Metro by metro
The leading art craft hobby store chains in every North Carolina metro area
Tracked art craft hobby store chains ranked by consumer spend in each metro area, Q4 2025–Q3 2026. Hobby Lobby leads in 9 metro areas, Michaels in 1 metro area. Against their share in North Carolina as a whole, Michaels stands out in 3 metro areas, Hobby Lobby in 2 metro areas.
By tracked consumer spend, Q4 2025–Q3 2026
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Michaels
Relative #1 in 3 metro areas
Charlotte, NC (NC part) 1.4× · Raleigh-Cary, NC 1.5× · Durham-Chapel Hill, NC 3×
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Hobby Lobby
Relative #1 in 2 metro areas
Greensboro-High Point, NC 1× · Wilmington, NC 1.2×
Not enough tracked stores: Burlington, NC · Goldsboro, NC · Greenville, NC · Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC · Rocky Mount, NC · Virginia Beach, VA (NC part)
No ranked chain with 5% of the metro area's spend and 3 stores there: Asheville, NC · Fayetteville, NC · Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC · Jacksonville, NC · Winston-Salem, NC
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Hobby Lobby
#1 in 9 metro areas
Charlotte, NC (NC part) · Raleigh-Cary, NC · Asheville, NC · Greensboro-High Point, NC · Wilmington, NC · Winston-Salem, NC · Fayetteville, NC · Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC · Jacksonville, NC
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Michaels
#1 in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
Not enough tracked stores: Burlington, NC · Goldsboro, NC · Greenville, NC · Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC · Rocky Mount, NC · Virginia Beach, VA (NC part)
A metro area shows a ranking once it has at least 2 tracked art craft hobby store chains and 10 tracked stores. Relative to North Carolina compares a chain's share of the metro area's spend with its share in North Carolina as a whole. It ranks the 7 biggest chains in North Carolina and the chains that lead a metro area by spend, wherever a chain has at least 5% of the metro area's spend and 3 stores there. Metro areas are the Census Bureau's metropolitan statistical areas; the rest of North Carolina is light gray. A metro area crossing the state line counts only its stores in North Carolina. Colors match the store map; other tracked chains are gray.
Growth ranking
Fastest-growing tracked art craft hobby store chains
Ranked by year-over-year growth of share of tracked local spend. Arrows show movement in the rankings since last year. Each dot in the chart is one tracked chain: bigger market position to the right, faster growth higher up, more tracked stores in a bigger dot. Colors match the store map below. Hobby Lobby and Michaels sit in the high-growth half.
| Rank | Chain | Rank movement | YoY growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hobby Lobby | - | +7.2% |
| 2 | Michaels | - | -0.2% |
| 3 | Paper Source | - | -28.7% |
- Hobby Lobby
- Michaels
- Hobby Chest of Jacksonville
- Guild Gaming
- Jerry's Artarama
- Lion's Eye Games
- ENC Sports Cards
- Other tracked chains
Store footprint
Store map
378 tracked store locations in North Carolina. The 7 largest tracked chains are highlighted. The top 5 chains by store count run 101 of the 378 stores (27%); 251 of the 261 tracked chains have a single store here. 3% of the tracked retail stores here are art craft hobby stores, the same share as across the United States.
- Hobby Lobby (44)
- Michaels (48)
- Hobby Chest of Jacksonville (1)
- Guild Gaming (1)
- Jerry's Artarama (4)
- Lion's Eye Games (1)
- ENC Sports Cards (1)
- Other tracked chains
Top tracked chains by store count
- 1 Michaels 48
- 2 Hobby Lobby 44
- 3 Jerry's Artarama 4
- 4 Paper Source 3
- 5 Waxhaw Candle Company 2
- 6 AR Workshop 2
- 7 Tandy Leather 2
- 8 New River Pottery 2
- 9 Fleming Fabric and Supply 1
- 10 Oak City Fibers 1
- 11 Robey's Fabrics 1
- 12 Tideline Fabrics 1
- 13 Rusty Crow Quilt Shop 1
- 14 Front Door Fabrics & Interiors 1
- 15 Zack White Leather Company 1
- 16 Lucky Dog Designs 1
- 17 Hypermind 1
- 18 Ben Franklin Crafts 1
- 19 Steves Golf Shop 1
- 20 Whiteville Fabrics 1
- 21 Ledford Fabrics & More 1
- 22 The Broken Needle 1
- 23 9th of September 1
- 24 In Stitches 1
- 25 Fine Frame Gallery 1
- 26 The Salty Sheep 1
- 27 Not Just Linens 1
- 28 Sew Happy Fabrics 1
- 29 The Painted Mermaid 1
- 30 Flower Patch 1
- 31 Premier Yarns 1
- 32 Asheville NC Home Crafts 1
- 33 Craven Allen Gallery & House of Frames 1
- 34 Printer's Alley 1
- 35 Rare Earth Bead and Crystal Shop 1
- 36 Village Fabric Shop 1
- 37 Stitch Party Studio 1
- 38 The Mountain Thread Company 1
- 39 Sew There 1
- 40 Just Claying Around Inc. 1
- 41 Fuzz Love 1
- 42 Hearts On Fiber 1
- 43 Quilt Patch Fabrics Ltd 1
- 44 Bennett Paints 1
- 45 Sherry's Sew What? 1
- 46 Coastal Purl 1
- 47 Carolina Cotton Company 1
- 48 Leisure Fabrics 1
- 49 Pic Frame & Gallery 1
- 50 Lisa's Custom Framing 1
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