East Vancouver crafters, knitters and scrapbookers may need to find a new place to get their square frames. Craft Warehouse on Mill Plain will soon be no more.
The Camas-based chain announced this week that it’s closing two of its Portland-Vancouver area locations — the 13503 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd. store and one in Beaverton, Ore. The Salem, Ore., location is also shuttering.
Fans of Craft Warehouse lamented the move on social media, saying they would miss having a local craft store option.
The company said in a social media post Wednesday that it’s “excited to focus on our larger ‘Mega’ Craft stores in Hazel Dell and Gresham.”
“The long-term trend is that customers make fewer trips to the craft store than they did in the past,” the company said in a press release. “Coupled with dramatic cost increases across the board, the company has found that larger destination stores are the future.”
The statement said larger format stores can offer “more selection, more inspiring displays, more staffing, and more space for the creative customer to explore.”
Craft Warehouse, born from a small chain of variety stores in Oregon and California, opened the Mill Plain location in 1997 in what had been a Hi-School Pharmacy.
Jerry Williams started the chain in 1991, wanting to find a way to compete against big-box stores such as Target and Walmart.
He and sons Greg, Mike and Rob, who all graduated from Camas High School, turned the operation into a tri-state craft empire.
The Mill Plain store started its liquidation sale today, selling products for at least 15 percent off.
The company opened its Hazel Dell location in 2016. That location — as well as the others in Gresham, Kennewick and Meridian, Idaho — are expected to remain open.
