Arts and crafts chain Michaels closing Shirley store

National arts and crafts retail chain Michaels is closing its Shirley location next month, according to the company.

The store, in the Southport Shopping Center at 1019 Montauk Hwy., will close May 15, the company confirmed in an email to Newsday. 

"We have made the difficult decision to close our location at Southport Shopping Center," Rebecca Talley, external communications specialist at Michaels said in a statement issued late Wednesday. "We know this is disappointing to our customers in Shirley, but we hope to continue serving them at our other locations on Long Island or online at Michaels.com."

The company said it made the decision to close the store after reviewing its current portfolio of stores.

“Michaels is doing reasonably well and the company is on firm financial footing,” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, a retail analysis firm based in Manhattan said Wednesday.

“The problem is the crafting space remains soft at the moment,” he said. “Consumers have cut back on spending a bit, so the market isn’t growing.”

Saunders said that during the pandemic, hobby and craft stores like Michaels saw increased business from consumers looking to fill their days.

“People had a surplus of time, a lot of people were shut in their homes and crafting was a very popular way of filling that time,” he said. “But we’ve since reset from that.”

Additionally, while recent developments like the announced closure of Joann Fabrics stores across the country provide more breathing room, the chain faces continued competition from Hobby Lobby with its larger stores and deeper inventory, Saunders said.

In January, the Hudson, Ohio-based Joann Fabrics filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in less than a year. In February, the fabric and hobby retailer announced plans to close 500 of its stores, more than half of its then nationwide footprint, according to The Associated Press.

Later that same month, the company announced plans to close all of its stores nationwide, including all three locations on Long Island, in Westbury, West Babylon and Bohemia, as Newsday previously reported.

Michaels, based in Irving, Texas, has 16 locations on the Island, according to the chain’s website.

Founded in 1973, Michaels operates more than 1,300 stores in 49 states and Canada, according to the company’s website.