Hancock Fabrics

The Gaithersburg store is convenient and they had what I needed. Customer service is good but the store is a mess. Dust bunnies are everywhere. The floors are dirty and are in dire need of washing/​waxing. Merchandise isn’t neatly placed on shelves. It looks as if they don’t care.

Not great, not bad service, selection or price. Prices fit my budget so I am a frequent visitor.

Really I’m so glad that Gaithersburg still has a store selling fabrics.
It’s best to not hit here on the weekends or early evenings. It’s crowded with customers and with fabric, there’s always a line for cutting it and always a line for the cashier. No way to escape that.
They seem have knowledgeable staff about where stuff is in the store. That’s a plus.
If you’re looking for a cotton fabric that has seasonal decorations this is your place. Two racks of xmas fabrics; at least 10 different valentine fabrics and another rack recently for St. Pat. Good for Halloween and the 4^th of July.
Tons of fleece and they do carry logo fleece; that is, it will be Hello Kitty, SpongeBob, Snoopy, as well as the sports teams.
It seems to have a decent sized quilting department. I don’t quilt, but I do buy quilter’s templates and cutting boards from that department.
Their upholstery fabric is pretty varied. I re-​covered an old pine couch and 2 side chairs for about $ 150.
They do have some bridal fabrics.
There’s a pattern department with the most common names: Simplicity, Butterick, McCalls.
Knitting and crocheting yarns, threads, hooks, needles, purse handles.
Some beads with findings.
Very handy to have this in our area.

I stopped in today to buy serger thread for the first time. It took several minutes of the lady cutting then folding someone else’s fabrics (no complaints) but she quickly responded an treated me with the utmost courtesy asking me what kind of serger I had and even took my sample and personally found the perfect color. The cashier was a little pushy about me signing up for a Hancock’s card but otherwise was very nice. I will definitely come again.

This is an update because I had to come back one more time for a return.
This time I was assisted by Marcia and I received better service than I was previously given. She was super helpful, patient and knowledgable with my questions. She took the time to explain the pro’s and con’s and I felt she tried her best to be honest with me. Unfortunately, I still didnt want the item as I found a better one elsewhere and she promptly and quickly processed my return.
I was surprised how efficient and helpful she was, and I told her how unsatisfied I was when I last visited this store. She immediately apologized and come to find out, she’s the manager! She let me know that if I visit there store again and she is working, then that would not happen again. I left satisfied and am considering maybe one day I’ll give them another shot.

Be prepared to stand in line for a lot longer than it took to find what you need. Always understaffed, usually only with one cashier open.

Cute place with some cool home décor fabrics. I think they need more vibrant and trendy prints in fabrics that can be used for clothing as opposed to quilting and crafting. I do like that it is far less crowded than Joann. Chill vibe. Good times.

I have visited this store two times in the past week and I can say I will continue. Everyone was very friendly and helpful! they had a lot of good choice. good sales as well! The new manager was very sweet! They have a good team now!

I’ve usually had no problems with this store in the past. The place was always messy, but the service was ok & I got what I needed.
Last night, I went to grab some fabric. No one helped me, which was ok. The lady that I asked to cut my fabric seemed as though it was such an inconvenience to cut it. That’s still ok. The worst however, was the cashier, a short white haired lady, who seemed to be a supervisor because she had a 20-​piece jungle of keys around her neck. She seemed uninterested in helping me after the old lady in front of me was helped. My cost was under $ 5, at which point I presented a credit card, sorry people, it is the 21^st century & I don’t carry cash. She curtly replied «I just can’t, sorry.» I promptly told her that I’d had no problem before and that there was no minimum charge clearly displayed, to which she replied «I’ll have to make a sign.»
Thank you Unilocalers for suggesting other places because I don’t think I’ll be back.

This store is always filthy. It always looks like it’s under renovation, but it never is. There are literally piles of boxes, patterns, and bolts of fabric everywhere. Usually they have a pretty good selection of fabrics so I deviate from my usual choice of Joann’s every once in a while.
Today will be the last time I do that. I printed a coupon off of the catalogue that was posted on the Hancock Fabrics website (with a print option, on their own website). After waiting a very long time to have my fabric cut and waiting at least ten minutes in line to check out, I handed my coupon to the cashier and she said «Oh, I can’t scan that. Part of the top is cut off.» I pointed out that the bar code was completely intact. I asked if she could try to scan it, thinking that if it was invalid it wouldn’t work anyways. She pulled out an identical coupon without the top cut off. She still wouldn’t scan it. I asked if she could check with someone (i.e., a manager). She refused.
I ended up not purchasing the fabric and drove a few miles to Joann’s where the staff is always more friendly and helpful and (here’s a novel idea), they actually try to save you money. When I checked out at Joann’s the cashier asked if I had any coupons. When I said I left them at home she said «Oh, if you have a smart phone you can download the app or if you have a cell phone at all we can text them to you.» I’ll definitely be sticking to Joann’s from now on.
Don’t go to Hancock Fabrics if you like to save money.

Dear Hancock Fabrics,
Let me introduce you to something called «the 21^st Century».
In the 21^st Century, there are many craaaazy things! Like the internet! And smartphones! And being «green»!
You know what also happens in the 21^st Century? You’ll get customer who actually expects to be able to USE some of those coupons that you EMAIL to them! I know… MADNESS right???
So you can imagine how I felt when I was running errands on a hot DC summer day, when I happen to drive past your store and thought «oh hey, I just got a coupon for 50% this morning! Let me go and use it!». I proceed to find the fabrics I want, and after dealing with an oh-​so-​pleasant staff member who was waaaaaaaay more interested in gossiping with her fellow coworkers then cutting my bolt of fabric. After that fabulously fun moment, I get to the cashier, pull out my phone to show her my coupon when she just rudely just waves me away and tells me that she can’t use the coupon because it’s on my phone.
SAY WHAT??? I had the coupon up — with the code and everything. I even had the original email up so she could see that it came from Hancock, but I was told that she couldn’t use any coupon unless it was printed out.
Um…again…SAY WHAT!!! I shop at G-​Street and Joann’s and Michaels for fabrics and craft supplies all the time with coupons from my phone. And on the rare occasions that having it on the phone causes a problem (such as they can’t read the code, or not having a strong signal is causing problems in pulling the coupon up), they will just punch in the discount manually anyways.
Your store is the ONLY store that has ever denied me use of a coupon JUST because it was on my phone.
FAIL FAIL FAIL.
You have just lost a very loyal customer. I’ve been shopping here since it was a Minnesota Fabrics.
It’s not the discount that bothers me — it’s the complete lack of customer service, the lack of desire to solve the problem, and your basic inability to… care. The attitude of your cashier, and her refusal to help, coupled with the absolute lackluster performance by the rest of your staff, just shows me that you just don’t care… and my business can definitely go elsewhere.
So goodbye Hancock, you fail.
Sincerely,
~F
P. S. Take some time and learn about smartphones and people trying to be greener. I know it may be too crazy and «new fangled» for your antiquated minds, but you’ll find that the majority of your customers LIKE the convenience of these new fangled tools to help them shop!

Hooray, a REAL fabric store! I could walk around here for hours, but I really went to get my 50 year old Singer in for a tune-​up. $ 39 for a tune-​up and $ 10 for a new belt. My machine was ready in a few hours and I’m very happy! It’s running perfectly again.
I’ve been here many times and always find what I’m looking for. The staff is knowledgeable and they know how to cut fabric. (You know what I mean if you’ve ever brought your fabric home and it’s been hacked.)