Salon.com: Fabric and crafts retailer Joann is shutting down all of its U.S. stores, leaving cosplayers, seamstresses and small Etsy business owners in the dust.
The Ohio-based company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January, the second time in a year it’s done so, according to The New York Times. The company said at the time it planned to keep its stores open.
13 comments:
What a sad day. When they first filed for bankruptcy and we thought they were going to close, I was quite sad, but then they didn't announce that they were actually closing. And then this news came out and I think that's a very sad development for a lot of crafty people. I suppose the pre-closing sales will be nice, but Joann's has always been around and been reliable. It will be really sad to see it go. Maybe it'll make a comeback someday like Toys-R-Us did. One can only hope.
It says that they're only closing 500 of 800 stores, so maaaybe they'll recover and reopen more locations. But in nay case, time to stock up. Hopefully when I go back home I can go buy a bunch of yarn or other supplies for a good deal, assuming they're still open at that point. Maybe I can even go to one up in Pittsburgh while I'm here.
I will be joining Sam in chaining myself to the front of my local Joann’s to keep it from closing. This is actually so incredibly upsetting. I have been going to Joanns since I was 6 or so years old in order to get stuff for my sewing projects, and now that it’s closing I genuinely have no idea where I will be able to get fabric. I could go to the hobby lobby, but I don't really want to give them any of my money, and I personally am not aware of any local shops that sell fabric. Joann’s has been such a staple of my life, and I am so sad to be losing such an icon. Though, to be fair I was at my local Joann’s over break to stock up on a bunch of fabric while it is just a five minute drive from my house.
I was saddened to hear about the closure of the remaining 300 JoAnn locations. Although JoAnn’s prices are admittedly steep, it is one of the only major fabric retailers that operate in small communities. While this may not come as a blow in major metropolitan areas like New York or Chicago, this will surely hurt many small professional and educational theaters that rely on JoAnn’s to acquire fabrics dyes, trims, and notions for their productions. In high school, at least 50% of our raw costume/craft-related materials were purchased from JoAnn. Had we been forced to buy the same materials from its competitors in Manhattan, we would have wracked up massive amounts of additional spending in travel alone. Although some big-box stores like WalMart have fabric sections, there are very few other businesses that are solely dedicated to sewing needs. If nothing else, at least this offers some potential support for small, family-owned fabric businesses—but overall, the closure of JoAnn is very worrisome.
While Joann Fabric didn’t have the most variety and wasn’t exactly affordable, it was still an accessible option for people who lived in smaller cities or more rural and suburban areas. I’ve made dozens of trips to Joann over the past 5 years, and without it I would never have been able to build my costuming skills. Joann Fabrics made it possible for me to apply to Carnegie Mellon and get in, and it deeply upsets me to watch the stores prepare for closing. I went to the Joann near my house over spring break to stock up, and it felt like the end of a chapter in my life as I walked down the half empty aisles. I’m concerned about the lack of alternative fabric stores to shop at in areas like my hometown, and the livelihoods of those who have relied on Joann to run their businesses. In a time when artistic expression is being censored, this seems like another nail in the coffin.
This is very sad news. When I went home to San Francisco over break I went to the Daly City Joann for what may very well have been the final time. (I could have gone to the one in Pittsburgh but I have only a small bike and that one is too far away for me). When I got there clearly everyone else had already had the same idea. The yarn section was barren. It was also more populated than I had seen in ages. I didn’t buy any good yarn. It was all incredibly cheap 100% acrylic stuff (mostly Big Twist). But they had all the colors I needed for my new blanket project, so I got $40 of yarn for just $30. Sadly my younger sibling was unable to redeem the gift cards they got for Christmas at the cash register, as apparently all of them were unredeemable now and we were told to contact customer support. Anyway I will miss Joann deeply. It made crafts that would otherwise have been very expensive at the other yarn stores in town incredibly affordable.
I grew up going to Joanns long before I even began to think about being a costume designer. I would go with my mother and just wander the aisles upon aisles overflowing with fabric samples, touching the materials and staring at the pretty colors. It was such a foundational part of my childhood that I truly think impacted my decision to become a designer in the first place. In my hometown, there are so few small businesses that sell fabrics at prices comparable to Joanns, making me nervous about future costumes or clothes that I want to make. You can get so inspired by Joanns, walking around and seeing things that you wouldn’t have originally thought of and how they could fit into a specific vision. I intend on going again very soon to find more discounted fabric and try to stock up on some materials while I still can. RIP Joanns.
I am so genuinely sad about the fact that Joannes is shutting down. I am in mourning like a 18th century housewife over the fact that I won’t be able to purchase yarn from Joannes anymore. There really isn’t any comparable store to what we will be losing with Joannes. Michael’s doesn’t have enough quality fabric or yarn. Similarly Hobby Lobby has too much in the home decor and not enough in fiber crafts to be very comparable either. It’s really unfortunate because the fabrics at Joannes were affordable to someone first getting into sewing, and there just isn’t another store that has the wide selection of fabrics for that price like Joannes did. I really hope that Michael’s takes the opportunity to expand upon their wares in the crafts sections to take over the market Joannes is leaving behind but I’m not particularly confident that's going to happen. Rest in peace Joannes, you will be dearly missed by crafters and creatives across the country.
I had heard a lot about the store Joann's closing, but I'd never heard about it before a few weeks ago, when it was first mentioned to be shutting down. I understand that it's a chain with about 800 stores, and it seems to be a very big retailer to small businesses and small artists. I'm kind of shocked that it's shutting down because it seems like they have a lot of customers who want to purchase for them, but you know, stuff like bankruptcy happens. We had talked about this a lot in my costume class as we were using fabric to sell quilts and stuffed animals and little booklets and it's a parent that this shutdown is going to have a huge impact on the costume industry but also many small businesses and retailers. This is super unfortunate and I wish that this company was not shutting down.
The closing of Joann's is truly the end of an era. I think the closing of these stores reveals a slowly declining community of crafters and promotes mass manufactured items with no personality. Being able to crochet, knit, or craft the things you need or want in life gives people both a hobby and sometimes a more affordable life option. These so-called “old person hobbies” are all considered “uncool” but many people find them relaxing and good for their mental health. One interesting comparison that I found is the increase in interest in activities such as jigsaw puzzles which someone could argue fits into a similar category to arts and crafts. Speed puzzling competitions are seeing a rise in competitors and Ravensburger puzzles are also increasing in popularity. While some people may be mourning the loss of Joann's, others are trying to complete a 500 piece puzzle as fast as they can.
I am so sad about this!!! Joanns is the only place I know to get fabric, especially because I live in the middle of nowhere Massachusetts. It’s not the type of store to be overtaken by online shopping. When shopping for fabric it’s pretty important to be able to do it in person. You need to know how much you want, how it feels, if it's stretchy, etc. I agree that I think the closing of Joann’s will push people away from fabric crafts. Like I mentioned before, there is nowhere else near me to get fabric. The closest place is 40 min away. It’s very sad that Joann’s is closing and I hope that whoever wins the bid and buys it is able to make something happen. Whether that be reopening under a new name, keeping it to an online only shop, or some other alternative. Maybe I’ll join Violet and chain myself outside.
I’m actually quite sad about this. Joann’s online store has always been a godsend for me for getting some specific yarns I couldn’t find anywhere else, and they would always have super easy shipping and be at a solid price. It really sucks that Joann’s seems to have strayed from it’s place as a fabric and yarn store, and tried to become more of a Michael’s/homegoods store. There’s definitely going to be a massive void in the crafting world of affordable places for a wide variety of supplies with good availability. Michael’s especially sucks for stuff like yarn and fabric because they have such a limited selection, it’s sold out have the time, and the main focus of Michael’s is really not the yarn and fabric at all. The next jump up is just expensive specialty stuff. Hopefully, something will happen to make fiber arts a more accessible hobby again.
On one hand, i am unfortunately not surprised that Joanne's is going out of business. The Joannes I go to frequently back home is in a major metropolitan area, but I am very often one of the only people in there. Things have been looking worrisome for the store for a while. Personally, I had shifted away from purchasing things at Joanne's for a while because I felt that I had enough experience buying fabric and notions I could do it online for cheaper (and there's definitely some level of analysis to be done there regarding online craft stores driving physical stores out of business) but the disappearance of these stores will definitely be a blow to the overall creative community. Easy, in-person accessibility to crafting materials is so important to beginners, because shopping online really doesn't build the same level of material familiarity. And in areas where materials are harder to come by or other options are too expensive/specialized... I worry about those in those areas. I will really miss Joannes. The atmosphere of the rows of dusty quilting cotton, flickering fluorescent lights, and the smell of sewing machine oil at 8pm right before closing as I desperately purchase the last minute materials I need for a troublesome theatre build is one I will never forget.
Even since I was a child, I have been sewing with fabric from Joann. This outrages me and makes me feel so sad. I’ve created so many wonderful things with fabric from there, including a stunning piece which was the showstopper of my portfolio. Everything included in it was bought from the Joann twenty minutes away from my house. There are no other fabric stores anywhere around where I live (like within a hour drive) except for a few local shops which have limited supplies and usually only basic fabrics. They are also all in significant financial danger. I won’t shop online for fabric as I can’t see what it will look like in person and is highly expensive. As mentioned in the article, I agree that the closing of Joann will “push many people away from textile art completely”. Since fabric and sewing supplies are no longer easily accessible, many people will slowly start making less things and it will die out even more than before. I’ve seen so much outrage about this, and it leaves me wondering how this could have happened in the first place and what was going on in the Joann financial office. Is there anything we as the people could have done differently to prevent this?
On a further note, I wonder how this will affect school and community theatres. Without a huge budget, fancy and expensive things cannot be bought. Will the closing of Joann, where many of these places go to buy fabric, impact the costuming and construction of their productions? Will everything now be reliant on rentals or just everyday clothes? Will students be able to learn how to sew and fall in love with costume design without the practical knowledge and aspect?
Overall, I am absolutely GUTTED over the closing of Joann stores and will always be grateful to the company for all the joy it brought me growing up.
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