Emailing them will do little. Although opposite in concept it's similar to a petition to remove a profitable item. Seldom works. Calling will have more impact and might delay it a bit if they get thousands of calls but unless you put up some cash, it's a futile effort. Of course they'll be thinking if not asking "if it's in such demand, why isn't it selling?" Buying will help keep it around. Walmart is a little quicker on the trigger than many places to pull the plug on slow moving items and replacing with others. Shelf space in Walmart is valuable. This is why some stores have the fabrics where others don't. The ones that had it longer sold more so they kept it available longer, but obviously the sales have died down if they're removing it.

So if you really want them to keep selling it, help make it profitable for them. Buy and get people to buy. As they say, money talks.

We tried hard and had thousands of people call in and sign petitions. No luck!

Hope yours is saved!!

Thanks! I was going to email them today. I just had a wonderful shopping experience in the craft section. The clerk was so helpful and steered me to the right product when I was going to buy the wrong thing for my needs. (I was going to buy iron patches for a nylon parka. She told me to get pressure sensitive patches for repairing tents or the nylon would melt. Duh. I never thought of that.)

I won't do any good...that link has been around for a long time...and we tried and tried to save our...It just doesn't work. They will get rid of it anyway

I wish you lots of luck. We emailed, called and talked to WMpeople. But we still lost ours this past fall. At first we were told that the only thing that would be gotten rid of was the fabric. That was a joke! We now have 3 shelves of yarn, some ribbon on a roll and some sewing needles and some other odds and ends.

Cynic is correct. Walmart nor any other store is going to carry items that do not sell except................there are cases where a store MAY carry a "loss leader". That is a product sold at no or very little profit, that brings in a customer who spends money in other departments on other things. In other words, if you travel across town to buy your fabric there, you probably end up buying your groceries there to make it 'one stop shopping' and then also buy your plants there, and automotive needs, and then see a cute blouse while walking by and snap it up, and then another impulse purchase on shoes. Ergo; if you did not go there for fabric, all those other purchases would have been made elsewhere. Something to consider.

*I went there today to shop in the fabric/craft department. I got what I needed. Then I ended up buying jumper cables there that I had intended to buy elsewhere. And paint that I was going to get at Home Depot. Shoes on an impulse. All my groceries figuring it would save gas and time to get them there than go to another store. I picked up some cleaning supplies and TP that I didn't need yet, but the prices was right and it would save me a separate trip. Had I not gone there for the patches that $200 would have been spent elsewhere closer to my house.

So maybe Walmart can be convinced that the fabric and notions department has that "loss leader" aspect to it. I mean, why would I drive the 8 miles to Walmart, when I got a Target, Menards and a P&S just 2 blocks from my house? And a Home Depot, Target and a P&S right by where I work? If it was not for the fabric department and the garden center selling live outdoor plants, I would never drive to Walmart.

the walmart near us has fabric. and I have to say
it is U G L Y! I haven't found a decent looking
piece of fabric there. It all looks about 10 years
out of date, is poor quality and just b... ugly.
they need to purchase nice fabric to get it to
sell, but I guess it costs more and, well, you know.....

I really do miss the nice fabric and craft section at our local WalMarts! I shop at 4 different stores and only 1 has a half way decent fabric section left and none of them has much craft stuff anymore! And yarn is a huge laugh!

I think it's so sad that they are dropping their craft departments. I wonder how well the party section is doing.

What's strange is that you can drive four miles to another Walmart that still has the fabrics.

They should sublet some of their space to a fabric company, much like they do with Subway and McDonalds.

Walmart has made it clear it is phasing out name brands and expects the people to buy "their brand" mostly made in China and many other countries. I remember when WM was made in USA and proud of it, but not now. I either read that or heard it over the media. They also are downsizing packages as are many other producers. They carry something for awhile and then it is gone. I shop WM off and on.

We never shop at Walmart. We try to stick with small local businesses (including restaurants) because we don't want them to go out of business.

Wish you had another source for fabric.

Our WalMart fabric department is always busy. They sell college and pro ball logo fleece, flannel and cottons. They also have a good selection of John Deere fabrics. The newer Super WalMart here does not carry fabrics.

All our area WM are loosing fabric dept, supposedly in favor of "life events". That stuff you can get at Dollar Tree, etc. for less.

The mgr of our WM Fabric told me it'd do no good to write, that the Upper Management that makes all these decisions have already decided. Period. They don't care. That leaves my immediate area with only Hobby Lobby. Area for my mom & neices - nothing unless they travel an hr or more. Mom can't do that. Sad;frustrating; sounds like govenment.

The Wal-Mart at home did away with the fabric section 2 years ago.I have to say it was nice to have although most of the fabric was pretty bad.LOL I noticed for almost a year that they must have been phasing it out because I saw the same old fabric there,nothing new.Wal-mart already put the small,homeowned place out of business so our nearest Joann,Hobby Lobby and Michaels was 50 miles away. I guess people would rather drive that far to get quality fabric or the latest styles than to shop at Wal-Mart! I don't sew much anymore but it was kind of nice to have it if I needed something for a project.Even then most of the time they didn't have what I needed anyway.What dissapointed me more was the craft section.They most always had anything I needed but they have just the minimum now and when I do need something there is very little selection or they are out of it.Here in Albuquerque there are a lot of Wal-Marts and only a couple have fabric sections and not very good ones at that.The craft sections are about the same.Good thing is there are lots of other fabric and craft stores here.You just have to find them!LOL

I think Walmart is giving up the floor space to more profitable items with higher turnover. They can't afford to invest in inventory and then have it sit.

Joann and Michael's are in that niche. Have any of you tried shopping on-line?

WALMART !!!!!!!!!!!

Our local Wal-Mart is in the process of a remodel. The store has only been open 8 years. They have done away with fabric and their fresh seafood. It costs money to have people on the clock to cut fabric and weigh seafood.

I never purchase fabric from Wal-Mart or Joann Fabrics the quality is poor.

I just received this email from walmart:

Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding the fabric department in your local store. As with any merchandise decision that we make, we have based our decision to reduce the stitching and fabric departments on customer demand, which does not appear to be as high today for a full stitching and fabric offering in some markets as it may have been at Walmart in the past.

In keeping with our emphasis on being a store of the community, Walmart is converting the fabrics and crafts department in some stores to a newly expanded assortment of merchandise that focuses on life's celebrations. We are thrilled to offer our customers this exciting new crafts and celebrations center that makes available craft and party planning needs along with information on current trends and new ideas in the area of life's celebrations, such as holidays, weddings and birthdays.

In those stores where the new crafts and celebrations center is placed, merchandise commonly referred to as 'notions' will be included in the product offerings - such as sewing machines, yarn, needles, thread, etc. As a part of this conversion, most of our new and remodeled stores that opened earlier this year, as well as a small number of existing stores, will feature the new crafts and celebrations center in place of bolt fabrics. Walmart will continue to carry cut fabric in most of our stores. Due to the continued evaluation of our stores, we are unable to share a list of existing stores scheduled to receive the new crafts and celebrations center at this time.

Sincerely,
Walmart Customer Care

Ya this is just what ours did. It really is not worth looking through. I really do not like their new lay out at all. They are trying to look better than they are. I only go there when I HAVE NO CHOICE. I too hate what they have become, how they treat their employees, how they have tried to strong arm many USA brands. Let them move to China, and leave small town America ALONE!

I can't buy the notion that they're phasing out name brands in favor of store brands only. I don't think anyone on this forum (nor kids, or grandkids) will ever live to see the day that you can't buy Tide, Dawn, Skippy, Hostess, Crest, Folgers, Snickers, Charmin, Bayer, Kleenex and that's just to name a few brands that I'd venture to guess will maintain a permanent shelf tag in Walmart and other stores. They'll carry what sells. It's common sense business-wise.

Dilly_dally makes a good point about the companion purchases. And if you didn't know it, the computers record all the purchases (ah, the computer age and all the benefits it reaps!) and the information is analyzed statistically. I don't understand it completely but they have various formulas and algorithms that they look at whereby they can determine that the purchase of "x" square yards of fabric will yield an accompanying purchase of $___ in groceries, $___ in H&B, etc. But I have to believe a lot of it is like guessing which stocks to purchase! Which is why you'll occasionally see them bring back something they used to carry (though not often). Retail is a tough, kill or be killed business and a bad mix or one very bad move can drive many nails in their business coffins.

I feel for the people who desire the fabric and craft items. I'm sure it's very frustrating to lose a source. I think it's fair to guess that most lean toward the more frugal and more environmentally conscious (repair rather than replace) sides, which probably hurts their chances of being catered to rather than helps since the sales volumes are probably lower than the "replace it" folks.

The leasing of space is a great idea. I'm just not sure there's many places who could afford to pay the cost of the floor/shelf space and make it profitable, again, since Walmart's space would command a premium rent. What would be a good alternative is to get a small shop in a stripmall next to the Walmart. Again, rent would go up being next to it but likely far less than inside.
I don't mind progress, but there's a lot about the older days I really miss.

"It's a dog eat dog world and I'm wearing Milkbone underwear." -Norm Peterson (Cheers)