Specialty Arts & Crafts Retail Leader Expands Collaborative Workspace Program; Transforms Classrooms into Community “Making Spaces”
IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Michaels Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ: MIK) today announced the national launch of Community Classroom, an educational, collaborative workspace program designed to transform Michaels classrooms into true community “Making Spaces” for instructors and Makers across the country.
In late 2018, Michaels partnered with AnyRoad, the leader in Experience Relationship Management (ERM), to launch the transformative in-store customer experience program in six test markets. Starting in March 2019, Michaels will expand the program to all stores across the United States and Canada. Community Classroom will support local Makers and provide them with a new way to teach what they love and connect within their community. Makers are invited to submit potential class proposals online at www.michaels.com/instructors. All Community Classroom classes will utilize discounted Michaels products which can be purchased either in-store or online, and beginning later this month, customers will be able to sign up online to take Community Classroom classes in local markets.
“We are excited to launch this program nationwide and embrace Makers in a new way,” said Steve Carlotti, Executive Vice President – Marketing of The Michaels Companies. “As an experiential business, this is yet another example of the innovative approach that supports the importance of locally driven curriculum and encourages creatives to consider Michaels classrooms as their own. As the sharing economy continues to grow, we believe this program will allow us to offer more on-trend, tailored courses that will attract local customers and ultimately build a stronger community for Makers at Michaels.”
AnyRoad provides Michaels with a frictionless platform to offer unique and memorable in-store customer experiences that organically build relationships and deepen positive brand association with Michaels. AnyRoad also enables Michaels with real-time analytics to facilitate data-based decisions in managing the entire Community Classroom program — optimizing the experiential marketing program from end to end. The in-store, community-led educational program enables local instructors to develop their own classroom curriculum, make their own schedules, set their own class prices and market their own classes to create independent sources of income, all within the ultimate creative environment of their local Michaels store.
“We are excited to work with Michaels to help bring this first-of-its-kind program to life,” said Daniel Yaffe, AnyRoad’s COO and Co-Founder. “Experiential marketing is one of the most crucial aspects of building long-lasting brand loyalty, especially at a time in the experience economy when consumers are keen to establish loyalty with their favorite companies. Together with Michaels, we are enhancing the instructor and customer experiences and enabling the Michaels brand to build better, long-term relationships with their wide variety of customers.”
To learn more about Community Classroom or to submit a proposal for consideration, visit www.michaels.com/instructors.
About The Michaels Companies, Inc.:
The Michaels Companies, Inc. is North America's largest specialty provider of arts, crafts, framing, floral, wall décor, and seasonal merchandise for Makers and do-it-yourself home decorators. The Company operates more than 1,200 Michaels stores in 49 states and Canada. Additionally, the Company serves customers through a variety of digital platforms including Michaels.com, consumercrafts.com and aaronbrothers.com. The Michaels Companies, Inc., also owns Artistree, a manufacturer of high quality custom and specialty framing merchandise, and Darice, a premier wholesale distributor in the craft, gift and decor industry. For a list of store locations or to shop online, visit www.michaels.com or download the Michaels app.
About AnyRoad
AnyRoad is an Experience Relationship Management (ERM) platform enabling global brands to properly measure, scale, and implement their experiential marketing campaigns. AnyRoad helps companies create brand loyalty, change consumer behavior, and better understand their brand associations by providing them with data intelligence sourced from experience-based marketing. Companies like Budweiser, Honda, Michaels, and AEG all count on AnyRoad to measure the impact of their experiential marketing activations. AnyRoad’s software integrates into CRM, loyalty, ERP, and POS systems to complete the loop, building the model of exactly how these experiences build loyalty, increase brand perception, and increase revenue. The company was founded by brothers Jonathan and Daniel Yaffe and is based in San Francisco. To learn more, please visit https://www.anyroad.com/.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005217/en/
The Michaels Companies
Mallory Smith
Mallory.smith@michaels.com
972-409-5244
Source: The Michaels Companies, Inc.
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