Big-box craft supply king, Michael’s, announced today that they will be opening craft beer bars at 20 of their locations. “The long-awaited bars fill a void that our customers have been, in some cases, screaming for for years,” said one company spokesperson.  “We did market analysis and found an astounding amount of crossover with our craft customers and those in the craft beer industry.

The chain has been test marketing the concept in Cary, NC, and will expand the concept to markets such as Peoria, Racine, Toledo, and York (PA) in Q2.

Asked if Michael’s is concerned about competition from the quickly-growing Beer On Tap brew-pub/dance studio chain, the company spokesman said,”It’s been a growing concern, yes, but I’d say that were are predominantly just answering the call of our current customer base. I mean [laughing], women who drive minivans simply love Hopslam, for instance. It’s really a no-brainer.”