JoAnn Fabrics closing all 800 stores

JoAnn Fabrics recently announced that all 800 of their stores will be closing, after failing find a buyer for the 82-year-old craft and fabric store. The closure will impact over 19,000 workers and have a devastating economic effect on the craft community, including many sparse suburban and disabled artisans who rely on the stores’ accessibility and high-quality merchandise—particularly in comparison to competitors like Michaels and Hobby Lobby—as their main craft supplier.

Former DreamWorks storyboard artist, Bonka wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “I am honestly devastated about Joann fabrics closing…There’s no other options for fabric now other than online, which sucks.”

Other shared the same sentiments, acknowledging the limited availability of craft supplies in their communities and the difficulty of purchasing materials online without seeing or feeling the product before the purchase.

One crafter who has a disability of his hands, wrote on Bluesky “Their [JoAnn] value yarn is good for both my hands and my wallet and now I will have to find an alternative...this isn’t just a craft for me, it’s a source of income that has saved me more than once.”

The announcement of the store’s closure has been devastating to the quilting community, particularly in Northern Kentucky. Jen Clapp, a Kentucky-based quilter told New York Times, "What’s happening will hurt the quilting community because those smaller, specialty stores are few and far and between. You’ve got to travel to get to one, and not everyone can find them.”

JoAnn Fabrics recently announced that all 800 of their stores will be closing, after failing find a buyer for the 82-year-old craft and fabric store. The closure will impact over 19,000 workers and have a devastating economic effect on the craft community, including many sparse suburban and disabled artisans who rely on the stores’ accessibility and high-quality merchandise—particularly in comparison to competitors like Michaels and Hobby Lobby—as their main craft supplier.

The company’s assets were auctioned off on Friday, about a month after the company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in less than a year. The financial services company GA Group, along with a unnamed lender, acquired “substantially of JOANN’s assets”, according to a news release.

The announcement was met with surprise by the staff at the Concord, NH store who did not believe their store would be affected after the company originally announced that 500 of its 800 stores would be closing.

One Bluesky user shared how the store was a main source of income for his parents, as his father was permanently disabled and his mother, who had worked as an employee of the store for years, “will have to start over”.

This revelation was met with others who commented that JoAnn was one of the only major retailers in several sparse suburban communities across the country, creating jobs in a commutable distance for these residents who do not live close to a major city or dense suburban area.

Despite rumors circulating that all stores will be closed by May, JoAnn has not given a definite timeline on an exact closure date but stated that closing sales will begin immediately.