Judy Lee wrote "I find that different materials make a difference, as does the quality of material. You'll usually find me at the $1/$2 bins at Wal-Mart, where the composition of the fabric is up for grabs. (The bolt's label often is not what is on the bolt.) Try as I might to come home with 100% cotton, sure as shootin' there'll be a poly/cotton blend in the bunch. I will use it because my "discretionary income" is gone and the nearest fabric store is 20 miles away."

I'm with Judy. If not for WalMart i couldn't afford to make more than one or two quilts per year. Fabric is at least twice as much everywhere else unless you stumble across a miracle-sale somewhere. And in my area, even the sale prices are usually near double or more. Most of the online sale prices are beyond outrageous!!!!! Since I most enjoy making quilts for charity, my heart has been twice broken by the changes.

I don't know if it'll do us any good, but June pointed me toward a petition web site

http://www.petitiononline.com/savefab/petition.html

(21,000+ signatures so far, so I hope it isn't a scam. :shock: )

I rolled the dice and signed. Each of the rest of you Walmart dependent quilters will at least know of the option, then decide whether you want to, also.

Thanks for the link! I am signed in!

Besides signing the petition don't forget to call 1-800-walmart and leave your comments there.

I not only signed it. I told them it needed to be bigger and better, that they needed to make it like their garden dept, with it's own seperate cashere, and add to the selection.

Thank's I signed . Will tell my friends about it.

I just signed the petition also. I agree it is very convenient during the late hours. I often stop on the way home from my quilting class. There currently are 21,780 signatures.

21794 here! Betty 8)

I heard that Walmart is getting out of the fabric business ( at least in my area) Winnibego, Mchenry County Illinois. Not sure where I will be able to find fabric at the prices I can afford again.

The ladies at my walmart said they were talking of closing them all and going into party goods :thumbdown: :evil: :evil:
I signed

I emailed them about the situation when I found out about it a couple of weeks ago. They aren't going to change their minds, bottom line is it's not making as much money as it used to (they didn't say that, but having worked for them while finishing a required teaching class......that's what dictates decisions.)

I told them that we have the military community here, low incomes, lots of retirees, and way more fixed income than most areas. I also told them they would lose me as a customer when they take it out. I'll have to drive 45 miles to Wilmington, to get to Joann's but that's the way it goes.

I'm signing the petition in a few minutes, but everyone needs to flood them with letters emails, and register complaints with the manager of the local stores along with the District Manager there. Enough complaints and they may even go back to being primarily a fabric department like it was when I worked there instead of crafts. I like the crafts but I like the fabrics more!

Finally we need to pray that God helps them change their minds.

Just what we need another party goods store. We have plenty of them around here and cannot keep a reasonably priced fabric store. If Walmart closes theirs, our one and only quilt shop will probably raise their prices more due to no competition.

What I am learning about Wal-Mart fabrics is that they are mostly over-runs and misprinted bolts. No one can tell me where they come from , but my own experience is this....the maker name and dated codes are 5 or more years old. There is something wrong with nearly every piece I buy. When I am stream pressing them, I often note dye-over-laps and misprinted prints. I have purchased some that have had the selvage on one side completely cut or hacked off. These are especially the $1. and $2. bolts of fabric.

The higher priced fabrics may be OK, but I don't indulge in those very often. I make most of my quilts to give away and simply use whatever I can find at a reasonable price. Hancock Fabric and JoAnn seldom have sales at these low prices.

Many women are not going to be able to afford to make quilts, even the ones they want to give to their children, if they have to pay $6 and $8 a yard for their fabrics.

I signed the petition at 4346, which was Dec 28. It is a shame the executives do not care about what their customers want or need. They probably buy that fabric for pennies on a bolt and would say they are passing the savings on to us. If their minds are made up, then we know what we can do....to hurt them in the pocket. There are other places to buy the things we get at Wal-Mart after they close the fabric departments. One Fabrics Mgr told me she was told it will be another year before they close. I will be watching as I am sure many of you will be also.

I signed the petition, also.
As the previous poster stated, I, too, am considering not buying anything from WalMart if they close out the fabric dept. I can shop elsewhere for my groceries, and their clothing dept. leaves alot to be had, anyway.
Not much else that I need from WalMart, except toilet paper and they sell that at the Dollar General Store.

If they close it down and I have to drive 30 miles for a yard of fabric, I'll
use Hobby Lobby for my fabric.

We hav a JoANN's and the pricey stores too, but I like to use flannel or backs and they use to have a good selection/ not anymore. I can't afford $8/$9 fabric all the time and their flannels was relly good. Its a shame.

The big Question is:

Should we organize a boycott? As they close down the Fabric depts we can ask others to shop elsewhere. I don't know anything about the legal aspects of something organized, but we surely could do this by word of mouth just as the petion was done via e-mails.

Any suggestions? I can do this!!!

As justifiably upset as we are, I'm not sure we should go as far as trying to organize a boycott.

1. Are there really enough of us that WalMart would notice the loss of our business?
2. Would we be asking people to drive farther and spend more than they could afford to support us? Remember - WalMart may have turned into a heartless corporate giant but they may also still be the best alternative for thousands in small towns and relatively remote areas. I'm not sure I could afford to always spend 20-100% more for my groceries. Wouldn't want to ask anybody else to make a sacrifice I can't make by their side.
3. Not only is WM not a charity, they're no longer a family company. The Waltons sold out last year to another company.
4. In addition to letters, emails and petitions, the best thing we can do is to continue supporting the WM fabric departments still out there. Show them it'll make money for them. Corporate reality #1: Spreading the Green works better than Seeing Red.

Just my [usual] oversized bag of 2-cent pieces.
:roll:

I'm all for a boycott.

Does WalMart have an email address where I can notify them of my intentions?
I looked on the website but didn't find one.

I was already dissatisfied with Walmart when they stopped their layaway department. The local one here will be discontinuing off the bolt fabric March 12. In our area it sounds like on selective Walmarts will have the pre packaged cuts. Thanks for the petition. While I doubt a bunch of signatures is going to help, I was happy to put mine on there. I think a boycott is a good thing. We have a grocery store in town that I can get my groceries at and perhaps everything else too. I made my complaint with the store manager and let him know that there were plenty of little stores in town that I could take my business too. It's a shame. I do think the boycott is a good idea, but I have no organizational knowledge on this type of thing myself.

Melissa

I think Patrice is right. There are so many million of WalMart shoppers, a boycott by us would be unnoticed. As for supporting the fabric department while it is there, that would benefit us most in money savings for when the department is no longer there. Most of us cannot afford to shop elsewhere or do not have a choice. This is the way WalMart has been engineering the shopping scene for all of these years. That is their goal, to give us no other place to shop. It is too late in most areas, but some of us still have choices. We should exercise them, and do the best we can with the balance between our conscience and our pocketbook. I have started buying bags of clothes at the thrift stores when they are $2 a bag to make scrappy quilts. I choose all cotton and most of them are new or little used. That saves me some money.

I visited Wal-Mart last week to get more materials and the salesclerk told me everything was 25% off because they were soon to do away with the fabric dept and add more craft stuff. Is this going on all over or just my store. If not for Wal-mart I don't know where else to get fabric. We have 3 quilting stores in town but I just window shop there, I can't afford their prices. When Wal-Marts fabric goes to 50% off I'M GOING SHOPPING

There's nothing wrong on catching a good deal, But I would also tell the Mngr, he has no idea how many customers, he's going to lose. They will wind up like K-mart, down sizing as well as looking for some retail company to go in with them, because of low low sales, And needing someone to help them with sagging sales, Thats when sears partnered with K-mart, just so they could keep what stores they have left to stay afloat. But you know thats what CEO's are all about they know best, But where are they when things go bust.

Just call in 1800walmart and tell them how you feel. I was very polite the lady I talked to was very irritable, so maybe they are getting a lot of calls .keep it up :D

Yes I did tell them my feelings on the subject. I also went on that website and signed the petition. I know there are alot of signatures there but lets face girls we need alot more. In this day and age not many people sew anymore. I'm afraid we quilters are a dying breed. My family thinks I'm crazy to spend 2-3 hundred dollars on making a quilt when you can buy one already made for 100 dollars. They just don't get it.

Check every day. Different things will go on sale at different times and at different rates. It doesn't all happen at once. Unless you're the only quilter in town, don't gamble by waiting too long for the really good stuff to hit 50% off or more. Unless you're standing right there when they mark it down, it could be gone before you get there.

Can you tell our local WM fabric department downsized? I checked every couple days until they were done. I think I have more of the fabric now than they do. (And, believe it or not there are colors, shades and values I STILL need! LOL)

I don't know how it'll be in yours, but in ours there aren't any more distinct "on sale" tables. Just whatever they don't feel like putting on the racks mixed in with the $1 stuff and the marked down stuff.

:x I signed the petition as well. 29188 march 9th 2007! If they do do this which I hope that they don't I will go to hancock fabric or Hobby lobby. Being a begginner quilter and a craft person all the way around this upsets me. Maybe they will not do this and realize that they are maiking a huge mistake.

Kellie and to all of us that hate Wal-Mart right now:

I am usually the type of person holding a glass that is more than half full--...I think nobody can do anything if it's really out to hurt someone or themselves ====to any extent, anyway. Well, USUALLY, I have grown up quite a bit when it comes to big ppl with big money...
Wal-mart is big and bad and about to shoot their pinky toes off on both feet. No, better than that, they are about to shoot their balance off, so they are going to fall on their big, bad assesses. The big toe is where you get your balance from anyway, right?!?

I think they are beyond caring about us. THey have so many lawsuits now, what's another 30,000? Did our petition make it that far, yet? Well, they're going to do what they WANNA do because they can, and, although that little smiley or big smiley or whatever that smiley is, IT IS GONNA KEEP SMILING! If it keeps on smilin', we're gonna march right in there and buy our milk and toilet paper because it is cheaper there than Kroger or Foodland or whatever the name of that local store is. And they win. They're killing us anyway.
I know tooooo many ppl in this area that spent way tooooo much money at Wal-Mart.
For example: PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:
true story....if you are bored; turn the channel, you're to busy to be on here anyway:
When I was first married to my husband, he worked for a 200.00/week salary. (I had recently left my job for personal reasons). After taxes at that very time, we got $167.** per week after taxes.....
That means we received $668.00 per month! GEEZ!
At that time, we spent at LEAST $200.00 PER MONTH at Wal-Mart. We could drive the 45 minutes (20 minutes more than the local grocery store and dollar store) and get alll of our groceries, toilet paper, soaps, shampoos, SHOES, and you know what all of our needs are! FABRICS! ;) we got all these things in one stop instead of 5 or so! to get the best deal. We were saving money! and we went once a month. .....
Well, I start of my writing knowing what point I want to make and exactly how I want to make it, then I get so off track with everything that is going on around me....kids...an internet connection that is unfaithful, kids, demands of the every day life, kids........and then, it's just gone......
but we would spend at least 1/4 of what we recieved each month at Wally world.....
Times have changed. We got older, some. We got wiser, some. We got wealthier, some. And we shopped at Wal-Mart a whole lot more........
You know what...............????????????????????
I have gone to Kroger the 3-4 last times for groceries...
Cvs for my Rx needs...I even had 2 of my DD's Rx's transferred from W-M to CVS...
I've checked out quite a few on-line possibilites for fabrics....
and I haven't been to W-M in quite some time.
I've about found wm to be the red hydrant...........and I'm about ready to hike my leg!
Where was that I read that every single $1.00 spent out of county or out of area (where ever spent)....was like $5.00 spent locally?
Well, my W_M is in summersville and 45mins away......my local Kroger is 25 mins away (opp. directions and no shopping centers or nice restaurants)........
I'm outnumbered........and so are you. no matter what we do, wm wins. We're the little woman--they're the bigun
I can boycott and be mad at the world........or i can be happy they'r putting in a wm at flatwoods 25-30 mins from here, and I'll never have to leave the county agani.
I can be happy that a nice big wm will let me shop happily one-stop without driving all the way to summersville (45 mins).....and PUT ALL THE LOCAL DOLLAR AND GROCERY STORES out of business.
I am happy the WM will bring lots of jobs to Braxton county....
I'm sad that several businesses will go away.......
I'm happy that several businesses will have the opportunity to make money and go on (IF THEY EVER DECIDE TO COME ABOUT IN THE FIRST PLACE, AS MY AUNT SHUT DOWN AND WE HAVE NOBODY.....)AND wm will no longer be selling the fabs like they once did.
I am happy that wm will be losing a lot of business due to poor, poor POOR judgement, and they don't even realize what they are doing to themselves. They're too big to realize and too big to care. why should we?
Who of us are powerful enough to find out what it takes to go on and open up our own shops? Well, maybe that doesn't take power alone, but we can find other places.....I hate it, I do.....But.....WM doesn't care! I will share with all of you anything I find as to where to find the cheapest. Im probably not going to open any business right now with my kids being so young. --I have a cake going out WED...after a meeting w/my pre-k advisor.
I barely have enough time to think right now, but I'm open to sharing if the opportunity gets close...and I do smell something.......... ;) (aunt had fab. shop......)
g'night for now.......
share your "vent" with me!~

Miranda, I admire you for sticking to your guns. I, too have cut down on Wal Mart purchases. You are right. They won't notice. But the people we shop with instead, they will notice. We can tell them why we are shopping there and ask them to carry what we can't find. Most businesses are more than willing to try to please their customers because they are not as big as WM and they appreciate new customers.
I have been shopping for fabric at the Ben Franklin store. It is only 50 miles instead of 100 miles from here, but there is only one grocery store there. Found out the fabric department manager is a quilter. She has been getting in alot of good quilt cotton at 5.99, which is HIGH for me, but saves me gas.... a tossup. Since the fabric has improved, so has their sales volume, and so has their selection. And they also have a $2 or $3 bin, and fat quarters for 1.50 or less. I'm happy. I also found a great quilt club while shopping there.

:( Several of us have been phoning in and posting to the online petition for months now, and it appears WalMart is not listening. They say only the Super WalMarts will be carrying fabric. In my area, the Super WalMart had the smallest and poorest selection, whereas, the smaller WalMart a few miles away had a much better selection. This smaller WalMart was supposed to close out their fabric department but now they are being told they remain "until further notice," which they say could be another year until they are slated for a remodel. Very frustrating.

ours is a Super WalMart. so is the next closest. One fabric department is already gone. ours is on the chopping block. will be gone soon. we just don't know yet exactly when.

Maybe it will force me to start actually using my stash instead of just adding to it on a whim or starting projects that require something i don't already have. and since most of my purchases will now have to be online i'll have to offset the shipping costs by buying less of each at a time. I don't know if i'll end up spending less or a whole lot more. Kinda scarey.

one good thing has come out of it, though. i've had to start looking at more websites and have stumbled upon one or two good deals. not enough to replace having a place just around the corner to get decent stuff at good prices. but i guess i'll get used to it and perhaps expand my fabric horizons.

Patrice,
You can't use your stash! Man, that would make me insecure. I gotta tell you. I just went to the annual swap meet of the local quilting guild, joined up, signed up for the next class, and the best part, I came home with about $200 worth of stuff for $22. I am stoked!! :shock:

Y'all are certifiably crazy. What do you mean you can't use your stash? That's what it's there for, right?

Says the man with several hundred board feet of exotic hardwoods in his storage room.

tim in san jose

quit clouding the issue with logic.
:shock:

Gotta use the stash up this winter so come summer I can buy more! Clearing the decks! I need the space!!!!
Shopping! Shopping! Shopping! :mrgreen:

Norah, you have every right to be stoked! What a deal!!!!!!!!!

:? The closest Wal mart is less than 4 miles away, But with the sales tax here in Tn which we pay 10% we don't get any savings, So save a lot and Cookes and Bi-lo get our business but it is just as bad, Hobby lobby has great deals if you get on there website and if you have one close. Hancock Fabric well I usually hit them right after x-mas cause all there x-mas fabric is a dollar.
There are two wal-marts in this town I don't venture to the other one but my husband does and the prices are diff maybe a few cents cheaper.
I don't know what my point is, but they confuse me terribly and I don't need any help being confused.....lol
Until they get rid of the fabric part I will probably keep getting my fabric there unless I find a better deal. They already messed up my scrapbooking stuff why not this too.
Kellie

We had a walmart in summerville (40 miles--one way).....and it was just the most awesome thing to ever come along. and now, it's gone and the SUPER walmart is there....
the one in the opp. directions is farther and not even a super and they are the one not going to close the fab dept! And I'm thinking yay! because they're not so far away..........
can you imagine being so far away from anything? And why? we're SUPPOSED to get a super wm at flatwoods......like 20-25 mins away (you know, like in our backyard), but I've also heard it ISN'T happening! WT-?

Walmart closed the fabric dept in green valley arizona. I hope they dont close the one in tucson.

Our local Walmart, that rumor has said was closing, just got in all kinds of fabric, People are coming in and buying as much as possible. Fabric dept is busier than ever, maybe thats what they were going for. Ours turned into a super store a year ago. Prices went up on everything. They blamed it on gas. We have several grocery stores that are cheaper than walmart. I go where I can save, fabric is cheaper but there are places in Albany., about 50 miles south that have cheap fabric.
There were a lot more variety stores here before walmart, but if one dares to come they lower prices to drive them out. We do have a target that is doing well but no fabric, oh well :roll: :roll:
And they dare call this progress :thumbdown:

I just signed the petition andi am going to send thew sight to eveybody i know.

Now I am really worried, my walmart fabric dept is NOT getting new fabrics. Evidently walmart doesn't advertise that the fabric is closing, they just do it and you know about it unless you go to the store. :shock:

Thanks! I've signed the petition. Earlier in the year, I e-mailed Wal Mart and also made a phone call. I'm glad to know there is a petition effort. The folks at my Wal Mart told me several weeks ago that the fabric dept. would be gone by April 1, but now they're telling me everything is up in the air and they are getting new fabric every day. They say they don't know what's going on. It will be interesting to see what comes down!
Froggy, in Texas