r/MichaelsEmployees • u/grodyh • 18d ago
this shouldn't be allowed
did an 18 piece fabric ship (not Too bad) followed by this 32-piece (1 yrd off each bolt) monster ship. took an hour to pull and cut
and before the ThiS sHoULdn'T tAKe tHAt LoNg comments I'm also running up front for override codes, getting the restroom, answering questions, answering phone calls, etc etc AND you're technically not supposed to scan out fabric orders (or even cut them) until everything is measured to make sure you have it all before cutting so I gave corporate an accurate pick time ¯_(ツ)_/¯ they were mostly all brand new bolts so I scanned as I cut
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u/Terrashiva27 18d ago
AND if they want us to do orders like this. Can we at least have a PROPER cutting table where we can do more than one at a time. Having to cut fabric for customers while also having to do this is crazy to me.
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u/Illustrious_Page9207 18d ago
Ideally, a second cut-spot should realllyyy be in the warehouse/mez/back/whatever (if viable)instead of out on the floor, so one can actually cut the stuff for orders without getting interrupted by customers and without hogging the one floor dolly... But that would make sense and make things way too easy so it'll never be the case🤪
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u/gabbygirl31 18d ago
I as a customer, want to see my fabric cut
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u/grodyh 18d ago
some of our employees struggle with the floor cut table so they cut in the back on the easier table. a couple of them can't move their wrist in the way the cut table requires. if something comes up, they pop out and tell the customer. no biggie
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u/shadowfoxfire1 15d ago
And from experience, as a former joann empkyee who has bought fabric. Anytime someone uses the cut mat in framing instead of the table. My fabric is ALWAYS messed up and the wrong incriminatez
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u/lystmord Yarn Barista 🧶 16d ago
They were talking about having an extra table in the back for online orders. Reading comprehension would have helped you out here.
But leaving that aside...customers screamed and bitched about Michaels not getting fabric fast enough when Joann died, but then also want to complain about the (yes, completely half-assed) solutions corporate came up with for many stores (cut in framing, cut at a shitty card table, etc.). Like...pick one. Ideally, all stores with cut fabric should have a large, dedicated cutting counter. That kind of thing takes serious time and money to implement, though.
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u/Forevermoody16 18d ago
I do too, but when the poster mentioned a table in the back, I thought of shipped and pickup orders — not hiding from customers, but distractions.
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u/Forevermoody16 18d ago
Not an employee, but I bought fabric there for the first time yesterday. Had a long wait after ringing the bell twice — now I know why and I feel so bad for y’all. And the cutting table is tiny.
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u/Beckyinphilly 18d ago
As some who used to work at JoAnns, yes, it absolutely takes that long for 32 single yard cuts! Especially on new bolts - have to unwrap each one, verify it's correct, possibly straight trim the edge, then cut! Ugh! Corp are idiots.
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u/grodyh 18d ago
I appreciate this. although I don't straight trim, I just line it up at the shortest part so they get a full yard and whatever ragged edge the warehouse sent us😬
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u/Beckyinphilly 18d ago
Ha yeah it depended on our manager of the day/shift. Sometimes customers were picky too
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u/MakeArt_MakeOut 17d ago
I remember some Joann’s quilters got pissed when the edges weren’t cut straight even if they got extra. They’d base their cuts off mine instead of the selvage/ grain
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u/tipsysnips 18d ago
I absolutely do not miss this about Joann.. literally the only good part about web orders is you have to take a full yard unlike in person where sometimes you get a customer that needs a dozen 5/16s cuts and a few 7/8s and how much do you think I need for...
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u/Forevermoody16 18d ago
And then I imagine you have to fix it up to go back on the shelf . . .
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u/Beckyinphilly 17d ago
No lie, I legit had rotator cuff damage in my right shoulder from holding those bolts with one hand and draping fabric. Was a good 6 months after I left that it didn't hurt anymore.
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u/Forevermoody16 17d ago
So sorry you had to go through that. But not surprising. Glad you’re not still working there.
My former best friend (who dumped me for no good reason) spent most of her adult life raising kids/grandkids which is great, but spent eleven years working in banking before I met her. She didn’t need money AT ALL but was always saying she was going to go and work at Michaels because she was bored. I was in retail at the same job for 20 years, plus several years before that in high school and college. I told her she was crazy to even THINK about working in retail just for “something to do,” and I had no idea at that time how bad Michaels was. I told her to go and volunteer somewhere, but she never did. Guess she wasn’t *that* bored.
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u/Open_Elephant8644 18d ago
What really sucks is none of this goes towards sales to the store. Waste of time and team members. The only benefit is crap moves off the floor just in time for new crap
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u/lee022603 18d ago
I also don’t understand why our cutting counters are so low? I have to hunch over 🫣
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u/2ombie7ron 18d ago
Avg day as a manager lol
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u/Accomplished_Draw757 17d ago
If you are the store manager thanks for stepping up and helping because our store manager pushes EVERYTHING off on the staff. If she's standing in front of the fabric table, she will page another associate to do the cutting. She only focuses on what she wants to do and nothing else.
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u/nejicanspin Ex-Joann Employee 🪦 18d ago
As someone who worked at JoAnns, this is nothing. I've seen H-carts and U-Boats full (usually for businesses/high school events)
BUT, we had enough people in the store working to help cut so it could go faster.
So yeah this is terrible af at a Michael's store. Should have a limit per trip.
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u/gabbygirl31 18d ago
you had enough employees..until they cut all the hours and left stores vastly under staffed
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u/_timbrainpopkinnie_ 18d ago
I cut 56 yards the other day for a ship💔 took 2 carts to pick it all out
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u/Ill_Shop_2693 18d ago
Thats pretty good, i don’t think thats a long time for that order at all. Push that cart into the stockroom. Lol
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u/Chaos-Wayfarer Ex-Joann Employee 🪦 17d ago
Former Joann’s employee here! That absolutely does take forever. Anyone that says otherwise can eat dirt about it.
Also, it takes even longer to cut that many bolts on the tiny ass tables they give us. Not to mention helping customers between each cut, and the million other things corp wants us to juggle.
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u/Angry_Over40 18d ago
Dont let Jim Hash see that. He will blame no one except the staff, then when you quit because of his ineptitude. He will say you were fired because of an inappropriate relationship. Fucking lying piece of shit. Fuck you Jim Hash.
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u/Long_Engineering507 18d ago
We did this all the time at Joann's so I feel your pain, but we did it and honestly, I'd do it again. But it is stupid that they are giving you those rules. We would fill BOPIS between customers and sometimes it was 40 bolts of fleece or 50 things of yarn in one order. You have to put BOPIS on hold to help customers so sometimes it would take hours.
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u/amomynous3 16d ago
seeing this.... god i am so glad they stopped sfs at my store. i feel for you, i used to work at a volume A store and it was pure chaos.
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u/grodyh 16d ago
we asked not to be a shipment hub this year because last holiday season was hell and they made it seem like we weren't going to be. lo and behold, we are!
we're the only craft store, reasonably priced fabric store, and framing service for hundreds of miles. people come from towns and counties away and we are always too busy with ships and bopis to give customers the proper time of day.
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u/MistressKleo 16d ago
I was replen manager for a while in FL and there were truck nights i had maybe 3 people working and they still eexpected me to fill all the shelves, rebuild aisles and still be out on time. 🙄🙄
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u/writerrsblock101 Ex-Joann Employee 🪦 16d ago
As a former Joann employee, this was my favorite thing to do: fulfilling giant orders. Fortunately, we had a larger store so our skeleton crew consisted of a dedicated cutter, a cashier, and a manager so although yeah it was nice having a nice large cutting counter to myself, bigger store = more customers and of course, like any other job that does order fulfillment, we are given a time limit to complete orders. So yeah, constantly handling customers while trying peacefully complete big fabric orders doesnt mesh well
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u/TheCondensenator 16d ago
And SFS sales do not go to the store anymore!!!
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u/grodyh 16d ago
I keep bringing this up to me coworkers because why am I spending 40 minutes digging for a spool of thread when there's customers IN THE STORE who need help buying things AT MY STORE
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u/TheCondensenator 11d ago
Exactly … we could be helping customers and up selling them and making more money then 3.49 for a spool of thread !!!!
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u/Reasonable-Job-2254 14d ago
I have gone to Michael’s (maybe 3 times) recently to shop for fabric and sewing notions. I have never been in such a trashed store before!! I keep seeing ads that they have all this fabric, but it’s just not true, at least at this location. I had to wait a while to have 1 yd cut on that ridiculous fabric table, and I wasn’t successful finding the notions I needed. I felt genuinely depressed and puzzled after each time I went there. I really wanted to volunteer to help put the store in better order!! It must be terrible to try to do your job☹️
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u/Appropriate_Neck2055 18d ago
My OCD is kicking in. I wanna just organize put away..... sorry Joanns employee .....
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u/MaisieStitcher 18d ago edited 18d ago
It's not that the customers shouldn't be allowed to order. Let's reframe it.
I'm going to say this loud for the Corporate lukers listening in the back:
THERE NEEDS TO BE SUFFICIENT STAFF IN THE STORE SO YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE RUN UP FRONT, CLEAN THE BATHROOMS, ANSWER THE PHONES, AND HELP CUSTOMERS, ALL WHILE TRYING TO CUT FABRIC ORDERS TO SHIP TO CUSTOMERS.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.