Hi, do you work at Wal-Mart? I just went p/t after 6yrs f/t.
We had remodeling this spring...we have the quilting fabric and kits.....it is corp. decission to do away with fabric on the bolt... the store managers have no choice in the matter...there is a town 20 miles from us that has no fabric stores, so corp. let that store keep bolt fabric. We also have some pre-quilted fabric.

They closed down all the fabric departments in Pensacola Florida wallmarts

one more reminder ... we're talking about the precuts. not about the closing of departments. please limit your comments in this topic to that subject.

to comment about departments closing, please feel free to search out one of the many threads on that subject and add your thoughts.

I have no real use for precuts. So bottom line is Walmart lost my business

ours has fabric, but not like they used to

I just went to Walmart.com to see if they had fabric on line and this is the message I found.

Find Fabric at Your Local Wal-Mart Store
Fabric is not available online at Walmart.com, but you can find a full assortment of fabric and sewing supplies at your local Wal-Mart store.

I used to work at corporate in Bentonville, and my take on that statement is that they are looking for a way to make fabrics pay for their floor space and pre-cuts may be the answer. A lot will depend on how successful this proves to be. The criteria is how much money they generate per square foot of space and how it compares with other departments.

do they have precuts? that's the subject of this thread.

if they have them, do you think you'll like them or pass them by?

All the Walmarts in our area, 6 of them, have already phased out. A couple have the precuts but not anything of quality that I would want. I think, for me, it's more that I don't like having pre-picked, pre-cut fabrics. I want to pick my own and have them cut to the length I want. I'm just picky that way. I want what I want, when I want, the way I want. When it comes to fabric, I'm a toddler.

Be very careful of their jelly rolls in their precut fabrics. A lady I sew with bought one and it had 10 of one print, 1 of several and odd numbers of other prints. She really had a hard time making a quilt from it because of the one overwhelming print.

I was in the U.S. yesterday and visited 2 Wal-Marts in update NY..neither had precuts - nothing - no precut yards, no FQ, no jelly rolls....they both has some bolts - but not a lot - lot like we used to see...but at least they did have some..although the only thing I bought was fusible webbing for applique....

Sis #2 is coming in from Michigan tomorrow and we have plans uh, to go to Walmart and check out all the precut fabrics.

A friend who works for Walmart explained that Walmart will only be carrying fabric in stores where the fabric really sells. They're removing the fabric from stores not bringing in enough money. When the economy tanks all businesses look for ways to maintain maximum profit, so the areas where there is little profit, get closed out.

My WalMart had 5 yard bolts for $5.00 yesterday. I've never seen that before. The fabrics weren't what I would typically buy 5 yards of, but could be nice for little girl sundresses, or pillowcases, etc.

I went to one of the few Walmarts in MD in Germantown and nada, nothing, not even a cut piece or fat quarter and the store was jammed and not a soul in over an hour came thru Celebrations. Guess they have no winner there.

Our Local WalMart was just Remodeled and yes I found that they are doing this, It seems to be nice fabric but you can not buy from a bolt, also their fat quarters are a dollar! Not bad It was nice to see fabric in the store again.

Did it ever occur to WalMart to train people how to cut fabric?? It's not rocket science. I hate to shop there but there's no real shopping in the area I live.

That sounds like one really POOR excuse to me ! Find it hard to believe they could end up in a "hole" re. fabric & all the other stuff that dept. sells ...
So what's HIS excuse for NOT training HIS employees correctly / or keeping people around who didn't care what they were doing ??
Or maybe some were going home with that "extra" fabric ... ?

I'll bet enough of us have complained and they're trying to accomodate us in some way without having to open an entire fabric department again. Service was always horrible back there anyway. In a pinch it might work because they are open later than most and some are 24 hours.

Wow, I better check out some of our Walmarts, alot of them did do away with the fabric dept........Michele

There was a rumor about Walmart not carrying fabric any more so they are discounting what they have. I live in Phoenix, AZ. One of the Walmarts have already removed all fabric, yet the other one north of me has tons. Something about the remodeling of the Walmart stores every 5 years and they remove the depts that are not cost effective. That is what I was told from a Walmart employee. from, Debbie in AZ.

Well ladies, we will just have to use this wonderful internet to order our fabrics. Yes, we will have to pay shipping but most stores try really hard to charge the least am't possible. I have never been disappointed in a fabric purchased on line. One time I bought a kit and one of the Blues section was short one piece. I called and she sent me a whole envelope of blues so I could pick the missing one. Also included a postage paid envelope so I could return the other ones. Now THAT is good service.!

Same here in my part of 'Florida - we lost all fabric and only have a bit of crafting items left.

my local walmart fabric dept is not yet doing that. we are still full service. Saukville, WI

I've found a few websites but not sure about their reliability. Would you be so kind as to let us know the ones that you like? I'd trust your judgment where you've already dealt with them. Thanks!!

Holy moley! I hope that wasn't a talking point WM HQ gave that manager. Sad. :thumbdown:

well, because i love you guys so much, i made the ultimate sacrifice to research. i wandered over to my local wm fab dept a little while ago.

truth up front: there's nothing scientific about my determinations. they based entirely on the World Famous PatriceJ Snooty Scale. (trademark, patent, and copyright registration pending. but i don't worry. it's all in my head. anybody brave enough to go wandering around in there to copy it is crazier than me. :lol: )

i'd pass on most of the precuts. the batiks are priced appropriately, but most of the other precuts add up to around $5 per yard. for that you can find a wider selection online and get the number of yards you want. even with shipping you will either spend the same or less. chances are, the fabrics you get will be a bit thickier. (i'm soooooooo sick of the word "quality" at this point i hate to even type it. :lol: )

the fat quarters are priced about right given the prices being charged everywhere else. a year ago, i'd have said walk on by. select very carefully, though. some are priced accurately at the per/yard rate of $4. at least half of them are worth $2 PY tops.

i did notice some very interesting developments among the on-the-bolt racks. some of the newer items are printed on a very different material. a bit shoppish, if i do say so myself. not LQShoppish, but i wouldn't be surprised to find them at either J or H for $7 to $8 per yard. they are selling for just under $3.

at anywhere between $3 and $4 per yard it's a value. $5 at the outside, depending on the cost of living in your shopping area.

again ... because i am such a good friend, i forced myself to buy a bit. after i've tortured it in the prewash and dryer i'll let you know whether or not it held up as i think it will.

more pretty fabric for my stash. the things i do for you people.

:lol:

Walmart here in S FL have no material.

Garland Tx. has it.

Thanks PatriceJ for your sacrifice of time, research, evaluation, and expert reporting! We will stay tuned for the wash/dry test evaluation.

I will let you all know what our store does as time goes on with our remodel.
They moved the dept over the last couple of days(Or were supposed to) to a temp location for now. I get to go to work today and search for where they put it! :lol:

I did notice the newest bolt fabric that came in for fall ---- not the best 'thickness'. I thought it was for the $2 table, but it was $2.44.

I work there and am not a happy camper!

They have pillow case kits for $8.00 a kit which makes one pillow case! Fabric is what we sell for $4.44- $4.94 /y.

Well, it's off to work.....

WELL!!! [she said breathlessly] here is what i found.

i purposely bought a light print. i tested it against a similarly light print from an LQS. light prints are almost always at least a bit transparent no matter how much you spend so i thought that would be a good place to start.

after washer and dryer, i laid "wally" next to a fab i'd bought from an LQS. i was flabbergasted to note that both fabs were identical in transparency and that the wm fab still felt nicer than the shop fab after washing. to be fair, i think the shop fab was printed on a high thread-count muslin, so it could just be the difference in the unprinted materials - both of which are very nice in their own way.

surely, i thought, this must be the product of a hopeful imagination. so i pulled out a second shop fab. i was very careful to select one printed on a material similar to "wally". it was slightly less transparent and ever-so-slightly silkier to the touch.

bottom line? "wally" moves up several notches on the Snooty Scale. :-)

here's the other shocker. "wally" is a David's print. some of you may remember my recent nightmare with dark blue and dark red David's fabs not printed in the US.

so, i am pleased and relieved to report that i will only be avoiding very dark colors from the non-US David's lines from now on. i do not have to abandon them altogether. YIPPEE!!! :-)

They could have solved that by puting a register in that department.

Thanks Patrice for all your hard work and sacrifice!!

Love the pink fabric. OK -- I really can't tell which one is the wally and which one is the LQS. Care to tell us which is which?? :D

i'll reveal that in a few days. i want to see if anybody can tell and give factual reasons without just taking a wild guess. :lol:

Went to WM a few days ago and was surprised to see even more bolts than previously and some that looked very nice. We're very lucky to still have a full fabric department, but mngr keeps saying she doesn't know how long it will last. So come on to Atoka, OK and shop for your fabric!

I can't guess - haven't seen either of those prints at my LWM.

Thanks for your sacrifice, Patrice !

I checked this wkd but our WM still has no fabric whatsoever ... all the bolt fabric has been gone for at least a yr or more

My mother lives near Pineville, LA and they took all the fabric out of the Pineville WM several months ago and replaced it with the precuts.

Texarkana (where I live) has two WM's. The bigger of the two, remodeled and took out the fabric dept. over a year ago and still doesn't have precuts. The one I shop at most still has fabric. However, last week I noticed they had significantly less, so I asked. They will be remodeling in February and will no longer stock fabric. In fact, they will not get any new fabric between now and then. I asked about the precuts and she didn't know if they would have them or not.

I also asked about the Atlanta (Texas) WM which is about 20 - 25 minutes from me (my hometown) and she said they were going to start the Atlanta remodel when they completed this store and would be removing fabric there as well. This is really bad news for people in Atlanta because WM is the only game in town for fabric. And there are a LOT of quilters in the area, many of which are older and on fixed incomes, so I hope they at least get the precuts at that store.

For me, it just won't be as much fun going to WM if there is no fabric to look at and dream of the quilts I could make!

we will have a walmart in my town in September. God bless. Penny

I know which one is which, but I won't tell, because I have an inside advantage !

All the Wal-Mart stores in our area have discontinued fabric. They've reorganized the department and it's geared more toward crafts like scrapbooking and supplies for events like weddings and parties. I sure do miss it, especially for basic fabrics and supplies!