When Party City and Joann Fabrics liquidated last year, Michaels Stores had an opportunity to swoop in and fill the void each retailer had left in the market. It jumped at the chance.
In a matter of months, Michaels, an arts and crafts retailer, had built out party supply spaces at its 1,400 stores, set up a supply chain to source helium, installed balloon-filling equipment, and trained employees on how to use it. Just as quickly, it started selling much more fabric at 1,000 of its locations after buying JoAnn’s intellectual property and store brands at bankruptcy auction.
Michaels can move at “rapid speed,” says CEO David Boone, who took the reins in February 2025 and oversaw the inventory expansions. Owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management, Michaels is unhindered by having to sell Wall Street on the rationale for an acquisition or new strategy.
“If you want to do things, your board is just a phone call away,” says the 57-year-old Boone who was previously CEO of Staples Canada and held senior jobs at grocer Loblaws and TD Bank. “You can make decisions much quicker and do things that are more profound and maybe not as easily explainable to the public markets.”
Michaels’ party supplies and fabrics push is more than opportunism; it’s the centerpiece of its strategy to find growth beyond a maturing arts-and-crafts market, where the retailer has spent a decade fighting Hobby Lobby for market share.
