Michaels

I love living in Charleston. I really do. There are, however, a few things that I am still getting used to after almost a decade as a city mouse. One of those things is not having a legitimate discount art supply store here.
Binders used to solve all of my painting supply needs and I literally never stepped foot in Michael’s seeing as how I do not scrapbook. Fast forward to living in Mount P and needing canvases on the cheap. While Michael’s does unfortunately have aisles upon aisles of scrapbooking stuff and tacky seasonal décor, they also have a solid selection of canvases in all shapes and sizes — at 50% nonetheless! No doubt they are not the quality of what I am used to buying from a legit art store, but a $ 16 30×40 canvas is a bargain in my book.
Next up — use Michael’s weekly coupon to purchase a silver matte frame for said canvas and see if I can sell it.

I used to work here for about 3 years before I moved on to something a little more my style so this is an unbiased review and not a shaming — this is strictly a review based on someone who is on the outside now.
The location is extremely convenient. It is located off of HWY 17 across from Walmart; among other stores such as Office Depot, TJ Maxx, a shoe store and more. The pricing of the craft supplies is about average considering that’s what they specialize in. The store offers classes that can be taken on jewelry making, cake decorating, painting/​drawing, etc. The store also hosts birthday parties for children which is a new twist on getting kids off of their iPads/​iPhones to be creative and enjoy their birthday.
Store associates are kind and will walk you to any product that you can’t find or want to know more about. The only downside is that most of the associates are very good in only one area such as knitting — so if you ask about what kind of paint to use for a project, they may not be able to help you in that arena.
The prices are affordable and most all of the departments have magnificent selections. I am an artist so I have to be honest that the fine art section of the store is lacking in supplies. There are other places to get these supplies of course but the lack of certain colors or paint or colored pencils, etc can be a downside to any fine artist.
Returns are easy and you can even return gift cards if you would rather have the cash which is awesome and I wish more stores did this.
While the staff is not pushy or earning commission off of what they recommend to customers to purchase, they are for the most part friendly and willing to help you out the best way they can. As with all of retail stores, items are often misplaced or placed in areas that are marked down when they are actually full price which is frustrating for management and customers alike.
Location: A+
Prices: B+
Staff: B
Expertise: A–

Of course every sane female is obsessed with this store. I love how they give teachers a 15% discount. It helps a lot. Especially being a special education teacher.
The one thing that drives me nuts is that there is never anyone on the floor when I need help. I can walk around the store searching for someone for a good 10 minutes.
But other then that they have awesome sales.

Michael’s has your basic craft gear. The location in Mt Pleasant is fairly small so a lot of items are seasonal, like apparently contact paper… They have yarn, baking supplies, beads and jewlery making stuff, toys and also offer custom framing.
They always have a 40% off one item coupon. Just go to the website or get it from the app. Just show the coupon on your phone and you are good to go! I love a good mobile coupon.
I have been to Michaels a few times where there is a line to check out around the store but they usually have a few check-​out lines open and I think this is only a problem around Christmas.
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