Michaels

The last time we visited this store we were looking for decorations for an upcoming baby shower and I have to say that this shop had what we needed, but the experience was lukewarm.
The store was well stocked but incredibly disorganized in many aisles. The staff wasn’t very receptive to questions, but the cashier was very polite.
In the end, we found what we needed but we have definetly had better experiences at other stores. We would totally come back in the future but only when in dire straights. If we can we like to go to others in the area or closer to our home in Western MA.

When I first went in there in the morning I noticed the store was a complete mess, boxes every where, all over the floor and the employees that where on the floor were to busy putting away product to offer me any help. The one employee I manged to get a hold of, I believe her name was Lauren, she was a totally rude and really no help at all and was completely oblivious to the questions I was asking her, and she made me feel like I was wasting her time and when she told me she was going to get help I watched her walk away into there stock room and when she came back she just walk past me and smiled. All in all I am totally dissatisfied in my visit to michaels and even more dissatisfied with the employee costumer service or lack there of. Also on my out I bumped into the one of the mangers, she was bigger lady and had a overwhelming condescending attitude towards one her cashiers who seemed very shy and embarrassed and it really a very unpleasant thing to see. I hope people read this in hopes that they expect what they are in for if they going into Michael’s in the early morning

Scott and elvis are quick to say «we don’t have it» without checking to see if they even know what the product I’m looking for is.

Hahaha,… must admit that I usually get dragged to Michael’s by my mom but truly love it!

Love this store — they have a lot of nice stuff. the one from Saugus is super nice. Very clean and everything is so well organized compared to the one from Everett which is a total mess.

Although I like Michaels because I can usually find whatever I need for crafting there, I have to give this particular store two stars because of my experiences with sale items.
First, the clearance sections are very disorganized. It’s kind of fun to hunt for cheap treasures when you have the time to leisurely dig through messy piles, but if you’re looking for something in particular you’d be better off avoiding clearance altogether.
Most importantly, and probably related to the disorganization, is that I have had several instances now where the clearance price marked on an item (with a sticker!) does not match what it rings up for. The cashiers either don’t notice or don’t care, and I feel like a pain for bringing it to their attention. This has also happened with items on sale too; recently an item marked as 80% off (yes I double-​checked the item name and stickered sale cost) rung up at the original price, and the cashier was already reaching for my card before I realized what had happened. It’s one thing if a final price is a couple of cents off on an item once, but repeatedly ringing up items dollars more than they are advertised is starting to feel like a slimy process of ripping off customers.
Lesson learned: if you shop here and pick up items that are on sale or clearance, always double-​check the final price. I will be looking for other craft stores in the future.

This si a great store to find crafts for kids. Yes, itis a little disorganzed or messy at times, but he employees are helpful to find something you need and help to make suggestions for fun kids activities etc. They also have amazing classes for cake decoratring, psintitng, bead jewelry,

Disclaimer: I’m having a very hard time with the 5-​star rating system for this review. I’ve had such a range of experiences at Michaels… but ultimately I’ve always left with the craft items I needed (or even some I haven’t exactly needed). Rarely will someone really help you if you have questions, which I find particularly annoying in a store like Michaels where the goal is often to try out new craft projects. If you go up to the registers, usually someone will just blurt out an aisle or general area that you might find your item. One visit out of a dozen, an employee walked me to the item I was looking for.
Pros
— The baking department seems like it is always expanding
— I like the selection of Martha Stewart paints (great for painting glass ornaments!)
— The scrap booking area is huge! There are rows and rows of stickers and paper
— Coupons! It’s easy to get your total of shrink! *Tip* Download Michaels app for your smart phone and have easy access to weekly coupons!
Cons
— The framing section. It’s expensive but there’s always a coupon for 30%, which I find annoying.
— Clearance. It’s all over the store in random spots and then there’s also a dedicated aisle that is a huge mess.

Great crafty space, some parts of the store feel a bit crowded but that’s because they are covered with goods. I get many items for dinner parties here at a reasonable price.

No doubt will Michael’s will have everything you need! They have incredible sales and mega coupons to save your pretty purse all of its pennies.
I need to give customer service a C. I have been to Michael’s three times in the past week, and each of the times, another associate tells me something differently. Either there is no management to communicate effectively to his/​her staff, or the staff just makes up lies as they go along.
Most importantly, I got what I needed. And, I’m sure everyone tries their best.

Good selection, easy parking, store is clean, but this review is for a birthday party that we attended here a few weeks ago. Didn’t know they hosted parties and was intrigued. When you enter the store, there is a good sized room to your right and that is where the party was. This one was for an 8 year old girl and they were told to put on aprons and decorate a box with paint, stencils and stickers. It seemed pretty casual and they had fun. The room was small so they all sat in their seats, so interaction was minimal. There was a staff member in the room who was friendly enough but didn’t help the girls with ideas for their designs. Once the boxes were decorated, they had pizza and cake, took a group picture in the main entrance to the store by a happy birthday sign and then the party was over. Nothing special or exciting, little to no instruction, but they had a good time. I personally would have liked to have seen a demo on different techniques for painting or design. No music in the room, not really a party atmosphere. Would have liked more than what seemed to be a room rental and basic craft session.

I had promised neon colored cupcakes for my cousin’s girl’s night and for some reason had the most trouble finding neon food coloring. while about to have a meltdown in Target because the standard food color colors just won’t suffice, I crawled to Michael’s and BOOM! One box have electric pink, green, purple and blue. The other box– black (how cool) teal, sapphire and gold! I brought both boxes because I’m all about color and creativity and the cupcakes looked (and tasted) awesome. Thanks Michaels. * Bows head*

Huge store, reliable and vast selection.

I have a love/​hate with Michael’s. Well, mostly love.
I can get pretty much everything here. I needed candy melts for cake balls made for a co-worker’s baby shower? They’ve got ‘em. Need crazy scrapbooking supplies? Check. Plenty of fake flowers and crafty bits.
I do wish they had a few more sewing notions — most of their needle arts section is devoted to knitting and crocheting. Understandable, but I still with I could pick up stuff here instead of having to go all the way out to Joann’s!
My biggest pet peeve — custom framing. There are usually good deals going (60% off custom framing, awesome!!) — except they are pretty pricey so that’s not much of a deal if you have a big piece! My husband and I want to get our guest book (we used a decorative register as he is English) from our wedding framed and we just can’t rustle up the almost $ 250 they want for it — even with the steep discount.

I have officially given up on this store. From the poor yarn/​needle/​crochet hook selection, to the framing job that took three times the time they said it would, to the customer fight in the line which started only because the manager on duty was an idiot, I’ve had it. I went to A.C. Moore in Somerville recently and had a much happier experience without the long wait in line I usually get at Michael’s.
How the fight started: The 10 to 12 customers waiting for one of two registers had lined themselves up so that the first person in line would get to the first available register. I was third in line with at least 10 people behind me when another register, much further away than the two open ones, opened. A customer who had not stood in line went to that register. The woman in front of me let that customer know that we were all in line. The customer sheepishly started to go to the end of our line when the «manager on duty» (who was at a register) said that we could all just line up at registers, we didn’t all have to stand in one line!!! Argh!!! Chaos followed of course. Why not tell the newly opened register cashier to say, «I’ll help the next person in line.» Why not have such a line system to begin with?
As for the yarn, it’s poorly stocked, poorly displayed and poorly managed. Just ONE example: When I went back two days later for a second skein of a particular yarn, I didn’t find it in the place I originally found it. I searched for a person to help me. She told me if it wasn’t out there, they didn’t have any. She did accompany me to the display. She too looked for it in vain. I left. The NEXT day, I happened to walk past the back wall where I noticed multiple skeins of the yarn I wanted. Multiple. Skeins. Of. The. Yarn.
Don’t go.

Another good addition to this relatively new shopping district. Michaels sells all kinds of craft supplies — CHEAP too!
Good prices on things like wooden construction kits, decorations, etc.
Prices are kinda high on paint supplies and cooking items, but, well, at least it’s all in one place. Good store — I go here when feeling crafty…

Michael’s is located in the armpit of our metro area, in that horrible Gateway Center which is home to lots and lots of big chain stores (including the infamous Target Greatland– what makes it «Great,» I have yet to discover).
The truth is, Michael’s has it all: ribbon, giftwrapping, fake flowers, markers, paints, scrapbooking material, anything and everything craftsy is in their enormous store, and it’s all much cheaper than at Pearl, Blick, Bob Slate, etc. The problem with Michael’s is that it’s impossible to find anything. The store is so big, and there’s so much overlap between the categories they’ve created (i.e. «gift wrap» and «ribbon,») that one ends up running all over the store looking for something simple. What’s worse, the staff doesn’t seem to know where anything is either. All in all, Michael’s is worth it. Just don’t expect to be in and out of the place in under 30 minutes.

I gotta say that I am drawn to craft stores like a moth to a flame… Scrapbooking, cake/​cupcake decorating, painting, candle making, etc… I’ve done it.
Michael’s is great because it is a one stop shop for all the crafty things you need. You can make some bath soap, make a card, and package it all up with things at Michaels.
While this place has everthing I need to spend my afternoon decopauging or doing some paint by numbers I am not a super fan of this location. Whenever I ask for the location of something they dont know where it really is. Like at Halloween I could not find glow in the dark paint, so there I go and ask one of the ‘friendly’ employees… where do they tell where it is… in the paint department. Now I have to ask… do you think I did not try going there first!!!
In additon to their lack of knowledge of general stock, it kills me that on a busy Saturday there are 2 – 3 registers open. I know I love spending my time waiting in line to buy some felt but there has to be a better system… like having more registers open???

A Craftily Erotic Tale
–
I was going to write a sexually-​charged review about how awesome Michaels is* but as it turns out, my parents now read my reviews (Hi Mom, Dad!).
Then I decided that in order to spare their poor hearts, I will henceforth change all references to sexual activity in my originally intended review to references to crafting while using materials I obtained from Michaels. Instead of kissing, for instance, we might paint a canvas or I might make a plaster cast of his face.
Correspondingly, because I think the gentleman in question probably would not appreciate me kissing and telling, I will change all references to him to that of Martha Stewart, (in)famous domestic and crafty goddess.
* No, actually, I wasn’t until I figured out they might see it.**
** Behind the cute façade, I am actually quite a pain in the ass.
–
Martha and I had spent a pleasant evening out on the town. She walked me back to my apartment, and there on the doorstep, we started to mix a cake.
«Would you like to come up and bake this in my oven???» I breathed into her ear with a throaty laugh. We stumbled upstairs together — I barely remembered to lock the doors behind us — and then we began painting. We started with those paint-​by-​number velvet posters that I haven’t seen since I was ten years old, but then moved onto increasingly bigger and bigger sheets of watercolor paper. Finally we switched over to canvas, hitting the taut fabric with the loud, wet slaps of paintbrushes heavy with gesso and acrylics. When that became too much for me to bear, we scaled back to sculpting with some modeling clay.
The thing about Martha Stewart is that she knows what she is doing. Whereas I maybe dabbled in crafting from time to time, this maven could single-​handedly make a delicious Thanksgiving dinner from scratch all while crafting adorable table decorations and individual place settings for her guests. She knew she had the advantage over my crafting experience and made jokes about teaching me everything she knew. I certainly was ready to learn.
Of course, I was eager to show off what I already knew, making candy from scratch in different novelty molds and creating a tasteful flower arrangement, but Martha quickly took over and made me the most beautiful flower arrangement I’d ever seen. Three times!
After a brief interlude of knitting in the hallway, we moved into my bedroom upstairs, beading jewelry and forming plaster casts of each other’s limbs while tossing everything on my bed into a total disarray. Finally, in the heat of the moment, we began to scrapbook. I haven’t done much scrapbooking in the past, but Martha confidently took the lead, and I discovered all sorts of new things about stickers and papers and adhesive that night. She then made me another flower arrangement, and by that time, we were both plenty tired.
She left the next morning, but not before she crafted me a few doorknob handle decorations and a candle place setting for my next dinner party. «Was this as good for you as it was for me?» I asked over another bowl of cake batter, and she responded by stripping, staining, and re-​varnishing all of my bedroom furniture with a tasteful blue hue.
It was perhaps the best crafting experience I’d ever had, marred only by the fact that the bitch never called again.

I gotta be honest, I don’t like Michael’s as much as I like A.C. Moore. They don’t have a very big selection of much of anything, except for maybe frames?
I try to stay away from the big craft stores for my yarn needs, since almost all the yarn they stock are acrylic or acrylic blends. Plus, they have a dismal selection of yarn needles. I mean, they don’t even carry Addi Turbos!!! WHAT?!
The other thing I hate about the big box craft stores, is that most of the staff don’t know anything about anything crafty. (That’s because all the people that actually KNOW what they are talking about, would NEVER work at a big craft store like that). When I shop here (which is almost never) I know I can’t ask anyone for their opinion, because half the time they just shrug and give me a half assed answer.
I guess if I am in a bind, I’ll come here. But otherwise, you are better off going to A.C. Moore, or a local place…