TSWLTH

Gee you would think with the huge raise the employees just all got they could do better.

I can comiserate with you. I don't know what they do to their clerks but many of them are exceedingly rude. But they keep sending me 50% off coupons so I keep having to go. I worked for TSWLTH in 1986 and I remember how "corporate" was always trying to squeeze more out of each store. At the store I go to, they are so careful not to give 1 mm extra fabric that I often suspect them of short changing me. If you ask fo r2 yards and there is 2 yds and 2 inches left on the bolt. If you just want the 2 yards, they cut off the 2 inches! My hint for you is mail-order!

Kirsten

I do a great deal of mail order/internet order already, but there are times that it does not take the place of hands-on prior to purchase.

Nor does looking at photgraphs of items take the place of looking at items in person when you are not precisely sure what you want to do, no matter how much you trust the "vendor".. This is no slap at internet vendors at all, but simply a truth when dealing with long distance sales.

Even dealing with TSWLTH is difficult here as they are so far away.. the last two times I made the long trek I came out of the store empty handed, and pretty annoyed with the rude staff. Even WalMart (as bad as it is) is a 30 mile trip each way.. Speaking of which, the fabric department just got a big shipment of fabric in at the semi-local WalMart. That WalMart seems to do a pretty big business in the fabric department, but they are the only game in town.

me

I order materials from time to time online, mainly for dressing dolls, but has also been for stage. Alright this is in the UK, but the supplier I use provides a samples swatch (perhaps 80-100 options) for £6 (12$). The swatches don't have all colours, but when I've worked out what I want, a quick 'phone call gets me a colour sample at no extra cost, and where they've got two or three different but similar materials (IYSWIM) they will send colour samples for each type. Certainly had some gorgeous brocades and laces from them.

What it does mean is buying material has a built-in time delay, it's not just a case of popping out to the nearest fabric store. The prices are

*very* competitive, and with a slight change in attitude, it's well worth the delay of a few days.

Ah, well there's no way around purchasing on a whim, or a spur of the moment purchase, and yes, we both still enjoy browsing around the two or three fabric shops near us, but the purchases do tend to cost more.

Umm, no, you have completely missed my points, and instead have attempted to attribute my caveats to impatience, whim, spur-of-the-moment, etc..

When I drive 50+ miles, it has nothing whatsoever to do with impatience or spur-of-the-moment... It has to do with procuring something that I cannot procure except in person.

I am far from an impatient person, and I think that I can control my ID enough to manage to wait until something I want arrives in the post. I rarely make any purchase without seriously thinking about it for a very long time, and that alone precludes whim, etc.

As I have already stated, I frequently purchase on-line..

However, fabric swatches are not always representative. Draping, and overall design (pattern) are frequently not well represented by a 3 inch square swatch.

What I am speaking of has nothing whatsoever to do with "spur of the moment", or "whim"... It has to do with comparing similar articles, which you cannot do properly by photoraphs alone... I am not speaking of fabric here, but other sewing related articles..

me

Sorry, I obviously didn't choose my words too well. I wasn't trying to suggest that you were impatient, more that an online purchase is not an immediate sales transaction, and that it needs a different mindset.

Memo to self:- Have I said what I mean? Have I meant what I said? :-)

Well, I did say mine was mainly for doll dressing. :-) I can usually gauge fairly well on a smallish sample if it's right for my needs. As an aside, could you kindly tell a right-pondian what TSWLTH stands for?

:-)

The Store We Love To Hate - usually meaning Joanne's Fabric and Crafts

liz young

The Store We Love To Hate: Joannes, usually. I gather it's a bit like our Hobbycraft shops, but messier and the staff are rude! ;)

Ta very much!

Ta, and it's odd but although I've visited one or two HC shops, I've never found anything I've *really really* wanted to buy. :-)

Not invariably. At the one near me, the staff are very nice, but, of course, they can only sell what corporate sends them.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

"Me" doth protest too much about impulse buying. Four denials in a single post! Confess you're like the rest of us, Me. We all have good intentions and have the bloated stashes to prove it.

JPBill

Heh! Got enough materials put away to dress dolls for the next ten years, and still we'll buy something if it takes our fancy when we're out 'just looking'! :-)

My pet peeve with TSWLTH is the cutting. Staff is ok. In the last 4-5 years I noticed the change in the cutting procedure. I was almost always short changed on yardage because of the way they cut. The more yards you purchase the worse the shortage gets. I have brought this to the attention of management and corporate MANY times (and had fabric re-cut) and I was told they do monthly checks to make sure fabric is being cut accurately. They are told to line up the cut edge of the bolt paying no attention to the evenness of the cut end. I know it is hard for them to "straighten out" the bolt when cutting it. They are obviously in dire fear of cutting an extra inch that it takes FOREVER for them to cut your fabric! I am not looking for free fabric, just what I paid for. Hancocks just whips out the fabric, allows for uneveness and cuts it. SO I rareley shop at Joanns even with the

50%.coupons. Usually the only time I buy fabric there is when they run the 50% off the clearance fabric, or at then end of the season sale. That way if I factor in the possible shortchange into the price. I figure if I pay less than $2.00 a yard I can live with it. Then again I am lucky to have Hancocks, Walmart and fabric outlets in Dallas, TX to go to instead.

I found a nice big blue cutting mat, some cat print fabric, and a few threads. And some purple handled scissors with beetles in the blades! Cheap as chips, but fine for the kids to use.

I also found a Christmas prezzy for DH, and various bits for young James to use with his modeling, including powder paint for scenery, and a whole set of cheap & cheerful brushes...

Could you tell me which supplier please Dot?

Thanks!

Sarah (UK also)

It'll be like all chains: some good, one or two excellent, most moderate, and a enough rotten applea to taint the barel!

I think the only chain I've ever come across where they are universally lovely and helpful is Lakeland Limited! I just wish they sold fabric as well as kitchen and laundry stuff...

And me! Pretty please! As a non-driver in the fabric desert of Kent, postal shopping for fabric has long been my major way of acquiring interesting stuff along with that frisson of excitement that comes from never knowing just exactly what you will get! Croft Mill are my favourite people for that...