Out of the box
Creative Leisure News keeps tabs on the crafty goings-on
at the big-box and chain stores. Its publisher, Mike Hartnett,
shares the latest with YMNews.
1. Changes at the top. Michaels
is up for sale and CEO Michael Rouleau has retired. A.C.
Moore's CEO, Jack Parker, announced he will retire and a
search is on for his replacement. Jo-Ann Stores' CEO and
board chair Alan Rosskamm is also stepping down; no replacement
has been named yet, nor for VP of Merchandising Dave Bolen,
who resigned last fall. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart replaced the
head of its craft/fabric/yarn division. All this has increased
uncertainty among vendors unsure of the directions the chains
will take under new leadership.
2. A slippery skein slide.
The chains blamed diminishing yarn sales for their disappointing
firstquarter and monthly sales/earnings reports. Michaels
reported its yarn sales in stores open more than a year
were down 38 percent from the previous year. "Fashion"
yarn appeared to decline more than basic yarn. Vendors and
retailers had expected the tremendous increase of recent
years to continue and ordered/produced accordingly. Now
retailers are slashing prices to get rid of excess inventory.
3. Book editing. As of YMNews's
deadline, Michaels changed book/magazine distributors (to
a division of Home Design Alternatives), and the resulting
transition is causing problems for publishers. Michaels
execs are confident the changes will ultimately result in
increased book sales and therefore better product sales.
Mike Hartnett is publisher of Creative Leisure News, a business
newsletter published twice a month online at www.clnonline.com.
To try CLN, visit the site and click on "Try Two Issues
Free."
Event of The Month: Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival
By Judith S.L. Young
From the pictures plastered all over the Internet, you might
surmise that every knit blogger on the East Coast was among
the 50,000-plus fiber fanatics who descended on the Howard
County Fairgrounds in early May for the thirty-third annual
Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Evident everywhere was wool's
power to unite and inspire. "Knitting is still experiencing
a renaissance," says Gwen Handler, festival chairman.
"People are much more educated about fiber than they
used to be. We're no longer a niche market. It's beyond that;
people come to Maryland from all over."
READ THE ARTICLE 
In Blogland
What knit bloggers are making and thinking this month.
READ THE ARTICLE
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