I love the Michael’s craft store. All the neat arts and crafts supplies…I can spend hours perusing the knitting section alone.
Every time I walk in, there’s a distinctive smell. It’s not unpleasant, but I’ve noticed it no matter what Michael’s I go into. I haven’t noticed it at like, say, a Kmart. (But now that there’s a Super Target in my town I have no more need to visit Kmart :D)
Has anyone else noticed it? Any guesses as to what it could be?
Maybe it’s all the fake flowers and plants.
It’s probably Eucalyptus, it can be very pungent especially if it’s been dyed.
My guess is a combo of the above: all the dyes in the fake flowers. Ever been into a fabric store? That’s the worst.
I agree with soulburnz, Although I have never been in Michaels, I did at one time work at a flourist and eucalyptus has a very overpowering smell but, in my opinion it is not so repulsive
I had to go in there once. It was a terrible, terrible place to be a man. I think it’s those nauseating cinnamon scented pine cones or some such that permeates the air there.
The first thing I thought when I read this thread’s title was “Eucalyptus.” That’s exactly the smell that has hit me whenver I’ve entered a Michael’s.
So I agree with soulburnz.
I’m with you, krisolov, and I ain’t a man. Didn’t Pier 1 Imports and Cost Plus smell like that, too? And the customers in Michael’s, man, are they appalling… present company excluded, I’m sure…
We’re all so smart. Eucalyptus is the smell that comes to mind. It also makes me sneeze.
Michael’s carries perfumed candles, scented oils, soap-making materials, loads of potpourri… plus the silk flowers, and of course the dried eucalyptus. It’s probably a combination of all of them. I’ve noticed that other craft stores have similar odours but there’s always a bit of difference between them.
It smells like treated vine (all those wreath-skeletons) to me.
I actually like such places; I always get ideas of how to interior-decorate, it was a good place to get art supplies back when I was into drawing and such, I like to look at the widgets and gimcracks they have for whatever use you can think of, and you can get those squares of felt there that are great for dampening drums…you know, for whenever you want to dampen your drums… ??? 
It’s the smell of creativity!
I didn’t think it was eucalyptus…I’ve smelled it before, and that wasn’t what occurred to me.
It’s probably a combination of all those things…but it is very distinctive.
I don’t think it’s just eucalyptus. I think that a large part of the smell is the scented candles, potpourri, etc. However, the eucalyptus might just be what makes that smell so pervasive.
It’s very difficult to tell, since everything you buy there smells like that, too. You might, for example, smell the silk flowers, and think the smell comes from them, but do silk flowers have a smell, or do they just pick up the smells of their environment?
All I know is that the Walmart craft department sells a lot of the same stuff, and it doesn’t smell like Michaels at all. Maybe it gets cancelled out by the smells of the sporting goods department ;).