Overview There are approximately 17,333 fabric, craft and sewing stores in the U.S.   The U.S. Craft and Hobby industry as a whole generates $29.2 billion annually. The individual eight categories are as follows: General Crafts ($9.9 billion) Fine Arts ($3.7 billion) Paper & Memory Crafts ($3.3 billion) Needle Crafts ($2.9 billion) Artistic Crafts ($2.6 billion) Sewing Crafts ($2.5 billion) Jewelry Making & Bead Crafts ($2.3 billion) Floral Crafts ($2.0 billion)

Major Competitors Michaels Stores Inc., Jo-Ann Stores Inc., and Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. make up the majority of market share in the industry with Michaels holding 19.5% on its own. In addition to brick-and-mortar in-industry competitors, businesses in this space are also in competition with ecommerce websites, craft-focused portals such as Etsy, and online auctions such as eBay.

Major Competitors With no licensing requirements or government regulations, this industry has low barriers to entry for new firms interested in making their entrance. New firms should, however, be concerned about the capital investment required to establish a new foundation and purchase inventory, as it is a substantial outlay for many new entrants.

Marketing and Advertising The Sewing & Craft Alliance and the American Sewing Guild have joined together for the past 30 years to celebrate September as National Sewing Month. The Craft & Hobby Association began a tradition in 1994 of celebrating March as National Craft Month. Stores can take advantage of this opportunity to remind the public about the joys of crafting by highlighting products, services, classes, and more.

Marketing and Advertising The 20 most-visited websites by crafters, as determined by the 2011 Indie Craft Trend Report, include: AllRecipes.com, Artfire.com, Cooks.com, CraftGossip.com, Craftgawker.com, Craftster.org, Craftzine.com, Ebay.com, Etsy.com, Facebook.com, Flickr.com, Foodnetwork.com, Google.com, Pinterest.com, Ravelry.com, Spoonflower.com, Stumbleupon.com, Tipnut.com, Twitter.com, and Wists.com.

Market Demographics The average quilter is between the ages of 45 and 55, has a college degree, and earns an average wage of $65,000. During 2010, approximately 56% of U.S. households engaged in at least one craft-related activity.

Market Demographics Based on household participation in 2010, the following crafts were ranked according to popularity: Rank Craft Popularity 1 Drawing 21.1 million 2 Scrapbooking & Memory Crafts 18.4 million 3 Crocheting 17.4 million 4 Woodworking/Wood Crafts 16.8 million 5 Jewelry Making 14.7 million 6 Card Making 14.0 million 7 Floral Decorating 13.6 million 8 Cross-Stitch 13.3 million 9 Knitting 13.0 million 10 Wreath Making 11.6 million

Industry Trends Personalized, one-of-a-kind items continue to be all the rage in the DIY craft world with many focusing on gifts that feature appliqués, embroidery, imprinting, and made-to-fit items of clothing. Sustainability has come to the arts and crafts industry with many crafters seeking out projects that allow them to utilize recycled materials such as metal, wood, second-hand canvases, and repurposed fabrics. Functional crafts are really making an impact in this industry, with crafters looking to have their practical projects serve double duty as decorative art.

Growth Areas It is believed that growing into the suburbs offers these stores increased chances of success; the challenges are there, however, seeing as though much of the prime real estate is already taken. It is projected that the scrapbooking segment, which is projected to achieve $1.45 billion in 2011 retail sales, has the potential to reach $4 billion over the next 10 years.

Future of the Industry The industry is expected to experience a moderate annual growth of 1.9% through 2016.   As the economy recovers, experts believe this industry will experience significant improvement, thanks to consumers who will increasingly spend discretionary incomes on craft and related products.

Advertising Strategies The Indie Craft Trend Report identified the top 20 websites that crafters most like to visit, giving businesses the advantage of knowing where related business ads would be the most effective. Knowing that interacting on Facebook is one of the most popular online pastimes of crafters, businesses can leverage this information by creating a page that crafters can “Like” and share with their friends, developing a following and building brand recognition.

Advertising Strategies With crafty consumers seeking online information to further their knowledge, a wise business will offer thought leadership pieces for free in order to develop relationships and establish itself as an industry or segment expert.