Stitchboard Admin message #16
Re: Some of what I'm working on
September 20, 2014 at 1:59:10 AM
 
Sherry,

Right?    And especially in these hard times, it must be very hard to sell those items that are less in the mainstream. 

I, too, would love to see them expand the Soft collection...I'd like to see it in our local Walmart!

Yes, and I can't even get the One Pounder, just the Super Saver.  Unfortunately, some of those colors are no longer carried in our local Walmart.  It's still the easiest place to go for yarns...everything else is so much more trouble. 

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Stitchboard Admin message #18
Re: Some of what I'm working on
September 21, 2014 at 10:58:28 PM  (in response to BetwixtTheStitch message #2)
 
Sherry,

That sucks about your Walmart not carrying much yarn.    Glad you can get the cotton dishcloth yarn, though.

Our Walmart has really changed things around.  Remember several years ago, when everyone was petitioning Walmart not to shut down their craft departments?  And for a while, it looked like they were listening.

Then suddenly, they downsized it, made it way smaller.    So of course, much of the yarn went.  They used to have racks and racks of yarn, particularly the RHSS.  Then it was down to a small section of a shelf.  Still dwindling. 

Quite recently, they changed things again, putting many RH colors on clearance and leaving even less RHSS in the yarn section.

They also discontinued the majority of their cotton colors.    There used to be such a lovely selection, but now there's almost nothing.  If you want a certain color...better go elsewhere.

One of the things that prompted a huge change within the past couple of years was when they realized their mistake on the downsizing of the craft area...and so they reinstated sewing...at the expense of yarns.  They took out the entire yarn section to put up fabrics, a cutting counter, notions, etc, and the yarn was moved to a different, much smaller, spot.  And they had to make room for the boutique yarns nobody will ever buy. 

If you have a much better selection at JoAnn's near the other Walmart, of course, you should go to JoAnn's!  If Walmart here didn't happen to be one of the most accessible games in town, I probably wouldn't go there for yarn at all, because the selections are fewer and fewer.

Yeah, that's the key about mail order...waiting.    If you need something right away...forget it!  And definitely, you can't match up a color. 

I sure miss the convenience of a good selection of yarn!

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Stitchboard Admin message #20
Re: Some of what I'm working on
September 23, 2014 at 1:03:08 AM  (in response to BetwixtTheStitch message #4)
 
Sherry,

Yes...Walmart had an extensive craft department, until they decided they didn't need half of what they were selling and started messing with it.  The more they messed with it, the worse they got.  They scaled down the sewing until you could only get the most basic items, such as needles and a few threads - but no fabric at all.  Then they started in with the novelty yarns.  Then they discontinued a lot of the basic yarns.  Then they re-added sewing...at the expense of more basic yarns.  Then the yarns started getting scaled down more.  Not the novelty yarns, though...again, the basics.

So now there are only a handful of yarn basics. 

The small yarn shops are a huge loss, too.    We had one...and it's gone.  They couldn't make it.  And it was the only game in town.    I love shopping at mom & pop stores like our (former) yarn store, doing the tiniest bit I could back then to keep them going. 

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