Long shot: I need an item from Michael's (craft store)

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And they're all sold out at all of our local stores, as well as online on the American Michaels.com website. The only new ones remaining will be on clearance in stores.

I need a 9" Marquee Letter "A" like this to complete a word/gift:

http://www.michaels.com/studio-decor-ma ... er&start=3

It would be awesome if someone here lives near a Michael's store that's not as busy of a location and thus has one left in stock that they could buy & ship to me via regular parcel post. I can receive mail at home in Canada or at an American address I use in Washington state. I would gladly pay all costs + a small fee to you for your time and help.

Have you tried Hobby Lobby or a company that makes them?

We don't have that store here, so no. I was told that the American chain store "Joann" sometimes sells the same things as Michael's and to try their website. They don't have these. Neither does Amazon.com

The company that makes these particular ones is called "Studio Decor" and from my quick google searching earlier, Michael's seems to be the only retailer. There are other brands, but I want an exact match. (size, colour, material, lights etc.)

I'd also settle for a like-new used one. There are some letters for sale on craigslist. People buy them to put up a sign for a wedding or a party and then sell them afterwards, so a used one may be just as good as new. I emailed a couple local sellers to see if they have exactly what I want. I haven't been able to find the exact same one on Amazon.com or anywhere else.

Maybe Ebay or Etsy has it.

I hope someone near a Michael's can help you out, but in the meantime I second e-bay. Make a search on the exact item, you never know what might come up.

I've managed to find tons of two specific discontinued items I needed by saving a search for them on e-bay. People go out and buy stuff to just hoard and sell off, it's amazing what you can find that you don't think anyone will have.

Check the box that keeps the search notifying if it does come up. I don't know if you have a time pressure on getting it but it's worth saving the search so that it will notify you if anything gets put up.

I really miss Michael's and Hobby Lobby and Jo Ann's. What we've got here doesn't hold a candle to them.

I've checked all the obvious sources. I have not been able to find what I want. Hence asking here if anyone is near a Michael's and can check their local store. I don't care where the item comes from; I just need one. If someone here can procure one for me first, excellent. If I continue to scour craigslist or ebay or amazon or wherever and find one, ok cool.

Ideally I'd have it within a few weeks so I have it either for a birthday present or for Christmas.

So, again, if anyone here is near a Michael's store - can you check and see if they have one on the shelf? If so, buy it and I'll pay you for it + shipping + a reasonable amount for your time and effort to help me out. Thanks.

Heck, the first person on here who finds one for sale online that I can buy at a reasonable price I'll send you $20 if I haven't found one yet.

http://m.g.ebay.com/itm/291847166237
Item not sold, ask seller. They'd be willing to work out something I'm sure

Thanks for the backup plan! I hadn't considered searching ended auctions for unsold items.

I did, however, just find one. I scoured about 200 pages of results on etsy then called all the remaining stores in BC - first on the mainland, and then on Vancouver Island as I'd be willing to take a ferry and public transit to get one.. then called the closest two stores in Washington state and each store that was able to lookup local stores inventory told me which stores were showing 1 or 2 in stock and I'd call them and they'd check their shelves and tell me they were sold out - until I called the store in Marysville Washington. They have ONE and put it on hold for me. It's 132km away with a 1h 32min drive time + the current 50min wait at the border to go South & then whatever the wait time is to come back = I'll be back in the middle of the night sometime lol. I'm having something to eat, unloading tools and things out of my car, grabbing my passport and heading South asap for a little road trip adventure.

sweet. I do the ended auctions a lot. You took it to a new level of epic, though.

Ha, it's what I do.

For the right gift for the right person I've done a lot of driving, designed & made things, ordered things from overseas, had things custom made etc. It's one of my "things."

Sooo initially I knew he wanted SAM, which I got and he was very happy with, then I find out that someone in his line of work botched something and wrote his name as SAM vs. his full name which he'd prefer, and then he comments how it'd be better to have his full name.. I let him know it'd be next to impossible to find the rest of the letters and left it at that.. and then I went and did the impossible today. Another ~300km of driving and stops at 4 stores in 2 countries = I got the remaining 3 letters of his first name.. AND all 7 letters of his last name. He won't be expecting either. This is going to be good.