a spool of thread. It's not fair.Take out some of the cd's ,movies etc. That would give them the floor space.

Since my Walmarts don't have fabric anymore, I boycott the Celebration section. I can buy the same things at a cheaper price at a dollar store, or just get regulare paper plates at Aldi's.

I have to agree that this letter is full of B.S. and Walmart is just blowing smoke up our you know whats but I have sent several letters and left several messages and sent several emails and never even gotten a response. I try to avoid Walmart like the plague but I think they own Ben Franklins too and I love those stores.

To me didn't notice Celebrations using Extra sq footage, did notice more food items, and aisles, and most accept ebt cards. This follows w/client base, markup is generally lower, on food than fabs, but not celebration type items, does help food producers keep producing. :)

It is not just fabric that Walmart has cut out. We can't buy our cat's food, all the brand name food items had price increases, some by a lot. I went yesterday and bought nothing but bananas. That is the first time that happened. Ever.

I have been diligient in trying to avoid Walmart at all costs, because of what it does to the local businesses . These are businesses owned by comunity members who's profits will be spent in the comunity. And owners are present to listen and answer questions. Additionally I am old enough to remember that when Walmart first started national presence ... their big claim was that everthing in the store was AMERICAN MADE. This was silently abandoned once they had made them selves the giant retailer.
It is not that hard where I live to shop elsewhere, and get good prices. There is alot of competition for consumer dollars here. It is sad to see what Walmart has done to some rural areas local businesses.
It is even more regretful that once the local businesses are gone due to Walmarts presence, they abandon the offerings that may not have been as profitable as others , with no regard to the customers who had come to depend on them.
Well I am sorry for the soap box... but somethings just make me mad.

Did I mention I hate WalMart??? They have driven small businesses (not to mention other large chain stores) out of business. They "remodeled" our WM last year; moved stuff around; took all fabric and most crafts out (just left a small selection of yarn, a few sewing machines, some notions, a little scrapbooking stuff and that's about it); scaled down on housewares, including rugs, towels, etc. I noticed this summer that their hanging baskets were more expensive then the home improvement centers and I was in the garden section when a lady wanted help with loading some mulch and there was no one around. She finally left very angry and not being very quiet about it! I can do better on groceries at our local supermarket. I think they are advertising lower prices on some things but I have seen prices going up on a lot of other things. They don't get much of my business....why should they...they don't have anything I want.

I received the same email. NO surprise that it was about as classy as the store it represents.

When they started the remodel of our local W-M, after I had already called, emailed and begged them with reasons to keep it..........the girls in the fabric dept. told me it was being replaced by the "Celebrations" department of paper party goods.
My question was " Who, in this economy, has THAT much to celebrate?" The ladies in the fabric department certainly agreed.
While I would LOVE to patronize my LQS more often, the prices are out of my limited league.
The alternatives here are Joann's or online, and sometimes, you just really need to match fabrics in person. The nearest Hancock's is now an hour away.

I received the same e-mail from Walmart yesterday. The Walmart close to me still has a lot of fabric, but will see if they keep it.

We have a Dollar Tree in the small plaza directly in front of the Walmart.
So the same plates,cups balloons etc. for $1/package
Fabric Dept closed over a year ago. and the large wide empty isles in the new dept with all the clearance items

It's been a long time since I went into our WM - used to go AT LEAST twice a week... I, too, remember how they became America's 'habit'by touting "Made in America" - now one would be hardpressed to find ANYTHING in there that's made in America...

I have yet to see any of the 'cut fabric' they refer to in this letter. The very most that this might be is a package of fat quarters. I have about 15 different Wal-Marts within relative easy driving from me and any that have been re-modeled and all of the new stores the fabric department as we know it is gone. So, as far as I'm concerned this letter is double speak.... Also, I use to spend between 50 and 75 dollars a paycheck at that store for fabric alone, now they may get that a month if they are lucky.....

Ditto------got the same response to my email, word for word. It ticks me off because they totally dismissed my concern. I asked them to reconsider their decision to eliminate fabric departments. I already knew what they were planning to do. I hope their fabric department replacement fails miserably. I am very annoyed with Walmart's response.

Maybe you should write and say what you just wrote. Wish them luck on their "new" department.

WOW there is passion - I will add my 2 cents now and make it a $1 (which 75cents goes to the IRS he he) - Where I live & the neighboring towns WM got rid of their fabric – they still have their sewing machines and some sewing notions. When they had the fabric I know that you had to be really diligent in checking the fabric I also know that it was a hit or miss when you went in to buy, but the price was good when you got a hit. The Local fabric stores are just to pricey for my budget – I know that they are there to make the shop work and make a living – but since I don’t own a store I really don’t understand their profit nor overhead obligations – So I can’t be angry I just don’t shop their I shop on line which is a hit or miss as well. I agree 100% that what WM is saying in their email is all gray smoke – their motivation and their focus is on the bottom line the almighty $$ not the customers.

I have noticed that too. They raised the price from 96 cents to 1.45 on the cat food I use to buy and stopped carrying the dog food I buy for my little old guy. I go to Petsmart now for food. A few cents more expensive but they have it.And I am usually there Saturday's anyway. I go to Home Depot for things I use to buy there like paint and plants. And I have been hitting Kroger more often . Although at this time of year most my veggies come from the garden. And I get my meats from Angel Food. I may still go in for things like batteries but I have even started buying clothes on line because I found a place that the clothes fit better and if I get on sale its cheaper than Walmart.

Ditto, ditto, ditto.
This is the same email I got from Wal-Mart a couple of months ago. I email them back as soon as I got my email from them and told them, this is one lady that would go out of her way NOT to go near their NEW Department. Like that was going to do any good, but, made me feel better.
I'm like Sharon B, they don't even have the respect to send out something other than a form letter.
Another reason for me NOT to like Wal-Mart.

I agree they already have the seasonal stuff all over the place. They cannot even keep the needle section stocked so they don't care. I am using them less and less.

I found out yesterday that one of the reasons they are getting rid of the fabric dept. is that Walmart has bought our Joanns. I had no idea they owned Joanns and had bought them out 2 years ago! Does this not explain why they are getting rid of their fabric dept???? ARGGGHH! They own it all!