Hancock Fabrics

Quilting has recently become a passion of mine and I’ve been hitting fabric stores outside of my neighborhood because there HAS TO BE something better. Looking at other reviews, I’m not sure that this is it if I was to take them into consideration… yet, on the other hand, I am convinced they have a dang good selection of fabric.
Despite the good selection of fabric, this store is spilling out onto the sidewalks. Almost literally. There are definitely sales out on those sidewalks, and you think «YEAH! I can’t wait to get inside!»…and then you’re there and it hits you: this store is a hot mess. Fabric is everywhere, draped onto the floors and into the aisles, and there isn’t really a good identifier system to tell you where you can find «X».
During both of my purchases and check-​ins, I had the same employee who clearly knew the meaning of good customer service and how to market upcoming sales and discounts.
Bottom line: tons of fabric, but expect to wade through it, and messy, unclear aisles.

Pros: they take Joann Fabric coupons, most of their fabric is usually on sale/​or some kind of discount attached/​they are the closest fabric store to my house…
Cons: employees will give you the stink eye/​most likely you will have to search for an employee to cut fabric for you or help you at the register, so keep your eyes open when you are close to checking out…

Pretty annoyed with the staff of the store, just moved to the neighborhood, noticed hancock fabrics and got excited I live literally down the street from them!
I am more used to a Joann’s, but I’ll take any fabric store…(I guess not this one)!
I came in with my boyfriend looking for black and white stripe fabric, there was only the person at the cutting table and the cashier, so we decided we’ll just wait in line to get help after we did a run around the store looking for the fabric ourselves first…
The cashier was just RUDE!!!
My boyfriend asked if she could point us in the direction of where striped patterns would be preferably b&w and she didn’t even make eye contact and just straight up said «NO».
REALLY? WOW, what great customer service… I guess that’s one thing Hancock Fabrics does NOT specialize in, besides b&w stripes!
She then turns to the other girl at the cutting table and says do you know of any black n white stripe fabric here? The girl says No, so then she just turns around to us and says we don’t have it.
No customer service skills, and just so ready to dismiss you and what we were looking for!
The lady standing behind us had the same facial expression we did, as if we were asking for so much, or even for such an uncommon thing!
The crazy thing is that on our way out something caught my eye, WHAT WAS IT???
B&W striped pattern fabric!!! This blew my mind! It wasn’t the exact material I was looking for but who cares, it was the only one I saw in the store. and worse came to worse if i couldn’t find it anywhere I would cave in and get it…
hey STAFF: GET TO KNOW YOUR STORE BETTER OR AT ALL!
DEFINITELY will NOT be coming back to this location! I rather drive/​bus/​walk to any other place that sells fabric! LOST CUSTOMER!

I think Hancock is great if you know exactly what you’re looking for and have a coupon/they’re having a sale.
I bought 12 yards of tulle and it came out to $ 18. Can’t beat that.
Their notions selection isn’t incredible, but that’s ok.
They have a weird home decorating section in the front that, come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone perusing.
The staff are ok – probably overworked and underpaid. Not terribly fast, so bring your patience.
All that said… it’s cheap as hell, convenient location for me, and I can deal with the other… weirdness about it.
Protip: you can go to their website and print coupons. Well played, Hancock, well played.
The good: cheap and kind of easy.
The bad: the look of the store is pretty bad. Lots of fluorescent lighting, and things spilling into narrow aisles. Make it a challenge or a game of Lava with a friend. The possibilities are endless.

Best customer service around with great prices! An attendant named Ryan helped us find the perfect fabric for our church windows. He led us to the perfect product, took the time to measure and cut it, and stayed late after clocking out to assist us with cutting the fabric in half. Best customer experience I’ve had in a long time… Major kudos.

I come here a lot whenever I come home and visit my parents. It is literally the only fabric store I know of on the Eastside, which was the sole advantage for a place with bad selection and even worse employees.
If you want a wide selection of John Deere-​branded fleece, this place is your dream.
If you want a bunch of garish polyester dancewear fabrics, you’ll think you died and went to heaven.
If you want a good selection of natural fibers for making normal people clothes, then shut up and leave. Don’t even THINK about asking for help.
Yesterday I came in to get some lining fabric for a dress I’m making. After waiting five minutes at the cutting table with NO ONE in sight and people waiting for me in the car, I decided to ring the little bell and see if it would summon an employee from the back room. Yeah, I know the bell must be annoying, but there was absolutely no indication that anyone was thinking of helping me. Well, my prospects didn’t change much. The young woman behind the counter answered with a surly «Just a minute,» then came over and did her best not to help while occasionally looking up to glare at me.
I left without buying anything. I’m done driving 20 minutes to this place just to be treated like garbage by miserable employees.

I enjoy having a fabric store near home.
The staff is rude, well mostly just the guy who works at the cutting counter. If you have been there, you know who I am talking about. He is there often, so I try to not go to this store, unfortunately.
This guy is a smart alec and unprofessional. I can appreciate that the staff is casual and shows some individual style. But this guy needs to reserve his sarcasm for off-​hours. I was mortified when my MIL from out of town and I went to purchase supplies for a project and he was downright rude to her.
Some people might enjoy his sarcastic «shtick», but it also comes off offensive to many. Why not be friendly and helpful? Everyone can appreciate that.

Great store from a hard-​to-​please textile shopper. Highly recommended.

I love this place! Yes the wait at the cutting counter can be a pain in the tush but welcome to ANY fabric store on the face of the planet! the staff there are really great. I am in there at least once a week and they know me and my family by name. They take Jo-Ann’s coupons which is a huge bonus!
Not the huge selection as the gigantic stores but I like the small neighborhood feel of the place. I also love that the staff have a wide range of hobbies from SCA members to cosplayers ans ‘traditional’ crafters. far and away better than the Jo-​Anns in Bellevue (which is a nightmare!)

I like this place and the quality of selection of fabrics far better than it’s competitors around.
They have great designer fabrics.
They staff is always helpful. More experience than other stores around.
They have decent sales.
It’s a smaller store compared to other fabric stores in the neighborhood but it’s worth going to for your fabric needs.

Selection: Awesome
Completely different selection from JoAnn, so hit both stores for the full selection in the Kirkland/​Bellevue area.
Also, Hancock Fabrics is a true «sewing store» — depending on your needs, this is either awesome or terrible. You won’t find much (if any) scrap-​booking, jewelry-​making, or home décor in here. Nearly all of their square footage goes to fabric, notions, sewing machines, thread, etc.
Prices: Decent most of the time, sometimes great!
Their sales seem more frequent and heavier hitting than JoAnn’s, even though their default prices seem universally $ 1−3/yard higher. Don’t come in unless there’s a sales banner on the front window. The off-​sale prices are ridiculous ($ 9-​$ 10 yard for snuggle flannels and cottons is typical).
Service: Horrendous
Fabric cutting can be excruciatingly slow with terribly long lines, and oftentimes the employee running the cutting counter is also the employee working the cash register. JoAnn must run their cutters through speed drills, and Hancock needs to do the same. I actually pare down my selection to bare essentials before I approach the counter because each ½ yard takes like 2 minutes to get cut.
I HATE the «product of the moment» hard upsell at the cutting counter. No, I don’t want that $ 10 package of cheap-​looking thread, please cut my fabric without the sales pitch!
The retail death rattle is strong at Hancock — understaffed, dingy dated interior, heaps of sales merchandise. That’s too bad, and I hope the store sticks around, but the service is awful and the prices are nothing special. Selection — and proximity to my house — is all that’s carrying it right now.

Personally I’ve never had a problem with the service here. They’re often busy and understaffed, but it’s also a fabric store, it’s not like they’re making millions to pour into a staff member per section. Personally I like the independence to browse, no one is breathing down your neck, And they always carry everything you need for a project. I buy my upholstery stuff here, brads, fabric, trim. It’s well priced, except for the foam. Buy that online or at Fred Meyer. It’s a good store, especially when there aren’t ones like it (one stop shops, thrifty) anywhere else near by. I love my Ben franklins for my bit of fancy flair, but the basics I buy here.

Understaffed! I was working with the two gals and both were very nice and showing me around. Management needs to help these laddies out or hire more people. The rating is not for the employees, its for poor management. I really felt sorry them.

This place is awesome! Everyone there was very helpful in pointing me to everything I was looking for and they even told me about some of the good deals they had that I might be interested in. They have a pretty decent selection for all things fabric related, but I’d like to have even more ribbon to choose from. I got all the ribbon and thread I needed, along with a great new pair of scissors for super cheap, because they were having a huge sale. I left there feeling really good because the employees were so nice and I got everything for less than I thought I would. I’ll definitely be going back soon.

If this isn’t for the fabric store right next to Petco, then forgive me… I am trying to write a review for that one, which I thought was called JoAnne’s. Anyway, whatever the name, for the store right next to Petco, why is it that with each visit, I find snarky employees most of the time? This may be one of the few brick and mortars that is hard to replace with online shopping, but if it weren’t, I’d say it would be a matter of time before the doors closed. Nobody wants a heaping helping of snark with their purchase. Again, another good candidate for employee customer service training. Hire a mystery shopping company, and see for yourself.

I have visited a few fabric stores in the area for the random items I need for projects from time to time, and this has been my favorite by far. I’m not a regular fabric purchaser, but this place always comes through with whatever I need and has the best prices you can find. The staff has always been really willing to answer questions and recommend certain products, and that to me is the number one reason to stop by here!

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed this place before! This is my go to store for fabric and sewing needs if I have a specific project. (Yes I sew and I cook — think that’s why my wife liked me because she doesn’t like to do either.)
Prices are better than Jo-​Anns. The staff is easy to find and friendly. The only thing I wish they had is a huge remnants section.

Ugh! I avoid going here as much as possible. I’m not *that* old, geeky or weird… yet? But I do like to take up a sewing project once in awhile and it is the only local place to pick up sewing supplies.
Fabric selection is very frustrating unless you want some fleece. Yeah, want some? Neither do I! Do you remember that place in DT Kirkland that carried all those beautiful fabrics, trimmings, shell buttons and other stuff that actually inspired you to sew beautiful things? Yea, forget about it here and just pick up that elastic waistband you need to replace.
Notions are ok but not great. Crafting supplies are mediocre.
That said, I avoid Jo-​Anns like the plague too. Fabric stores in general are just so… ankle socks, modesty panels and prairie dresses!

So in comparison to Jo-​Anns, this place has the following perks:
–Great sales, which they have all the flippin time.
–Wonderful selection of cheapo fabric for those of us who like to play with new sewing techniques/​types of fabric (I’m talking $ 3.00 or less a yard here!!)
–Acctual fabric selection changes, to me this is a perk, because I don’t always want to go in year after year to see the same old same old.
–They accept competitors cupons! (take those jo-​ann cupons here!!)
Personally, I love this place, and the only con for me is that it’s in Kirkland and I’m in Seattle. I’ve never had bad service or rude employee issues, in fact the gals who work there are always striking up a friendly conversation with me and telling me tales of what they make too.
They don’t have every kind of crafting element ever, which again, I like. I hate having to deal with a fabric store that’s acctually like a scrap book barn in disguise. Sewers like me need this kind of refuge, and I will be a hancock’s customer until the day I move or they close (which they’d better never do, because my heart would break!!)

The store size and fabric selection is pretty good, but there service is HORRIBLE. After going there several times (I know, I’m a glutton for punishment, but it’s the only close fabric store) I get repeatedly worse and worse service from the employees. The service at both the cutting counters and cashiers are extremely slow, assuming that you can find anybody to help you with either at all. Being very laid-​back and patient, I don’t even have a problem with this, but their attitudes’ are also extremely unpleasant to the point of nastiness. Heaven help you if you so much have a question or are having trouble finding anything here… you’ll get the most unfriendly and least helpful service imaginable.