Michaels

This article is about the US retail chain Michaels and its parent company. For persons named Michaels, see Michaels (surname). For other uses, see Michaels (disambiguation).

Michaels Stores, Inc., more commonly known as Michaels, is a privately held chain of American and Canadian arts and crafts stores. It is North America's largest provider of arts, crafts, framing, floral and wall décor, and merchandise for makers and do-it-yourself home decorators.^[2] The company is part of The Michaels Companies, founded in 2014 and headquartered in Irving, Texas.^[4][5] In addition to Michaels stores, The Michaels Companies operates Aaron Brothers Custom Framing store-within-a-store,^[6] and Artistree, a manufacturer of custom and specialty framing merchandise. The company also develops over a dozen private brands sold in Michaels stores, including Recollections, Studio Décor, Bead Landing, Creatology, and Ashland.^[2][7] As of January 2021, there were 1,252 Michaels stores in 49 out of 50 states in the U.S., and Canada, with approximately $5.362 billion in sales for fiscal 2020.^[2]

Michaels Stores, Inc.

Trade name	Michaels
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Retail
Founded	1973; 51 years ago (1973)^[1]
Founder	Michael J. Dupey
Headquarters	Irving, Texas, U.S.
Number of locations	1,252 (US, Canada) (January 2021)^[2]
Key people	Ashley Buchanan (CEO)^[3]
Products	Arts, crafts, framing, floral, wall décor, home decor, scrapbooking
Owner	The Michaels Companies
Website	Michaels Stores

History

 

Logo from 1984 to 2009

In 1973, businessman Michael J. Dupey founded Michaels in Dallas, Texas when he converted a money-losing Ben Franklin five and dime store into an arts and crafts store.^[4][5] In 1982, Dallas businessman Sam Wyly bought a controlling interest in the company, which by then had 11 outlets with annual revenues around $10 million.^[8] After the sale, Dupey founded MJ Designs, which was later bought out by The Michaels Companies.^[5]

 

Michaels in Markham, Ontario (now closed)

In 1984, Michaels was first publicly traded (on NASDAQ) under parent entity The Michaels Companies, which operated 16 stores.^[8] Over the next decade, the company bought craft and hobby stores in local and regional markets.^[9] In 1994, Michaels Stores expanded acquired craft stores in the Pacific Northwest, including Treasure House Crafts, Oregon Craft & Floral Supply, and H&H Craft & Floral.^[9] In the Midwest and Northeast, it bought Leewards Creative Crafts, a 101-unit store chain.^[10] In 1995, Michaels Stores acquired Aaron Brothers Holdings, Inc., a specialty framing and art supply store. By 1996, Michaels' sales reached $1.24 billion with 450 stores.^[11] In 2006, two private equity groups, Bain Capital and the Blackstone Group, purchased Michaels Stores for $6 billion, taking it private.^[12] In May 2007, Martha Stewart and Michaels launched "Martha Stewart Crafts", an online resource for home "do-it-yourselfers" with how-to instructions, projects, and crafting products.^[13] In the fall of 2008, Michaels Stores opened its 1,000th store.^[14] In 2010, Michaels began a partnership with Chef Duff to feature the Duff Goldman Collection in its stores. The line includes baking products including fondant, sprinkle sets, color spray, cake tattoos, and color paste.^[15]

In February 2011, Michaels and Aaron Brothers stores suffered a data compromise that affected their debit card terminals in 20 states. The company alerted customers who made PIN-based purchases between February 8 and May 6, 2011, that their data may have been exposed.^[16] A class action lawsuit was filed against Michaels in the County Court of Passaic, New Jersey over the incident.^[17] In March 2012, Reuters reported that JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs were "the leads on what could be one of the year's largest IPOs in the retail sector", with one source saying the IPO would be registered in April.^[18] Reuters further reported that Michaels posted earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $661 million in 2011 and had total debt of $3.5 billion as of January 28, 2012.^[18] The filing, for a $500 million common stock issue,^[19] came on March 30. The ticker would be MIK on the NYSE. A report on the filing put the company's debt at $3.8 billion and said 2011 revenue was $4.2 billion and net income was $176M.^[20] In July, the IPO was "put on hold indefinitely" after CEO John Menzer suffered a stroke.^[21]

In Menzer's absence, Lew Klessel, Bain managing director, and Charles Sonsteby, Michaels' chief administrative officer and chief financial officer, served in a temporary Office of CEO. In February 2013, Chuck Rubin was appointed CEO. Rubin was president and CEO of personal-care specialty retailer Ulta Beauty at the time of his appointment and had previously been with Office Depot and Accenture.^[22] The Michaels Office of CEO was discontinued when Rubin assumed his position later in February and Sonsteby continued as CAO/CFO.^[23] In June 2014, Michaels became a public company under newly formed parent The Michaels Companies.^[24]

In 2020, Ashley Buchanan, formerly of Walmart, became the new CEO of Michaels. Later that year, Michaels introduced a new store concept at two locations in Texas, which features a new open layout built around "inspiration hubs", new "maker space" areas for instruction, and self-service pickup lockers for online orders. The company stated that aspects of this concept would be introduced at new and renovated locations in the future (such as its location in Regina, Saskatchewan, which in 2023 became the first Canadian location to adopt the format after having been closed following a fire).^[25][26][27] In March 2021, The Michaels Companies agreed to be acquired by private equity company Apollo Global Management, taking the company private.^[28][29][30]

Products

 

Michaels Store located in Saugus, Massachusetts. This location closed in January 2024.

Michaels Stores sell a variety of arts and crafts products, including scrapbooking, beading, knitting, rubber stamping, home décor items, floral items, kids' crafts, paints, framing, greenery, baking, and many seasonal items.^[31] Michaels produces a number of private brands including Recollections, Studio Decor, Bead Landing, Creatology, Ashland, Celebrate It, Art Minds, Artist's Loft, Craft Smart, Loops & Threads, Make Market, Foamies, LockerLookz, Imagin8, and Sticky Sticks.^[32] Michaels also offers custom framing through its Aaron Brothers Custom Framing store-within-a-store^[33] and online.^[34] Online, customers can upload, edit and print photos from their computer or social media sites. They can then select and customize the size, surface, frame, and mat.^[35] Michaels also develops over a dozen private brands sold in Michaels stores, including Recollections, Studio Décor, Bead Landing, Creatology, and Ashland.^[2][7]

References

1. "The Michaels Companies, Inc.: Private Company Information - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
2. "Form 10-K Michaels Companies, Inc. 2021". www.sec.gov. March 9, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
3. "Michaels | 2020 Fortune 500". Fortune.
4. Jarzemsky, Matt (March 30, 2012). "Michaels Stores files for $500 mln IPO". MarketWatch. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
5. Halkias, Maria (May 5, 2010). "Michael J. Dupey: Created craft superstore concept with Irving-based Michaels chain". Dallas Morning News.
6. "Crafts retailer Michaels to close nearly all Aaron Brothers stores". Reuters. March 22, 2018. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
7. Kezar, Korrie (March 17, 2016). "Acquisition to help craft retailer Michaels expand B2B capabilities". Dallas Business Journal. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
8. Pedersen, Jay P. (February 2, 2005). International directory of company histories. Vol. 67. St. James Press. ISBN 1558625127. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
9. Goldfield, Robert (March 14, 1999). "Craft store veteran to challenge competitors with new superstore". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
10. Schmeltzer, John (May 11, 1994). "DALLAS CHAIN CRAFTS MERGER WITH LEEWARDS". Chicago Tribune.
11. . Monroe Street Journal. January 13, 1997. Archived from the original on June 14, 1997.
12. "Michaels Stores Announces Completion of Merger Agreement with Bain Capital and Blackstone Affiliates". Blackstone.com. Blackstone. October 31, 2006. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
13. "BRIEF-Sequential Brands and Michaels Cos announce partnership for Martha Stewart Crafts brand". Reuters. March 2, 2017. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
14. Chain Store Age Staff (September 22, 2008). "Michaels crafts up new logo, opens 1,000th store". Chainstoreage.com. Eagle Operating Corp. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
15. Vozzella, Lauren (June 25, 2010). "Ace of homemade cakes". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
16. "Retailer Michaels Stores confirms payment card data breach". Reuters. April 17, 2014. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
17. Fry, Chris (July 14, 2011). "Class Slams Michaels for Data Breach". Courthouse News Service. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
18. Oran, Olivia; Roumeliotis, Greg (March 26, 2012). "Exclusive: Blackstone, Bain prepare Michaels Stores IPO". Reuters. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
19. sec.gov
20. "Arts and crafts retailer Michaels Stores has filed for a $500M IPO under the ticker MIK". Seeking Alpha. March 30, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
21. Dezember, Ryan; Demos, Telis (June 6, 2012). "IPO for Crafts Retailer Michaels on Hold Indefinitely". The Wall Street Journal.
22. "Ulta CEO leaving to join Michaels". biz journals.com. March 20, 2013. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
23. "Rubin to Become Michaels CEO", HFN, February 15, 2013. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
24. Alden, William (June 26, 2014). "Michaels I.P.O. Prices at $17, at Low End of Range". The New York Times. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
25. "First Look: Michaels unveils new concept stores". Chain Store Age. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
26. "Michaels redesigns Plano and McKinney stores to test a new shopping environment". Dallas News. 2020-09-09. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
27. "Regina's Michaels craft store celebrates reopening following fire". CTV News Regina. 2023-03-17. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
28. Thomas, Lauren (March 3, 2021). "Crafts retailer Michaels will go private in $3.3 billion deal with Apollo Global". CNBC. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
29. "Apollo Announces Completion of the Tender Offer for Shares of The Michaels Companies". Yahoo. April 15, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
30. "Michaels will be acquired by a private equity firm in a $5 billion deal". The New York Times. March 3, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
31. Tyler, Jessica. "We visited Hobby Lobby and Michaels to see which was a better arts-and-crafts store, and there was an obvious winner". Business Insider. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
32. Durham, Christopher. "Michaels Crafts Private Brands Top 60% of Net Sales | My Private Brand". Retrieved October 7, 2019.
33. Halkias, Maria (March 22, 2018). "Michaels is closing its Aaron Brothers stores and rebranding its framing departments". Dallas Morning News.
34. Halkias, Maria (October 25, 2017). "Michaels launches new online store for custom framing". Dallas Morning News.
35. Halkias, Maria (March 1, 2018). "Arts and crafts retailer Michaels partners with HGTV's Property Brothers to boost framing business". DallasNews.com. Dallas Morning News, Inc. Retrieved January 14, 2019.

External links

• Official website
• • Historical business data for The Michaels Companies:
  • SEC filings