In 1984, with only 16 Michaels stores located primarily in Texas, Michaels  Stores, Inc. became a publicly held company. Shortly thereafter, we embarked on  an aggressive national expansion program, and by 1995, through a series of new  store openings and acquisitions, we had increased our holdings to over 500  stores, more than tripling our size to become the largest arts and crafts  specialty retailer in North America.