UPDATE: 1 year on from reporting on this, it appears that Anchor have removed all embroidery spool threads from stores.
It appears this experiment definitely failed!
Recently the cross stitch world has been awash with opinions on Anchor Floss’ choice to move to spools in big box stores in North America, and away from the traditional skein. I’ve stayed away from talking about these in the past, as firstly, its North America only for now, and Anchor threads aren’t popular across the world (even if they scored highly in our roundup of the best cross stitch threads). In addition, you either love the idea, or hate it.
However whilst the change is an interesting one on the surface, I think it’s likely that this is the future of selling threads…
So What Is Anchor Doing?
If you weren’t aware up until now, Anchor Threads have started selling their embroidery threads in big-box American and Canadian stores on spools.
They come in two sizes, 10m (10.9 yards) in every color, and 30m (32.8 yards) in 20 colors.
They’re being sold at slightly less per yard than skeins in the USA, but slightly more in Canada (not sure why), however, this may be an introductory price.
Right now you can only get them in these stores, and they aren’t being sold on their own website in spools yet.
Why Are They Doing It?
We start with the customer. People really do love or hate this idea, and I won’t be picking sides today (sorry for those who wanted me to!), but there are some benefits.
The first is that price point. We don’t know yet if there is an introductory price, or even why Canada seems to be getting the short straw, but price savings from the manufacturer and retailer, will likely find their way to us too.
The second is most people use bobbins to store their threads. By having them on spools, you’re cutting down on all that bobbin work. You also get all the benefits of using bobbins from the get-go.
The next winner here is Anchor themselves. It’s clear that this is still in the testing phase, with a full rollout still not clear, but this action wouldn’t have been taken unless there were benefits.
That mostly comes down to cost. Making cross stitch threads requires a lot of work, and special machines are needed just for making skeins. However, making spools is a totally different story. By optimizing the manufacturing process, they save money. And Anchor is used to this type of thing too, their metallic embroidery threads are already on spools.
However, it also allows them to get into more stores. Right now, DMC owns the cross stitch thread market, and Anchor has been losing ground (especially since the “new” DMC threads came out), so they need a way to compete. And spools have allowed them a winning edge.
So why are they in more stores? Well, there are benefits to stores too. And this is why we’re seeing these spools in stores right now, especially the big box ones.
The single largest issue to a retailer, for any product, is the rate of return for shelf space. I’m sure you can all recall seeing lines of boxes of DMC threads spreading across yards of shelving? Well that costs the retailer money. And threads, even the expensive ones, aren’t going to bring in a big profit for the space used.
But the new spools allow you to store just as many threads, in a fraction of the size (thanks to optimized space).
The second big issue for retailers is upkeep. Those open boxes of threads catch dust like crazy! In addition, they’re open to the elements, including strong store lights that cause discoloration of threads often thought to be dye lot issues. With spools hidden behind others, no thread is shown to the light longer than it needs to be, cutting down on color changes and dust collection.
So Its Here To Stay?
But I believe it will be the future of selling embroidery threads.
The first reason for this is cost. For the customer, Anchor, and the retailers, the cost is reduced. In a capitalist society, the cost is always the biggest driving factor.
The second is that we’ve seen this kind of change happen before. You can all recall those boxes of threads, but I bet you can also recall those spinning storage units, even though they’ve almost been entirely phased out by DMC (although Anchor still uses them). Actually, Anchor themselves have already been using them for metallic threads with great success for a few years now.
Whatever you think of these new spools, it’s likely that this is only the first step, and I think we’re likely to see a lot more in the future.
Do you think we’ll be likely to see more of these spools in the future?
Happy stitching!
Lord Libidan
Bonus fun fact: In the 1960s Anchor used to sell their embroidery thread on wooden spools!
Although it will take up more storage space in my studio (I do not make bobbins, and skeins compress easily), I approve of this packaging. Besides the extra work of winding them, I don’t like the creases in the thread made by putting it on bobbins. Spools don’t make creases. In fact, I have used empty sewing spools in just this way.
Not sure why you think most people use bobbins to store their floss. In my area we are blessed to have three different needlework Guilds with one that has over 200 members. Almost no one uses bobbins. We use floss away bags or similar product to store our floss. Two major advantages of the bags are 1) it is easy to store left over thread once it is pulled off the skein and 2) stitching time is not wasted winding floss on the bobbins. I have stored my floss in bags since the 1980s without affecting the quality of the floss. This works in dry and humid areas where I have personally lived.
These days my main concerns are the environment and the climate crisis. Sadly, I would not buy these spools because of the extra plastic needed for their manufacture, and the fact that they will end up as trash. We are literally swimming in plastic already! If Anchor had a closed loop manufacturing and were asking customers to return the spools to them for reuse, that would help with the trash problem – but ultimately, we do not need to turn more petrol into more plastic. I have personally moved away from plastic bobbins; I’ve learned how to pull a skein properly to avoid knots and tangles, and store them in tin boxes, or paper envelopes.
I hope DMC doesn’t go to spools. Yes, it saves a lot of space in the store, but storing them at home is going to take up much more room. I have HAEDs with max colors. How am I going to fit 240 spools into a project bag? Also, most stitchers have a storage method that works for them (I know bobbins are popular, but I tried them and didn’t like them), but it’s designed around skeins, and spools won’t fit into that storage method.
Ugh, the waste plastic created by this plan. Like yeah skeins and winding bobbins is a pain but the bobbins get reused. In this case, the spools are just trash. I would avoid buying them just for that reason alone.
I think it’s fairly common to have these bobbins (as used in machine sewing for example), but unlike machine sewing, there are alternatives to selling embroidery thread!
Hopefully, Anchor will get the message though, and start using recycled plastic at least!