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Michaels opened doors to public last Friday

September 22, 2016   ·   0 Comments

Orangeville has just got a whole lot craftier. With aisles of ribbons, yarn, paint, gift wrapping and much more, the Orangeville Mall hosted the grand opening of the newest Michaels Arts and Crafts location last Friday, Sept. 16.

Before the doors opened to the public for the first time at 9 a.m., the line-up outside of the mall quickly reached over 200 people. First in line was local Orangeville resident Tracy Hutchinson who arrived around 8:00 a.m.

“I’m just excited that I don’t need to keep driving to Brampton to go to Michaels,” said Ms. Hutchinson, who buys wool from the craft store for knitting and crocheting.

But it wasn’t just Ms. Hutchinson who was excited about the opening of the store. The original “save the date” post on the Orangeville Mall’s Facebook page reached almost 39,000 people in two days, with 321 likes and 240 shares.

“I’m excited because we’re bringing so many products to customers that they’ve never seen before,” said store manager Chris Hooper.

Aisles are sorted by product or event with large signs and pictures on the walls and on the front of each aisle. Finding scrapbooking materials, sewing fabric or candles is a breeze with the oversize signs and friendly staff, who all wear red vests. The new location will also host classes and parties in the store, but the schedule has not yet been released.

And Michaels isn’t just fun for adults; almost a quarter of the store is dedicated toward kids’ crafts and toys.

“It gets kids using their imaginations rather than sitting in front of the TV all day,” said Mr. Hooper, who was the manager of two Blockbusters in Orangeville for 17 years prior to moving to Michaels.

The store — which employs 60 staff, most of whom live in Orangeville — has been in the making for over two years but was only officially announced in February and now takes up the last 19,000 square feet of the old Zellers store.

“We are here to make your front porch or your bedroom or your dining room or whatever you want to decorate, look exactly how you want it to look,” said Hooper. “People come here with ideas and we give them the products and information to make their ideas a reality.”

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