WILMINGTON – Michaels has assumed the lease of the former A.C. Moore store at Kirkwood Plaza, with plans to open its store by this summer.
The 24,448-square-foot store will be the company’s second in the Wilmington area – it already operates a store in the Brandywine Town Center near the Pennsylvania border about 10 miles away – and its sixth overall in Delaware. Michaels operates more than 1,200 stores in the U.S. and Canada.
A.C. Moore announced in November that it was closing all its stores, citing its struggles to compete in a market where e-commerce was taking a larger share.
Michaels, the largest brick-and-mortar craft retailer in the country, announced simultaneously that it would assume the leases for up to 40 of A.C. Moore’s stores as well as an East Coast distribution facility. It also bought A.C. Moore’s intellectual property.
In a statement, then-Michaels CEO Mark Cosby said, “This transaction enables us to further expand our presence in strategic markets and serve even more customers both online and in store. We are looking forward to reopening these stores under the Michaels name in 2020 and welcoming new team members.”
Although it has announced that it will take over the Kirkwood store, Michaels did not comment as to whether it would also take on A.C. Moore’s only other Delaware location at 277 N. DuPont Highway in The Centre at Dover shopping center in Dover.
Anjie Coplin, director of corporate communications and public relations for Michaels, told Delaware Business Times that the company’s real estate team “was still assessing properties.”
Still, the announcement of Michaels’ decision to take on the Wilmington-area store means that Kirkwood Plaza will avoid a rather large vacancy. Coplin said that the company would hire between 30 and 35 regular employees, including full-time and part-time, for the store. It would also add upward of 70 seasonal part-time employees in the holiday shopping period.
The company is currently hiring for the regular positions in sales, management, stocking and personal design, Coplin said. Those interested can apply online at Michaels.com/storejobs.
By Jacob Owens
