Because,
sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name.
And, well...
they're always glad you came.
Yup.
It's back.
Different location, same fabulousness.
many thanks to my friend Lisa for tweeting this pic and making me pee my pants with excitement.
As most of you know, our beloved Hob Lob was blown off the map last April and we've had to 'make do' with a stand-in which shall remain nameless to protect the semi-innocent. For this post's sake, we'll call this stand-in Shmichael's, mmmkay?
Things I WON'T miss about having to get my craft fix at Shmichael's:
1. Employees who look 16 and know nothing, and I mean NOTHING about crafting, craft supplies, things to do with crafts and general craftiness altogether. They also have no idea where anything is in the store in which they are employed.
2. Employees who have no idea what a Cricut machine is and tried to sell me a cutting mat for a Slice. To go in my Cricut. That ain't the same thing folks, but the leetle gal at Shmichael's tried to tell me it was. She be wrong. She be real wrong.
3. Although this could've happened in any parking lot, it didn't. It happened at Shmichael's.
It was raining.
I couldn't get in my hotmomvan.
I took pictures of the idiot parking job by the driver of the VW until that idiot driver came out of Shmichael's and saw me taking pictures of her car. I explained to her that I couldn't get in, which was obvious.
She made no apologies, but only looked at me as if I were the crazy one at fault. Again, this could've happened anywhere,
but it didn't.
It happened at Shmichael's.
4. On my last visit to Shmichael's, I found a lovely rotating rack on which to hang my flower pins. After searching through the store while pushing a double stroller with two antsy little gals and having no luck even finding an employee to help me, I took said rack up to the check-out counter to ask my question.
"Could the two hanging bars be adjusted on this rack or are they stationary?"
That was my question.
The response I received from the 16 year-old behind the counter:
"Well it probably has instructions inside".
That was it.
That was her entire response.
And then she just stood there and looked at me.
Nothing else.
"So, should I just take it back to the aisle and bust it open or should I do that up here on the counter?" was my response.
Again, she just looked at me, dumbfounded.
After waiting a few seconds and realizing she really had no idea how to solve the problem and after hearing the whines of my babes in the stroller growing louder by the second and after the frustration inside me had risen to a boiling point, I tore open the box, read the instructions myself while others waited behind me in line, because at this point I didn't really care. I found that, yes, the height of the racks could in fact be adjusted to your desired height. I crammed the pieces and the instructions back into the box as best I could in a hurried, frustrated state and through clenched teeth said,
"I'll take it."
It really is quite a cool little contraption and works exactly how I hoped it would, however, every time I look at it I'm reminded of the stupidity in which I had to deal with upon its purchase.
5. I'd also like to mention that on this same trip to Shmichael's, an employee of the store was there for a visit. On her off-day. With her dog. Behind the counter. Perhaps the reason that the gal from behind the counter didn't want to deal with me and my spinning-rack questions was because she was more interested in the dog running around. Behind the counter.
6. Shmichael's does not carry clothespins nor have they had bar pins in stock for the last 3 months. When I asked an employee where the clothespins were and after we both searched the store for a good 7 minutes, and then after she realized that they don't, in fact, carry them- she tells me to phone corporate and request that they sell them in their stores. Again, true story. I can't make this stuff up nor do I have the time. This same employee also had no clue what a bar pin was.
"You know, the thing you put on the back of a pin. To wear on your clothes. A thing to pin to your clothing- like a scarf or a shirt. Like the pin on the back a brooch." I had to say all of that for it to register with her. All of it.
7. The past two times I've been, they've been out of 1-inch grosgrain ribbon in black, red, and white.
8. They only carry photo storage boxes with nasty flowers on them. At hob lob, they have a plethora of photo storage boxes in all manners of color and patterns for you to choose from, including plain-jane black and white which is my preference.
9. I know the employees at our hob lob and I hope most of them will still be at the new location. I do not, nor do I care to know any of the employees at Shmichael's who again, know nothing of the things they are employed to sell.
10. I will not miss the occasional 25%-40% off sales of Shmichael's but look forward to once again enjoying 50% off entire departments for weeks at a time at hob lob.
Have I made myself clear?
To summarize, Hob Lob is back and Shmichael's stinks.
Can't wait to show you what I bring home on my first visit to the new store.
Also can't wait to show you my I heart hob lob shirt that I designed last night. Because I do.
I heart it.
Happy Tuesday y'all!
