The quilters of San Antonio, TX collectively petitioned their mayor to speak to WalMart on their behalf to not discontinue their fabric and notions line. WalMart agreed and that's why the stores there never interrupted selling them.

Now that JoAnn's has been sold -- and their quality and selection has declined, and their prices have gone up, and many of their long-time employees have been replaced by part-time non-sewers -- WalMart's replacing their fabric and sewing departments in many of their stores.

In the meantime, though, I'm shopping at Hobby Lobby.

If the Wal Mart stores would put the fabric departments back and have someone assigned to that department there would be no problem with $$$$. How many times does a person have to ring a bell to get fabric cut and wait and wait and wait, just to have a clerk walk by and say "I don't work in this department." Let me count the times.

I did hear from a reliable source that the Walmart in our area is going to start remodeling the area for the return of the fabric dept. by the end of June/early July

I live in Reno Neavda and they have put material in a couple of stores that had material but it is all precut in to one or two yards and pre wraped for sale. I didn't check the price.

Not just the fabrics department! That's everywhere at WalMart!

thankfully the one in newport, ar still has fabric and getting in a good selection. good prices/good fabric

Walmart's problem is like so many stores. Their corporations are usually run by men and the stores are managed by men. The grocery corporations finally got smart and started putting women in charge of design etc. I don't care how much schooling they have. Men simply don't understand enuf about women and the way we think and shop. Wonder how much they lost with all this shifting and remodeling.

I think I have mentioned this before, but our towns Wal Mart just did a re-decorate and put the fabric dept. back bigger and better than it was. Rumour was that they were going to be removing the dept but when they started the re-fit the moved the dept. to the middle of the store and it is put together so much better than it was before. Selection is improving every shipment. The only things bad is now the cutting table is this tiny little thing compared to the one they had and it is still sometimes difficult to find an associate to cut fabric without waiting for 5-10 mins. Oh and they no longer carry embroidery floss or embroidery items.
I would suggest you sit down and contact Wal Marts corperate offices via email and let them know that you are very interestd in a fabric dept at you local store and were wondering if they were going to be putting one back in. Wal Mart is the one big box store where I have had good luck getting return communication from when there is and issue. I think they might actually care about improving thier reputation.

You Las Vegans come up and see us in Pahrump ! Nice fabric dept here, Sara

The attitude was "If we don't have it, you don't need it," changed when WalMart began losing market share. Consumers have lots of power. Write corporate and call the local manager. froggyintexas

[quote=jshorty]Awhile back someone posted an article from Wall Street Journal stating that WalMart will be putting back fabric depts starting May 1st. I live in Las Vegas & have been to 6 different Super WalMart & non have put in fabric.

I live in Brownwood TX and they never got completely rid of fabric thought pickins' were really slim. Our fabric dept is growing like crazy but they are cramming it into the same tiny space. It is so hard to shop, almost impossible it is stacked so high. They are cutting their own throats by not giving more space. Maybe that is coming. I don't know why they kept it other then the size of the town(small) or the cries of the customers. Have some good quality and pretty pieces.
Robin in TX

Just last week I was in the very nice and large fabric department in my WalMart. My friend, who used to work there asked the (very nice, friendly always there) employee when the remodel was to take place. She said it was slated for June/July of this year and so, as my heart pounded, I asked if there was talk of doing away with the fabric department. The employee said, "I don't know, I've heard both stories".


UH. I sure hope not.

Our Walmart never has closed its fabric dept but I was told they were to move the dept to another area come late August.

"The attitude was "If we don't have it, you don't need it," changed when WalMart began losing market share. Consumers have lots of power. Write corporate and call the local manager. froggyintexas"

Exactly. You have to remember to it is the way you approach the corp. If you approch in a friendly helpful manner they are really nice and usally very forth coming with trying to accomadate your request. I have used this method several times with Wal Mart and been rewarded not only in thier trying to address the matter with instocks but also in gift cards for my inconvience. I have found as I get older, I don't get what I want unless I ask and if I don't ask they will never know. I'm sorry for those who got the attitude of "we don't care"

Last I heard, a couple of months ago, the Walmart in the Centennial shopping center, just off Ann Road, still had fabric.

Our Wal-Mart in Green Bay, remodeled thier regular size store to make a Super-Wal-Mart. They took out the fabric section and refuse to bring it back. You would think after adding all that room they would listen to thier regular people in the area, but they won`t put it back in. We do have those 1 yard pre-packaged things that no one wants. I was told to go the DePere, they have minable amounts and it`s way to far to go for that. I do not shop at any Wal-Mart now,but we did buy every thing for the house before the remodel and usually left about $100.00 every time we were there.

Looks like we need to keep calling them and emailing them. Maybe they will get the message.

Our Walmart in Lewis Center, Ohio was remodeled this past spring and all the fabric was sold in two weeks. The batting, thread, notions, and mats were put in an aisle marked Home Entertainment. The fabric is sold in two yard increments and is available in cotton, fleece and maybe flannel. Perhaps 7-10 choices in prints are available. Our store also stocks jelly rolls and fat quarters. I've tried the cotton fabric. It was thin and see-through. I'm glad that the thread, needles, batting and other notions are still available.

The WM near use closed their fabric out a couple of years ago. Recently went through a remodel and they have added back the pre-cuts. Some one yard and some 2 yards. Also kits and fat quarters. They have quite a few, but still doesn't look too inviting. There is another WM just a little further away that has never gotten rid of their fabric. I noticed recently that they seem to be adding more fabric selections. Hopefully they can keep it. For certain items, I like to use their fabric.

The Walmart in my area has a pretty good sized fabric & Notions dept. They take alot of it & stack it way too high, & I can't get the one out.Seems the ones I want are always near the bottom. One full length row of organized fabric,a thread section,one half wall of notions, pattern drawers.small endcap of jelly rolls & fat quartersgood sized table of fleece and the cutting table. I can't complain, but it used to be twice the size of this one. Wish they would bring it back.

we never lost our fabric dept. have just as much as always in the fabrics, other things are gone tho embroidery patterns and thread and things along that line even scrapbooking supplies are short of what once was.

For everyone in Phoenix, AZ I have just called around to a few Walmarts and found that the store at 16th ave and Bethany Home Rd has a fabric dept with fabric on the bolt. It's a little bit of a drive for me. But I am in that area once a week.

Robyn

I think that is a big "key" - have just one person there or within the immediate area that has an ear bent to the fabric dept, it is disappointing to have to wait while someone is paiged - and even worse when you are trying to shop on your lunch hour. The last time I was in (late last week), the little gal looked more as a designated person to watch the dept and still stock shelves in towels and linens a couple ailes (sp?) over. I have heard them yell out "I'll be there in a minute" - and that is okay, I can live comfortably with that. :-)

Marysewfun

Our Walmart in Martinsville, IN, took out the fabric department last summer when they did a remodel and replaced it with cut bundles and fat quarters. A little while after that, I was told that it was one of the largest displays around. But then, I learned a couple of days ago that they will be putting the fabric department back in the store on July 11. Happy dance here!!!
Janis

I sure hope you are right. Our WalMart closed theirs about 2 years ago when they remodeled.

i newport ar i live in lonoke ar and walmart has not put back there fabric also nlr ar has not got enough either
so i hope they put it back soon
louise in ar

Two Walmarts near me - the newer one never had a fabric department and still doesn't; the one that's been here a few years had an excellent fabric department, it was removed, the store was expanded and remodeled, and there's still no fabric department and a "quilting and sewing" section in the (small) craft department that's about half an aisle long.

Just a quick note to say that I asked the woman that worked the fabric dept in the Washington PA store and she said they are bringing back her dept and she thinks it will be sometime around the middle of June - yipee!

Lynn, I wonder if Walmart hasn't heard of it because it isn't block of the month, it's quilt of the month, and another program put out by David Textiles. At least that is what I've seen here in Wisc. for quite sometime. Also you can look up the Walmart site and see what I'm talking about. They show a picture of each months quilt and also it's fabric to make the quilt exactly like it's pattern. I hope this imfo helps you. Linda

i wish west memphis ark, would get our fabric back

i go to the new walmart in Mt Vernon Washington. they have a pretty good fabric department. good prices too, though the last time I was there I noticed there was no one in that area. First time I had seen that. Lady is usually there to cut.. They had stacks of fleece too.

We have 2 Wal Marts. The "new" one removed their fabric dept.they just have FQ's and the 1 yrd cuts in their craft section. The "old one kept all their fabric.

LIKE was said above some are just putting in some hanging fabrics which I don't like at all, maybe for a small mug mat or table runner, but here in Olympia Wa a couple have kept there fabric dept you just have to be careful some is really thin

Walmart has made a science out of studying what sells where. If something takes up too much floor space in proportion to the profit margin, they move it out in favor of stuff that does better. Another factor is that yard goods require the presence of an employee, unlike a lot of other items.

When I was young (ancient history) Sears, Wards and Penneys also sold fabric, and you could order it from their catalogs. There were also more local fabric stores, and they were thriving. Almost every woman could sew, and many did at least a little. Times have changed.

I know a lot of people buy fabric from Wal-Mart but after a very bad experience I had at one of the Potland area stores, I don't shop at any Wal-Mart no matter how inexpensive it is. The bad experience that I had did not involve fabric but a perscription. The fabric department in this store was not very good. Most of the fabric was on tables and NOT on the bolts. The quality was not very good and it looked like a hurricane had gone through the flat folded fabric. Worst of all, the store was dirty. The floor, counters, etc. I cannot shop for anything when it looks like that. I know not all stores look like this but when it's the only one in your area, what can you do? rather avoid it.

Try calling the 1-800-walmart phone number and complaining about the cleanliness of the store. Or you could ask for an address and take pictures and send them in. I haven't seen any bad Walmarts in my area. It's too bad yours is so bad. When you have a bad experience with a prescription, I don't blame you for not wanting to go back to the store.

I was at the Centennial Walmart about a week ago...they have TONS of fabric

I was a WalMart Fabric Manager for 8 years....Three years ago they expanded our store to a Super Center and did away with the fabric and most of the crafts department. I had left before that all happened so it didn't affect me. I happened to stop in the store yesterday and an old friend of mine who is still a Manager asked me if I was coming back because they were bringing the fabric back. I dont know the details and they are not doing it in all areas but some stores will definately be getting Fabric back.

Here ia a link to the Corporate website and their press release regarding fabric...
http://walmartstores.com/Search/?q=f...&s=r&fd=a&fa=p

We lost fabric in a remodel a couple years ago. The store is so messsed up now, I couldn't stand another remodel unless they tried toreturn to straight aisles, all going north and south again.

well, that's amost two months old--------not seen any signs of a return to the good ole days, yet.