Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts

Hi! My name is Kim and I’m NOT a crafter. So how did I end up in this store? I needed some decorations for a wreath I was going to make at a MOPS (Mother’s of Preschoolers) meeting. I was thrilled to find that most of their Christmas items were 60% off. I’m sure the real crafters shopped a lot earlier in. The year to make items for craft shows, to give as gifts, or to decorate their homes. It was a little overwhelming to me to see all of the possible adornments. I found a frame of the size wrath we were going to be making. I put it on the area where they cut and measure material. I was off to the side so I wasn’t in anyone’s way. It took me awhile to focus because I was drawn to so many things but I found some beautiful things. The employees were very kind which made the experience even nicer.

I frequent a lot of different craft stores. This is at the bottom of my list of places to go.
There are only two things that stand out as good to me about his store:
1. The yarn selection is awesome. I wouldn’t say that it’s a bigger selection than my favorite craft store (Pat Catan’s), but it’s got a lot of different choices to offer that aren’t available at Pat Catan’s. I may frequent here a little more often just to check out some different yarns. They offer big skeins of bernet baby blanket yarns, which I have yet to see anywhere else. However, the same skeins of yarn at Jo-Ann’s cost me $ 0.70 more than at Pat Catan’s. I also love how the yarn section almost feels like it’s own room because it’s set off in a back corner of the store. I spend a LOT (like I’m talking freakish) amount of time perusing yarns. So this makes it a lot more enjoyable for me.
2. The employees have always been very sweet and friendly at this location. I’ve only been here a few times, but every time was during the most stressful time of the year to be a retail employee. Despite the holiday stress, the friendly customer service seems to be consistent.
On to the particular things that I really don’t like about this store.
All of the aisles are hopelessly narrow. Even the main drive aisles. It is very claustrophobic and hard to get around. If someone else is in an aisle they you need to be in, forget about it. Craft stores tend to be a little overwhelming, and this is exasperated by the fact that the aisles are too narrow for you to take a step back and get a full view of what you’re trying to look at.
The selection is dismal. Most craft stores have just about everything you could ever imagine. Jo-Ann’s definitely could beef up the product assortment. I was primarily shopping for yarn today, but I glanced down a few aisles for some other art supplies I was looking for, and I was unimpressed with my options. I would say that the local competitors seem to offer a much wider variety of products for whatever your particular craft or hobby is. I’m pretty sure the majority of the products found here are also available at Wal-​Mart. I find that other craft stores tend to offer a lot that can’t be purchased somewhere like Wal-​Mart.
Overall, I feel that there’s no incentive to come to this store over a competitor. The prices are higher. The store setup is unpleasant and hard to shop. The selection is very limited compared to other craft behemoths in the area. I’ll only be stopping back out of the convenience of its proximity to my job and to check out other yarn that I might not find other places.

Kraftmad Kay found out that a Jo-​Ann Fabric store was in this West Mifflin/​Jefferson Hills shopping plaza and had to drag me along so as to get her fix.
I thought I’d be bored… until I saw fabric with Star Wars designs, vintage Marvel and DC comic book covers… Star Trek characters!!!
Kay wants to make me pajamas and pillow cases to rest my geeky bald head on.
I’m so glad I enabled her addiction the other day.