Martha Stewart products cheap(er)
Speaking of Martha Stewart, I have some inside scoop: apparently Michaels is now able to mark her products down! If you remember, when Michaels first started carrying her stuff, the one caveat was that this merchandise never went on sale and the handy coupons included in Michaels flyers did not apply to Martha Stewart merchandise. Being an avid coupon clipper and collector (any and all friends who lived within a 15km radius were required to surrender their coupons to me every week), this was devastating news.
Well a former coworker who is now working part time at Michaels informed me that this has changed. This line is no longer limited to the wealthy crafter! This pleases me to no end but a part of me wonders if this change in policy is due to sluggish sales in the merchandise. I worry about this because although I can’t generally afford her products, or justify buying it for the primary reason of “it is so beautiful”, I find it inspiring to walk down “her” aisle, fingering paper and ooohing and ahhing over the kits she has. I realize that ideally there needs to be fewer people like me and more of the “looking and buying” variety for the line to be successful, and I think there are. That said, the change in policy is being taken with a grain of salt.
Being a thrifty crafter who spends a lot of time scouring the aisles of Dollarama, paying regular price for Martha’s things was hard, even though they were so beautiful and eye catching and of high quality. Now my inner thrift and the part of me that loves beauty can both be happy with this compromise.
October 5th, 2007 at 9:26 am
So ask me if I’m surprised the sales of Martha’s goodies were sluggish?! When I was in the States in the summer I still found the prices of Martha’s crafts over the top compared to everyone else.
I’m not even sure I’ll buy her things when the coupon is in the flyer. There is something about Martha’s “need” to tap into everything going that bothers me. Beautiful her items are indeed. But I wish she’d just leave something untouched. Not everything she does is “a good thing”. Heavens, if she’d had decent prices or lowered them from the start I might be a fan. As it is aside from our beloved Dollarama, there are so many great companies that cater to this market for all the “right” reasons. But it is good to know Michael’s is including her in their discounts. For the amount of money crafters spend at Michael’s they’re doing right by the consumer.
October 8th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
I KNEW they’d have to implement this, or dump her line completely as soon as the contract was up. A store like Michael’s can’t have shelf space taken up with items that can’t be move faster via discounts, coupons, and sales - that COSTS them a bunch of money to be hamstrung so.
Skeptically, I’m wondering if the prices on her items will creep up 10-20%, to offset the frequent use of 40% off coupons a little bit. The prices are high enough right now, thankyouverymuch.
Still, if they don’t do creeping+ prices, then this is a good thing.