Knowing if a yarn is being made is a million-dollar question. You cannot rely on retailers to be helpful in this area, as many retailers, including Michaels, JOANN, and Walmart, tend to discontinue a brand without discontinuing the brand itself. They tend to change the yarns out and sometimes replace them with their private labels. The private labels tend to prevent consumers from being able to replace the yarn at another manufacturer as it's made just for the retailer.
This year, I am keeping a list of the yarn status of Yarnspirations brands. It helps me know what yarns to play with and understand what yarns are no longer available.
Michaels' private brand is Loops &Threads, Joann's is Big Twist, and Walmart's is Mainstays. Usually, these brands do not have much pattern support as they expect consumers to find patterns independently. Some consumers will make do, but others may feel lost when looking at the brand and what to do with it. The intention of the yarn isn't always clear.
If you see a retailer eliminating yarn, you can always contact them through their website to request it be brought back. If there's enough demand, a brand they eliminated can be returned to the shelves if the retailer feels it is missing out on the opportunity to sell.
The advantage of choosing a Yarnspirations marked label is the amount of education and pattern support provided to the consumers. People like me support the label, offering much help with their products. While the yarn may not be the cheapest option on the shelf, the pattern support for brands such as Bernat, Red Heart, Patons, Caron and Lily Sugar'n Cream is invaluable. People expect free patterns, and Yarnspirations delivers them with over 10,000 free patterns to date. Continue to support these brands if this is important to you.
Four categories are subdivided into two sections. Yarn of the same brand is split up or assigned exclusivity to a retailer to prevent the retailers from directly competing. At the time of writing this article, there are 49 colours of Red Heart Super Saver, 53 colours of Caron One Pound, and 65 colours of Bernat Super Value yarn. The retailer will only select between 8 and up to approximately 18 colours of a brand of yarn. It's why many brands don't have a huge colour line-up.
See My List
TIP: Some retailers completely discontinue a brand of yarn in the stores, leading consumers to believe the yarn is gone. In fact, the retailer is pulling the product off the shelf to make room for something else. It's why you see people complaining a yarn is discontinued on social media, but others say it's not. You should check the manufacturer's website to learn more.
When Caron Cakes boomed and was not predicted, Michaels Stores required the yarn to be exclusive only to Michaels. It's why you won't see the brand in other retailers unless it's discontinued and moved to a discount retailer such as dollar stores or clearance centres.
Joann had exclusivity on Bernat Alize and many other brands that couldn't be found at Michaels. It's not just one store controlling everything.
Yarn is Treated Like Fashion
Some brands have been with us for decades, and the colours change. As the seasons change and people's interest in fashion and decor changes, the yarn changes.
Other yarns like Super Saver Bitty Stripes get a testing trial with a small batch of yarn used, and random but strategic stores are chosen for the test. In the case below with this yarn, Walmart Canada was selected in certain retailers for a 3-month trial test. If it doesn't do well, a new batch won't be made, and the yarn quietly disappears.
Other yarns, like the original Caron Cakes, were intended as a three-month 100th Birthday Celebration yarn to honour Caron Yarns' 100th birthday. Consumers went nuts for this yarn and turned this brand into a regular yarn, with many extensions of this yarn being treated as seasonal yarn due to the mixture of the yarn.
Yarn Availability
In the yarn world, your purchases at the yarn store and online shipping will play a massive role in the future seasons. The colours you select dictate the volume of the yarn and which yarns lose their colours or get recoloured.
The cash registers in major retailers auto-trigger new yarn orders from the warehouses.
When It's The End of the Line
Yarns that tend to grab a fashion trend end up being the cat's meow for a season, but in the case of Red Heart Sashay, it ends up being several years before it comes crashing down, and the bubble is over.
Retailers who get rid of the yarn can also cause a discontinued yarn to eliminate the market for the brand. If Yarnspirations cannot make a yarn to have shelf placement, it can be online sales only or removed from the lineup.
Some yarns emerge from the gate and stall into a failing state. It's accepted that some yarn may not be as popular, but when the yarn is collecting dust and sales are not happening, yarn gets immediately discontinued with the stock created to wear down and not replace it. While I like Bernat Blanket Tiny yarn, consumers didn't consider it.
Some yarns I have absolutely loved have been discontinued, and I was devastated when it happened. To say I wasn't obsessed with Bernat Mosaic is an understatement. Yes, it's not the most comfy-feeling yarn, but the finished projects were stunning with it. It was $7.99 CDN a ball and I was reading at the time that consumers felt it was a bit pricy. That is going back to 2012.
Mary Pat Fulton says
Thanks for that info. Please keep writing articles about yarn and why everyone can't get the same colors. I enjoy your comments and look forward to all the lovely yarn that is being made.