The word "sale" alone can get most people excited but add in the word "clearance" and you send most peoples' hearts racing! Throw in a coupon on top of that clearance sale and we are now talking about the 'perfect storm'!
This was my reaction when I heard everyone talking about a big yarn clearance at Jo-Ann's in my FB Crochet Group. Day after day people were posting pictures of their bounty ~ shopping carts full of skeins for a $1 or less.
Oh I did my best not too look!
Oh I did my best not to drool!
Oh I did my best to resist the urge to go and buy my own shopping cart full of yarn!
The last straw for me was when I searched my Jo-Ann's mobile app and saw that I had a 15% off my total order coupon ~ it pushed me over the edge. Yes I'm a sucker for a good coupon.
Once I was finally there I didn't go straight to the yarn section as you may have expected I would do. Nope I followed my usually routine when I go to Jo-Ann's. I start in the front and work my way around the store so that I don't miss anything, especially items on sale or even, dare I say, on clearance! I found wooden cutouts that I use to make diaper cakes on sale and grabbed a bunch of those. (By a bunch I mean over 20!)
I then continued on to the fabric section, still anticipating the yarn section where I would found my bounty of "clearance" yarn. I found some pretty fabric in the remnants bin to make fabric flowers. The line for getting fabric cut was about 15 deep so I passed on looking at the bolts of fabric and went for the ready to buy stuff. This would also get me to the yarn section a lot faster!! (Are you starting to understand how I think? ..... I didn't think so!)
Finally I hit the yarn section. I took a deep breathe and rounded the corner to find the first aisle filled with people. My heart skipped a beat thinking that there must be some good stuff on clearance! I couldn't get down that aisle so I moved on to the next one. I even left my cart behind so I could navigate quickly through the crowds.
I started scanning the bins for red tags and low prices. Nothing. I kept going further down the aisle. Still no red tags. I must be down the wrong aisle. They must have the clearance items in a separate display, on an end-cap perhaps. I moved back to the first aisle. There is it ~ a red tag!! Finally I can breathe. I reach down to see what color yarn is in the bin and I notice the price. WHAT??? $2.97 is not what I was expecting. It's okay that's just one bin, I will move on to the next one. There has to be some that are less than a $1 ~ the crochet ladies said so!! Well I looked and looked ~ nothing less than $2.97. You can imagine my feeling of being let down. My hopes of a shopping cart full of yarn were GONE!
I reluctantly found my cart and pushed on further into the jewelry and scrapbook sections. That's when I saw the check-out line. There had to be at least 20 or more people waiting in line. I had to make a decision to leave ~ hey I didn't get my cheap yarn after all ~ or stay and get some of the other supplies I needed. That 15% coupon again helped me make the decision to stay.
One thing about shopping in a craft store is that everyone is a crafter in one way or another and will easily engage in a conversation about said crafts. So I chatted with the lady behind me and before you know it I was at the register. I actually enjoyed my conversation with her and discovered that we had a mutual friend. Yes, it's a small world and even smaller here in Delaware, where everyone is connected to someone.
I never did get my shopping cart full of yarn on clearance. I guess the Rubbermaid tote of yarn that I have already will have to do.
Happy Crafting!
Beth
