Michaels

The customer service is nearly non-​existent. The employees are rude. Won’t be back.

This is in the big Arborland shopping area. I only go on Saturday’s, and there’s usually a line. Especially around the holidays. They have all sorts of nifty craft stuff, plus cute décor and DIY projects. There’s not really any fabrics though — go to JoAnn for that. The prices of the sale items are decent, and there’s often some kind of sale going on. Don’t forget to use those coupons online!

I only go there for painting supplies, so I can really only comment on that. Overall stock is extremely overpriced, near 40%-50% higher than online retailers. However if you get a good coupon (40% or sometimes 50% off a single item), the price is comparable to online. You also get it the same day, which is useful especially if its urgent and you cant wait for shipping.

Located in Arborland, this is the closest Michaels near me. Surprisingly, the three times that I have been here, they have been crazy busy. On an afternoon weekday. It really is just like any other Michaels that I have been too, so I guess I do not have any other complaints.

3 – 3.5 stars. Try to get a coupon and then wander in here. Wander in here not knowing what you want and you’ll be overwhelmed. This location seems to me to have more merchandise than a few other Michaels I visit. It almost feels like Sams Club or Costco to me with aisle after aisle. I do notice that I can find less gift items here (meaning no work is needed) and more general crafting tools and supplies (meaning work is needed).
I’ve never had a great customer service experience here. Staff tends to wander as well and not really interact. I think generally at the back where they do custom work customer service is generally good at most Michaels stores and the rest of the store including the front is average at best. Many Michaels stores also use this loud overhead system where intrusive announcements are made. It kind of completely and totally lol ruins the otherwise nice atmosphere.
Oh, one other note, if you live here it’s a good place to stop in after the holidays and at the end of the year. You’ll see decent discounts and may find unexpected items you like.

If you need craft items, then this is the place to go… they have lot of things under one roof and one needs to take time to find what they want, unless you know where things are located and you have execution plan on where to go, what to buy, cash out and leave.
I go here twice a year when my nephews from China visit, as they want to pick up some stuff to take back that they can’t purchase in China… I haven’t done a full exploration of the store, but if you have time, look around… parking can be hectic from time to time, but it all depends on what time of the day you go.

Michael’s over at Arborland has a lot of craft supplies, like the bigger chain, Joann’s, which has two locations in Ann Arbor. I’m not sure what differentiates one chain from the other, except that Michael’s doesn’t have fabric, unless you only want a few prepackaged fat quarters.
I have gotten a few jewelry making supplies there, oh and several colors of #10 crochet cotton, which I use for big stitch quilting, a primitive style of hand quilting. Michael’s has basic quilting supplies, but I actually don’t get much from there, or Joann’s, because the quality level I’m after is just not available at a national chain that tries to appeal to the vast majority of crafters with low prices for high volume. I like the Clover product line; I use pins, needles, etc., from other small specialty manufacturers such as Piecemakers, John James, and Jeanna Kimball, but I don’t see their products here.
I like the bargain bins close to the checkout area, where I usually get my one-​year appointment calendar for only a buck. Way cheaper than the same from an office supply store. If the outside is plain, I get stickers from the scrapbooking aisle and decorate my calendar so that I’d recognize it in a heartbeat. Can’t lose that thing — it’s an important adjunct to my brain.
Michael’s takes «competitor» coupons, which must mean Joann’s, because I don’t know of any other craft store that has coupons. Check your Michael’s receipt — there’s often a coupon on that, to encourage you to come back again soon.

dont attempt to return/​exchange ANY merchandise regardless of how it was purchased — even with a receipt. Michaels store policy is you must show a driver license to return an item — mind you, they do not require a license to PURCHASE it… so imagine a tearful 15 yr old who tried to exchange her yarn (with a receipt) and was told that they would not exchange it without a driver license! On another note, the policy requires you to show ID and the employee then enters personal info into a database (i.e. phone number, driver license number, address etc) that Michaels maintains! They wont offer up their security plan though when asking how your info is protected.

I realize that reviewing Michael’s is kind of silly, because it often happens that if you need something at Michael’s, even if it’s not the greatest branch there’s not anywhere else to get what you need. Michael’s has a good niche. So good that they know you’ll shop there even if they’re rude and unorganized, which I have found at this location. I think the store is really hard to navigate – they need much better signage and organization. I was looking for glitter for almost 20 minutes. I asked a salesperson to help me find «just regular glitter,» and she directed me to 4 different places, none of which had regular glitter. I found Martha Stewart $ 10 glitter, glitter glue, and glitter paint. Finally, I spotted an aisle marker saying «glitter.» Aha! Found it! Siiiike, actually the aisle was labeled incorrectly and said glitter was in the adjacent aisle. It takes at least twice as long as necessary to find what you need here. I have also had a bad experience returning something, with two young ladies being pretty rude. I went to the cashier and said I had a return, she looked at me and said, «I don’t do returns.» Welllll, ok then, find me someone who does and don’t be rude about it. Then her manager was clearly unhappy to be doing her job of returning my items and was also rude to me, she acted like it was a tremendous chore. As a store overall, they’re pretty pricey but can have some great sale items. Unfortunately I’ll still go here for some things because they’re the only place to get them, but if I had a choice I’d go elsewhere.

I prefer to support local businesses, but sometimes a chain like Michael’s is the only place around that has the arts and craft supplies you need.
I do like our local Michael’s store. I’ve bought a variety of arts and crafts supplies here, including watercolor pencils and oil pastels. They also have a small selection of science toys and experiment sets, and I bought a «Make your own gummy bug» kit here as a present.
I also like their bargain racks; I recently picked up a set of 10 notecards for 50 cents and a tiny notebook with pen for my purse, also for 50 cents. Those kind of bargains are pretty hard to beat.