I don’t know if it exists in the UK, but there’s a craft store chain in the US called Michael’s, and when Covid kicked up they changed a lot about how their business is done.

So many things went online-only after 2020. I’m a life-long artist/crafter, and let me tell you, the people making decisions at this place clearly have no idea how crafters’ minds work. We don’t always go into stores with a particular goal in mind - sometimes we go in just to see what’s there and get inspired to try something new. We see things we didn’t think about, but once we see it, we know exactly what we want to make/how we want to work an item into a project.

But in order to do that, things have to physically be in the store. We aren’t going to impulse-buy something that isn’t there. Obviously.

As far as art supplies go, I’d much rather buy something I can physically interact with before purchasing - this tool says it has an ergonomic grip, but does it actually feel better in my hand or is it just hype? Can I trust a screen’s color rendering to faithfully represent the hue of this product? Will the feeling of this yarn be comfortable to wear as clothing?

Sometimes, we have to experience a product to really decide if we want it. Some art supplies might be fine to order online, sight unseen, but to rely on that alone (as a seller) is absolutely foolish.

I guess my wallet should be thanking Michaels, but I’m too frustrated by so many things becoming “online only” to really appreciate the inadvertent savings. I’m far from the only crafter/artist that follows their energy in the moment, and if I go to an arts and crafts store and get told I need to order a product online and wait for it, that can be enough friction to scrap the entire idea. I need to follow my artistic energy when it occurs. If I put it off til later, the project might never happen - because I’ll be onto something else by then.

But if the company really insists on misunderstanding their customers and shooting themselves in the foot, I’m not gonna stop them.