All Joann stores will soon close, leaving crafters dejected and frustrated
When Kelly Atchison and her mom first heard that all Joann fabric and craft stores would be shutting their doors, including their closest one in Topeka, Kansas, they had one first instinct: panic-shop.
The mother-daughter duo owns PK Country Designs, a brick-and-mortar shop in the little city of Burlingame, where they sell their family’s handmade creations. Many of their bestsellers, from baby blankets to upholstered benches, are made from fabric and other supplies they get at Joann.
After announcing this month that most of its stores would be closing, the craft retailer said all 800 stores are going the way of Blockbuster and Party City by the end of May.
On Tuesday evening, the Atchisons loaded carts with bolts of their favorite fabrics as the store bustled with sad customers. They make a 30-mile trip to Joann in Topeka because they have few local options. There’s a Michaels and a Hobby Lobby, but Atchison said they just don’t have as good of a selection.
“It’s going to affect a lot of people, especially where we are in rural America. We have to travel quite a ways to go to the stores, and that was one of our last options,” said Atchison, 36.
Joann, with its rows of fabric and yarn, craft supplies and home decor – all for relatively reasonable prices – represented a spirit of creativity that customers told Paste BN they worry is becoming harder to grasp. The closures will affect communities that go beyond just avid crafters, they said.
Joann "stirred the imagination" and was accessible to crafters of all ages and skill levels, Carol Clemens, a retired graphic designer in Woodland Park, New Jersey, told Paste BN in a message.
"It is how we come together in a creative solidarity. It is a true loss, and women across this country are feeling a real sense of mourning," Clemens said. "People need to create."
Joann was a source of memories
With stores in every state but Hawaii, Joann had become a go-to for kids working on school projects, moms sewing Halloween getups, and costume designers putting together theater productions.
Darlene Dresch, a real estate agent in Ann Arbor, Michigan, remembers running around to Joann locations in her area to get fabric for the wedding and prom dresses she has made for loved ones. Joann was the source of creations that turned into so many memories, she said.
“I’ve made all of my daughter’s stuff. I’ve always made her prom dresses, homecoming, her special events. All of my kids’ Halloween costumes. ... I bought my daughter’s sewing machine there for Christmas one year,” said Dresch, 55. “I went in to buy flannel to make burp cloths for my soon-to-be grandson.”
But when she heard the news, her biggest worry was about the volunteer event she helps run every year. It's an effort to make “comfort blankets,” blankets that will be donated to the loved ones of people who have died and donated their organs. The best, most affordable place to get fabric for the blankets is Joann, Dresch said.
“After a family member has passed away and donated their organs, Gift of Life gives these blankets to the living family members,” Dresch said. “It’s the last thing that some of these family members have from their loved ones, that touched their loved ones, or just to remind them of them.”
Dresch and her real estate colleagues hope to donate 50 to 100 blankets this year through Gift of Life Michigan after the event they organize each spring. She has been making blankets for years and says she’ll continue, but she worries that others may stop having the blanket-making events altogether with the loss of an affordable source of fabric.
Joann was known for its contributions to charity organizations and events. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the company called on crafters and sewers to create homemade hospital gowns and masks for medical workers, offering free fabric kits. Joann said it donated 400 million cloth masks.
In Ohio, where Joann is based, the retailer’s donation campaigns at cash registers raised $981,000 for the Children's Miracle Network, University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Akron Children’s Hospital, according to the Akron Beacon Journal, part of the Paste BN Network. Joann also hosted weekly craft nights for students and families living at the I Promise Village transitional housing shelter.
The fallout from store closures
Atchison said Joann closings will hurt her family’s business in Kansas. They will likely have to raise prices to account for more expensive materials they’ll have to get from other suppliers, she said. Turnaround time for new merchandise could get longer if they have to order supplies online and wait for them to get shipped.
“One thing we like about Joann's is they have really good sales prices, and we try to make sure we get our materials when they're on sale, that way we can charge more affordable prices to our customers. Everyone likes cute stuff but not everyone has a large pocketbook for things that aren’t a necessity,” Atchison said.
In this economy, Atchison said, that can make a real difference to her customers, who are locals of Burlingame with its population of less than 1,000 and who visit the store from towns up to a couple of hours away.
"It's going to have a trickle-down effect that I think a lot of people aren't prepared for," Dresch said.
Her kids’ experience of running to a Joann store to look for the perfect craft project won’t be experienced by future generations, Dresch said.
'You need to feel it': Why online stores don’t work for some crafters
Joann is just the latest national retailer to fold; companies like Advance Auto Parts, Big Lots and Red Lobster have closed hundreds of locations, if not their whole U.S. footprint. It’s part of a larger economic trend often attributed to fallout from early pandemic shutdowns and a shift to online shopping.
Some customers say they’ll be forced to make some of their favorite Joann purchases at online stores instead, but they don’t like it.
Carmen Sanchez, of Camden, New Jersey, shopped at the Cherry Hill store on Wednesday while her husband, Angel, waited in the parking lot. Sanchez said she goes to Joann for yarn and baking supplies. Yarn in particular is something she prefers to buy in person: “You need to feel it,” she said.
Dresch, too, said she doesn't like the shift to online shopping.
“Maybe I’m still old-school, just that generation, but I just want to touch something, see it next to something else and make sure it matches or make sure it’s just right for the family that I’m going to be donating it to,” Dresch said.
“I feel like in-person shopping is going to feel like a relic in time,” said Katherine Mejia, of Philadelphia.
As for competitors, Karly Davis, who works at a day care center in Syracuse, New York, said she prefers to buy supplies for her toddlers at Joann. Its prices appeal to her, because she uses her own money for the purchases.
“I buy cotton balls, sensory materials, things like that,” she said. “There’s only one craft store near me: Michaels. And it’s fine. But it’s not Joann.”