Lizzy Boroski discovered her passion for crocheting when she started college. Now, her go-to craft store, Joann, is closing its doors for good.
“I was really bummed, because I just started all this a couple years ago, so I was like ‘Oh no, where am I going to go?’” said Boroski, a 26-year-old UF archaeology graduate student.
Joann, a Hudson, Ohio-based retail chain known for its fabric and craft supplies, is shutting down after more than 80 years in business. The Gainesville location has served customers for over 11 years.
The company, formerly known as Jo-Ann Fabrics, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January for the second time within a year. Chapter 11 allows businesses to initiate a plan of reorganization while continuing to operate under court supervision.
On Feb. 12, the company announced its plans to close around 500 of its approximately 850 locations across the U.S., but by Feb. 24, it confirmed all locations across 49 states would be closing.
Joann’s manager laments loss
At first, Sarah Burroughs, a 33-year-old manager at Gainesville’s Joann, was relieved to hear the Gainesville store wasn’t on the list of initial closures. However, she said her optimism quickly faded when she learned every location would be shutting down.
Burroughs was told the location is expected to close by late April or May, depending on how quickly inventory is sold, she said.
“The whole reason I started here was because I love sewing,” Burroughs said. “I love working with fabric. So I was like, ‘This would be perfect. I can help people with their projects. I can get fabric for my own projects.’ And now, I'm like, ‘Where am I gonna get my fabric?’”
Joann was more than just a workplace, Burroughs said — it had become her hangout spot. Many of her coworkers would spend time there on their days off, she said, and the store provided a space to connect with like-minded individuals who shared her passion for crafting.
The closure is not just the loss of a store, but a blow to a tight-knit community, she said.
“I kind of grew up in Jo-Ann Fabrics,” Burroughs said. “My mom used to make wedding dresses, so we’d always get our fabrics [there]. So it's like, now that it's not gonna be here, I don't know what to do.”
The store has been somewhat chaotic recently, especially with the constant implementation of new rules leading up to the closure, Burroughs said.
Recent policy changes include enforcing a 2-yard fabric minimum, discontinuing gift card usage and eliminating product returns, Burroughs said. The rewards system and loyalty discounts were also recently terminated.
While some customers have expressed frustration at the changes, others have been remarkably empathetic, she said. One customer even brought in snacks for the staff, a gesture Burroughs said she deeply appreciated.
Employees will likely receive a small severance in addition to their regular pay to account for the closure, Burroughs said. While she has plans moving forward, she said she’s really going to miss the job and the people.
“I feel like I'm mourning a death,” she said.
Michaels ties up loose ends
A short six-minute walk from Joann’s Gainesville location is Michaels, another popular arts and crafts retailer. While Joann primarily specializes in fabric and sewing supplies, Michaels offers a broad range of general crafting and fine arts materials.
Scott Berman, the 60-year-old manager of Michaels’ framing department, has been with the company for 12 years. He was shocked to learn Joann was unable to find a buyer for its remaining stores, he said.
A lot of Joann’s customers are coming in because Michaels carries a lot of the same products, he said.
“We're doing great,” Berman said. “We're happy, but of course, we feel bad for everybody over there. We'll hire as many [Joann employees] as we can.”
One of the significant challenges craft stores faced in recent years was navigating the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Berman said. Craft products experienced a substantial surge in demand during the pandemic, he said, but that demand fell once the pandemic ended.
However, Michaels successfully navigated the shift and managed to bounce back by remaining receptive to the changing needs of its customers, Berman said.
Berman attributes Michaels’ stability and continued success to its adaptability. The company will probably pick up fabric once Joann closes, he said, similar to how it expanded its children’s product line following the closure of Toys “R” Us.
“We enjoy the people, we enjoy the stuff, we enjoy everything,” Berman said. “Sad to be right here and see [the closure of Joann] happen, but we feel pretty good about ourselves.”
Customer reactions
Carol Sharisky, the 62-year-old owner of Sea Turtle Embroidery, a small business in Oviedo, Florida, said Joann's closure may be the result of over-purchasing inventory during the coronavirus pandemic.
Sharisky is concerned Joann’s closure will significantly impact consumers, as they are losing the nation’s largest fabric retailer, she said.
“So many other fabric chains went out of business over the last 20 years because Joann just put them out of business,” Sharisky said. “Now, there's nobody to fill that hole, because Hobby Lobby and Walmart and Michaels — they don't have the selection, and they don't have the prices.”
As a small business owner, Sharisky said she’s going to have to raise prices as well, since the cost of materials for her projects will increase with Joann's closure.
She and her daughter have been loyal customers for at least 20 years, she said, so it will be difficult to see the store go.
“I know a lot of my embroiderers are closer to my age, and they remember going when they were young with their moms and their grandmothers,” Sharisky said, “so that's three, four generations of people going.”
Ahsan Rahul, the 19-year-old lead fashion chair at MODE, a community-based UF fashion organization, said he wasn’t entirely surprised by Joann's closure announcement, as other major retailers, such as Toys “R” Us, have faced similar struggles.
“I was aware that this corporate trend was happening where these really big, monolithic, private equity companies are just coming in, buying things, destroying a lot of companies,” he said.
While Rahul’s sad Joann has gone out of business, he said he believes the impact on the local fashion community may not be as significant as some might expect, due to alternative options like repurposing and recycling.
Those who are likely to feel the greatest impact of Joann’s closure are fashion designers and those interested in garment construction, Rahul said.
“Not a lot of students really make their own pieces,” he said. “It's like a very small minority — I’d say only a handful of people. Most people are repurposing their closets and stuff, which is what we want.”
Fourteen-year-old Wren Walker said she’s very upset over Joann’s closure because she typically relies on the store for her thread, fabric, patterns and other sewing necessities.
Wren was inspired to take up sewing after developing an interest in Japanese fashion because she wanted to create her own street-style looks.
During a summer trip to Washington, D.C., Wren had the opportunity to take sewing lessons at Three Little Birds Sewing Co. in Hyattsville, Maryland.
“I just fell in love with it, and now I'm fully invested,” she said.
Wren attends Laniakea Montessori School in Gainesville. In one of her classes, she and her classmates make and sell tote bags, table runners and place mats.
Wren was in disbelief when she found out Joann was going out of business, she said.
“I'll miss, definitely, the fabric, [and] just the wide selection that I could get,” she said. “But also, I made friends here. There's people that worked here that I was friends with.”
Wren feels like she can fully express herself at Joann because there are so many creative people she connects with, she said, so she’s saddened by its closure.
Moving forward, Wren said she plans to shop for fabric at Hobby Lobby and online. However, she acknowledged it’s not going to be the same experience. Hobby Lobby offers a more limited selection, she said, and fabric often looks different online than it does in person. The inability to feel the texture and quality of the fabric through a screen will make the shopping experience more difficult, Wren said.
However, Wren is determined to continue her passion for sewing despite Joann’s closure.
“Sewing — it's kind of like a dying art,” she said. “I've never really seen a lot of kids my age want to learn how to sew, so I kind of want to continue this legacy.”
Contact Annie Wang at awang@alligator.org. Follow her on X @wynwg.
Annie Wang is a metro general assignment reporter and a second-year journalism major. She has previously worked on the university desk as the university administration reporter. She enjoys reading and writing book reviews in her spare time.
