Michaels

I like this store. It seems to be run more efficiently than the Springfield one, so I will often come here on a lunch break vs. waiting to go to the one closer to me after work. They have anything you could ever need, lots of stuff you don’t need, and just about everything in between. The staff is friendly, I am often greeted while perusing the aisles (which actually caught me off guard the first couple of times as this is unheard of at the Springfield location), and the cashiers are pretty quick. Huge bonus=they almost always have more than one line open too! Yay crowd control!

I like this store much better than the Sterling one. I know exactly where (most) everything is. I will say that I frequent the acrylic paint aisle and they are almost always out of the exact things I need. Also, their brushes aren’t great. I need a calligraphy brush and the only one I’ve found there was around $ 40 for a tiny brush. Nope.

We had a great experience with their framing department. The person who helped us pick out the frame, matte and glass was also the person who created the finished product. She told us it would take about a week, but called after 4 days to say the frame was ready. The quality was as cose to perfect as we could expect and the person we worked with was friendly and helpful.
We had been somewhat reluctant to use Michaels because the advice we found on the Web urged us to look for a local framing shop that did their own work and Michaels is a chain. We tried it anyway and were told they manufactured the frames on-​site. Their cost was also less than a «local» frame shop that we found sent out their framing jobs.

This Michaels is a pain to get into, due the design of the parking lot and overall design of the strip mall.
However, once you are in the store. You will find all the hard to find items you can’t seem to find at the more popular locations.
That being said, that’s why I visit here more often than the one that’s closer to my home. You can’t beat the weekly 40% off coupons and sales.

Michaels can very easily be either Heaven or Hell — perhaps even both in any given visit — to those inclined towards the crafting arts. As you already probably know, it’s a mecca of crafting supplies, there are items related to literally every kind of arts & craft. Jewelry making? Here’s an entire aisle of beads. Scrapbooking? Here are TWO aisles for you. Woodworking? Metalcrafting? Bow-​tying? Floral arranging? Of course there’s something for you as well. And that’s in addition to all the «normal» stuff like, y’know, painting, and stuff.
But in all the majesty of literally having something for everyone, there comes a point where the casual crafter, like yours truly, can get a little lost. And by a little, I mean, well, a lot. Every Michaels store that I have ever been to is literally bursting at the seams with aisles, both permanent and makeshift. Navigating through Michaels is like going on an expedition. You make your way through front of the store, stocked up with all things holiday-​related, only to find that MORE holiday-​related stuff is stuffed into bins between each aisle. You take a turn at the posterboard aisle in search of the wall of glue guns that the Michaels employee pointed you toward, only to end up in another, DIFFERENT, aisle full of posterboard. It’s like the Bermuda Triangle of shopping trips.
In an effort to pick up supplies for my bangin’ HallowMEME costume (worn last night, proof is in the profile pic thankyouverymuch), I ventured into Michaels in search of some foam core board, a dowel, some paint, and a glue gun. 4 items. That’s it. About 45 minutes later, I’d finally found all the pieces… and not without a lot of effort.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that crafters have a haven wherein to find even the most elusive of items. But for those of us less well-​versed in Michaels topography, it can be a bit of a challenge — AND a timesuck.

Like this store. Good prices, friendly help.

So I’ve taken some art classes in school before and personally love this kind of art and craft stores and products available for sale. It is nice to see things in right places together and staff are able to figure out where things are or at Least try to answer your inquiries regarding certain products. This location is in the shopping center with whole food and etc, parking can be a pain in the butt during the day but still not as bad.
We were there to purchase a few items for Halloween again and was disappointed we couldn’t use the coupons from website but cashier still tried to scan the coupons and was able to get some what of a discount and made us happy.

Grabbed a few things in the wire/​beading section. It was a little messy and hard to tell which item cost what. Not too many deals but they did have a 50% off coupon they scanned, you just had to give them your email.

I’ve never been happy about Michael’s and I really avoid it at all costs because they never have enough staff, and children are always running around screaming with no parents in sight and no employee intervention.
Anyway, I had to go the Reston store today to price out custom framing for work. The sales associate was all nice and cheerful at first! However, when I saw the price for a simple shadow box framing job, which was nearly $ 1000 (down to $ 500 with their so-​called «50% discount») I explained that I wanted to get a few more quotes.
He IMMEDIATELY caught an attitude, rudely asks for my information so he can print out my quote, throws the paper at me and says «there you go»! He proceeds to turn around and storm into the back without saying thank you or anything.
I stood there in complete confusion because I could not understand why he would be so angry with me. This is really bad customer service which made me decide right then and there to take my business elsewhere.
By the way, got a quote from a local mom & pop shop for the same framing for $ 400, so I will be going with them.

I had an impressive experience at Michael’s and I am updating my review to give their manager all the credit. He was persistent and did not want me to leave his store without the hardware I needed.
I was looking for a particular type of fastener to connect the back and front covers of a scrapbook to its contents. When I couldn’t find one, I asked for help. The store manager was putting out new merchandise when I approached him and immediately stopped his work to assist me.
He could locate only one package of fasteners on clearance, but since these were fairly small he called the stockroom, checked with an employee on the floor and was not discouraged when they gave him no leads on more product. He personally scoured all the shelves in one department (looking where no one else had looked) and found three different sizes of the fastener I needed.
It was only a $ 4 purchase yet the manager was tenacious on my behalf. Great customer service, thank you!

This is your standard Michael’s. Only reason I decided to review is because I wanted to express the fact that their custom framing prices are DAMN expensive! Even with something not that big, the cheapest style, standard black frame, (basically no bells and whistles) AND even with their supposed 50% off custom framing «special» their costs are still completely outrageous. Much better off finding something online…

Always understaffed; can’t get questions answered. Once the manager was in the back and no employees had heard what I was looking for, although someone told me they carried it. The manager refused to come out to answer the question. I feel a little sorry for the employees.

I’m rating this 5 stars in comparison to the other Michaels in the area. I ended up making some arts and crafts as holiday gifts this past season and went to the Michaels in Vienna. It was pretty much a grimy dump. The people were unfriendly and it seemed like there was no logic to the organization of the products. Thus, it was quite difficult to find what I needed since no employee were really there to help me! I ended up roaming the aisles for 15 minutes until I found what I needed, but I was frustrated and felt like I had to disinfect after finally getting out of there.
So then I was just driving the other day on Dulles Toll Road and saw a Michaels off to the side. I decided to go find it and this one in Reston is amazing! Friendlier people, many more products, and a newer, cleaner, more pleasant atmosphere. You actually feel like you can roam around the store for fun, as opposed to a quick run-​in to grab what you want.