The fabric area in the closest Wal-Mart to me (the one staffed by 'Little Old Norwegian Grandmas and their Grandsons') has a great fabric & crafts area because they have a captive audience, but when they re-vamped one of the the larger Madison stores, that area was reduced because you can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting a fabric & craft-type store. (Relax, Viking Kitties! It's just an expression, LOL!)
Marketing and getting the most profit out of every square inch of floorspace is the reason. We did it that way when I worked for Value Village as a teenager in the 70's...you know, the merchandising idea that was later swiped by Wal-Mart? ;)
Oh you are so lucky!!!!! There are no fabric or craft stores around here at all - plenty of places that sell the things made with the stuff - but no where to buy the stuff to make it. ~~~~SIGH~~~~~
The nearest Michaels or AC Moore is 45-50 miles - heck the same goes for Lowe's or Home Depot, although they are building a new Lowe's across from WM- so that's good news for some things - like plumbing stuff, which are very difficult to find around here.
I love living in the middle of no where - but osmetimes it does have its drawbacks - especially right now with the price of gas.
ping