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Is yarn getting harder to find?


JilliePop

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Is it me, or is yarn getting hard to find?  Hobby Lobby has a great selection of their brand of yarn (of course, and don't get me wrong, I really DO love their yarn), but not such a stellar selection of RH or Bernat, an even smaller selection of Lion Brand, and  a non-existant selection of Caron or Pattons.  I don't know what happened to Michaels, but their yarn selection is pitiful.  They tend to be out of stock on most items, and their skeins are always opened and tangled.  I haven't been to Joann's in a while, so maybe they've gotten better than what they had a year ago.  And our A.C. Moore lost their lease and haven't reopened anywhere near here yet.  I know I can shop and order online, but it's not the same...I really hate most kinds of shopping, but I LOVE yarn shopping.  It's the one type of store that I look forward to going to!!  I just love looking at all of the beautiful colors in person, touching the yarn, looking at patterns, talking with other people who are shopping about what they're making or getting suggestions about what I'm making.  I know that there's been a lot of discussion about LYS yarns, but wouldn't it be awesome if there was a store that carried tons and tons of craft store yarns?  Or does this place exist and I don't know it yet?  Is there anybody else who is having the same yarn dilemma as I am, or am I just being negative?  

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Well in order to get sports yarn, I have to order it on line.  I go to the stores and can not find it.  I have Wal-Mart, Joann's and Michael's near me. 

 

I have gotten to the point, that I order all or most of my yarn on line.

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I can only find worsted weight on a regular basis locally.  General colors are fairly easy to locate, but if I'm looking for a special color I'm most likely going to head to my online resources.  I've gotten more comfortable ordering online.  I still like browsing when I'm out, but if I need a specific brand, color, weight, etc. I'm almost always headed to the Internet.

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About the only yarn store I know of with a truly extensive selection of craft-store type yarns from a wide variety of companies is the Joann Superstore up in Franklin, TN. I'm sure other Joann Superstores may have extensive selections; I just haven't been to them.

 

Like you, my local Hobby Lobby now focuses primarily on their own brand of yarns. My Michael's is beginning to focus more and more on their yarns. My Joann store is small and has a lot of shelf space devoted to their brand of yarns. I don't have an AC Moore.

 

The stores make more profit on their own brand of yarns, I'm sure, since they're purchasing directly from mills, and aren't paying an additional markup to the other brands.

It would be terrific if there was a chain store that exclusively focused on providing access to all the craft store types of yarns, with all the yarns in all the colors offered by every company.

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Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a chain store that stock all yarn brands.  I noticed Michaels definitely dwindling selection and my Joann's never had a large selection, AC Moore probably has the biggest selection but not a lot of colors in the different brands.  We have a brand new Hobby Lobby but I haven't had time to get there since I would do that on a Sunday and they are closed. 

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About the only yarn store I know of with a truly extensive selection of craft-store type yarns from a wide variety of companies is the Joann Superstore up in Franklin, TN. I'm sure other Joann Superstores may have extensive selections; I just haven't been to them.

 

Like you, my local Hobby Lobby now focuses primarily on their own brand of yarns. My Michael's is beginning to focus more and more on their yarns. My Joann store is small and has a lot of shelf space devoted to their brand of yarns. I don't have an AC Moore.

 

The stores make more profit on their own brand of yarns, I'm sure, since they're purchasing directly from mills, and aren't paying an additional markup to the other brands.

 

It would be terrific if there was a chain store that exclusively focused on providing access to all the craft store types of yarns, with all the yarns in all the colors offered by every company.

I second that!!!!!!

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I know in my area yarn is harder to find. My nearest walmat which is two cities away, has cut down to 1/3 of an isle and its a mix of yarns baby,fun furs,#4 weight and #5 and #6 weight, but anywhere from 1 to 5

skeins of each. Next to impossible to get matching dye lots.

An i use is donated for poroect linus,or caner caps.

If I need to purchase for personal gifts I ususally order fBrava fro knitpicks. Its a softy acrylic offered in

3 weights and about 100 colors.

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Our Walmart carries almost nothing but Red Heart and Caron. Maybe another brand or two, but not much of them. If I ever got really serious, I'd probably order stuff off the internet.

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The only places to buy yarn in the town I live closest to is Walmart and a LYS. I frequent both, depending on what I need. Walmart is limited and the LYS is very small. The next closest is a Joann more than 50 miles away. The major city I shop in is 100 miles away with a Joann Super store, Michael's and Hobby Lobby. I suppose Joann would be my all time favorite because they carry the most in variety. Lucky me, when we go to the big city, the Hubster and I make a day of it. I don't online shop for yarn as I too prefer to see and feel the yarn and read the labels. Ah the price one pays for a quiet environment.

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I understand about paying the price for a quite environment.  While I live in the woods, we're located a little more conveniently than most.   It's only a 25 minute drive to get to Hobby Lobby, Joanns (not lucky enough for a superstore, though), Michaels, or Walmart.  

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We are in the same "boat"!  We live 55 miles from a JoAnn Super store, and only have WalMart stores around us, and they've cut their yarn inventories to such small amounts as to be almost non- existent!  I recently purchased a bunch of Red Heart skeins from JoAnn's web site, when they had their Super Savers for $1.59 each!  I called three other members of my Crochet Club and got their orders, and we had a ball spending money--$90!  We made over $300 this year in our Crafts Shows, and it was just burning a hole in our pocket!!  Now I can hardly wait till it comes!!  It'll be like Christmas for our club!!  

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I live relatively near three Joann's. The closest one has a very basic selection of yarns, the next closest is somewhat better but the one a half-hour away has a wonderful selection. One of the clerks told me that they have the largest yarn department in the district and I shouldn't expect to find much at the other Joann stores. I don't really think yarn is getting harder to find, just the selection we all want.

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