[Update] Joann Fabrics shutting down

[SC Minnie]

The 2 Joann's near me are staying open! I am so thankful. One is about 10min from me and the other 30 min-- this one is a little larger and has more selection that the closer one.

We also have 2 Michaels and a HL within a 10 min drive.

I'm getting something from 1 or more at least once a week. The different stores carry different things and I know what I like from each.

 

[bcla]

As far as I can research, there are currently 13 Joann stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. Matching them up to the list of closing stores, there will only be one left.

 

[mom2rtk]

This is a huge problem for me. I sew for a living, and was often in JoAnn several times a week. I buy lots of fabric from JoAnn. I buy lots from Hobby Lobby. I buy lots from online sites. But when you're sitting down to actually make something, if you need a last minute teal zipper, JoAnn was the only place in town to find one. HL carries zippers and bias tape and the like, but only in a very small selection of colors.

This is a huge loss.

 

[mom2rtk]

^^ Joann isn’t closing because they are scared of the competition. It is all about profitability.

Because these stores have been so poorly run for so very long. I've been calling them the DMV of fabric stores for more than a decade now.

Plus, ever since the bankruptcy was announced, selection in the stores has been abysmal. This is the photo I sent my daughter in October when I went to find a specific color of bias tape. It never improved. It was pretty obvious they were never going to recover.

 

[mom2rtk]

This is a shame.
Sadly, the store by me used to be really nice and now it’s a dump. You walk in the door and it’s a disaster. Litter all over the floor, unopened boxes of products in the aisles, the product on shelves all messy - just terrible! I’m not sure if they don’t have the employees to keep up the store or management doesn’t care or both. If the store by me closes I will be bummed out, because I like them for inexpensive artificial greenery.

I've noticed the same thing at several of the stores in town I have been in recently. Just an utter disaster area. Clearly they cut employee hours to the bone. I can't say I ever saw employees standing around doing nothing.

 

[mom2rtk]

Material is going to be the hard one.
I don't want to order it online.
I need to see it, and feel it.

So will notions. Unless you want black, white, yellow or pink, good luck finding a zipper without paying full retail plus some ridiculous shipping price. And you'll have to wait until USPS decides to actually get it to your door.

 

[cabanafrau]

Was it on Netflix? I watched one on Netflix called Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy that sounds similar. It was difficult to watch, even as someone who does not partake in fast fashion (I buy classic instead of trendy and wear for years, mending when necessary).

Yes, that's it. Couldn't remember the name, just the awful, awful situation that just keeps building.

 

[cabanafrau]

This is a huge problem for me. I sew for a living, and was often in JoAnn several times a week. I buy lots of fabric from JoAnn. I buy lots from Hobby Lobby. I buy lots from online sites. But when you're sitting down to actually make something, if you need a last minute teal zipper, JoAnn was the only place in town to find one. HL carries zippers and bias tape and the like, but only in a very small selection of colors.

This is a huge loss.

This exact situation is going to really hit things like theater groups and school productions and dance studios and their costuming and performance needs HARD, among many others.

Back when my oldest was in competitive dance I found myself scrambling around town to locate a zipper to replace one that broke on her teammate's costume a few hours before the first competition of that particular routine. I could not get the proper length and had a devil of a time locating something I could use -- and get put in the costume before it was needed for the stage. Wound up rushing through a very messy hand install just so we could get the dancer in the costume and on the stage without the costume opening up on her. These days it probably would have been sewing her into the costume outright and then ripping out the stitches afterwards to get her back out of it.

In the past I've taken buttons and fasteners out of clothing that had reached the end of wearability. That stuff may get more and more useful in this new era.

 

[NotUrsula]

I've always hated JoAnn; their fabric quality is abysmal, and they treat their employees rather badly as well; it is definitely my store of last resort. Store managers have ZERO autonomy to tailor their inventory to the local market, which is probably why this happened in the end. Different locations have different buyer populations, and if you can't take advantage of that, you're doomed. The only thing that I've really purchased there with regularity in recent years is Big4 patterns when there is a sale on.

For costuming, I've pretty much switched to just keeping a stash of the most neutral products on the market, mostly sourced from WAWAK. I buy YKK 22" sheer illusion zippers and stop staples when WAWAK has a sale and use them on everything but jacket openings and trouser flys (where color doesn't matter anyway because the placket covers it.) I use medium grey thread or flesh tone (for sheers) in my serger loopers and bobbins, and I wind my own spools for my regular machine. I also keep a stash of white and black 200 GSM matte spandex and the same of 90 gsm stretch mesh, plus a selection of acid dyes, so I color what I need in a pinch. My general fabric stash is enormous, anyway; I've been saving every useable scrap for 50 years.

According to the list, the 2 stores nearest to me are staying open for now. I hope they change their managerial style.

 

[QueenIsabella]

This is a huge problem for me. I sew for a living, and was often in JoAnn several times a week. I buy lots of fabric from JoAnn. I buy lots from Hobby Lobby. I buy lots from online sites. But when you're sitting down to actually make something, if you need a last minute teal zipper, JoAnn was the only place in town to find one. HL carries zippers and bias tape and the like, but only in a very small selection of colors.

This is a huge loss.

First, let me say that your costumes are amazing--I'm in awe!

I also feel your pain on costumes generally--all 4 of my kids were dancers, and I've spent countless hours backstage (and at home) making costumes. Usually, I wasn't the one making the last-minute Joanne's run, because they couldn't afford to let me go! One year, I had to make 40 soldier costumes for "Nutcracker"--I was stunned and amazed at how many moms couldn't sew o a button!

 

[NC Belle]

I seen Amish and Mennonites crowds at a Walmart with big sewing department.

 

[NotUrsula]

First, let me say that your costumes are amazing--I'm in awe!

I also feel your pain on costumes generally--all 4 of my kids were dancers, and I've spent countless hours backstage (and at home) making costumes. Usually, I wasn't the one making the last-minute Joanne's run, because they couldn't afford to let me go! One year, I had to make 40 soldier costumes for "Nutcracker"--I was stunned and amazed at how many moms couldn't sew o a button!

Yeah, that's weaponized helplessness. I always offer to teach those people how, and somehow the response is always feeble excuses accompanied by a plaintive, "It would be so much easier if you could just do it for me." Show me the money.

One thing is for sure: run for the hills the minute any of these people approach you asking for something and using the word "simple" -- it's guaranteed not to be.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I remember going to Fabric Row with my mother. The last time was probably more than 40 years ago. I’m glad to hear it still exists. South 4th Street in Queen Village, I believe.

Absolutely! I'm all nostalgic now. My favorite store was called Maxie's Daughter. They closed, unfortunately-but the area is still flourishing. I used to love going in one store that sold fabric for ecclesiastical robes and such. Beautiful fabric.

 

[NYCgrrl]

It seems strange that the ones in Orlando are closing, but the ones in smaller communities aren’t

I’m guessing they are going by sales per sq ft instead of some other measurement. There hasn’t been a Joann’s in NYC, for a good 10 years. Doubt there were ever any HL stores here and Michael’s left the city during the pandemic.

I used to turn my nose up at online fabric buying but some of the companies really understand what is holding back prospective clientele and have flipped the scenario around by offering samples.

My original email address included the word “fabriholic” so you know where I’m coming from, lol. The new method also helps focus my buying habits making it more manageable

 

[barkley]

As far as I can research, there are currently 13 Joann stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. Matching them up to the list of closing stores, there will only be one left.

the primary fabric store I recall growing up in the bay area was hancock's fabrics-seemed they were everywhere.

I seen Amish and Mennonites crowds at a Walmart with big sewing department.

I think this is in part why we still have so many dedicated fabric stores here. outlying Mennonite communities, a good number of homesteaders that operate handmade item buisnesses as well (we went to a homestead conference this past summer and the wealth of handmade sewn/knitted/crocheted products was amazing-and stunning, they sold like crazy). quilting is also very popular to the extent that in the last few years it seems like we've started growing some kind of quilting retreat economy. I routinely see these getaways being promoted at some of the more rustic local lodgings.

 

[NYCgrrl]

This is the photo I sent my daughter in October when I went to find a specific color of bias tape.

A possible solution to the bias tape scarcity? Buy a roll of white or beige tape in the width you normally use and DYI dye it as needed. I had a 3” silk or cotton organdy bias tape roll of about 50 yards that I used for all my projects. It was less expensive and I could change the width to 1.5 “ when I wanted. Probably paid about $20.00 back then which made it exceptionally reasonable in cost.Do a google search for online notions. Daytona in NYC might carry it but don’t think they’ve an online presence. Still, they will ship orders.

HTH!

 

[bcla]

the primary fabric store I recall growing up in the bay area was hancock's fabrics-seemed they were everywhere.

Not familiar with them. Where I grew up in the East Bay I mentioned the stores I remembered. My mom used to take me with her. But I do remember the local chain New York Fabrics. There used to be a store in Emeryville that eventually became a Joann's. As far as I can tell, that store closed around 2007, and I think it was a Ross off-price store. But I think Ross moved to a different location and now it's a Banana Republic Factory store.

 

[jdb in AZ]

A possible solution to the bias tape scarcity? Buy a roll of white or beige tape in the width you normally use and DYI dye it as needed. I had a 3” silk or cotton organdy bias tape roll of about 50 yards that I used for all my projects. It was less expensive and I could change the width to 1.5 “ when I wanted. Probably paid about $20.00 back then which made it exceptionally reasonable in cost.Do a google search for online notions. Daytona in NYC might carry it but don’t think they’ve an online presence. Still, they will ship orders.

HTH!

I make my own bias tape.

 

[NotUrsula]

Yes, bias tape is easy to make in any width if you just rig yourself a little cardboard pressing tool, and it's MUCH cheaper than premade. (Or you can buy a little metal/plastic bias tape tool if you prefer, but I like heat-resistant cardboard because I can put my iron right on top of it.)

My favorite trick is to sew the fabric into an offset tube shape and just keep cutting with my rotary cutter for yds and yds. A full bolt of wide white broadcloth will net you about enough bias tape for a lifetime unless you're a really prolific quilter. 1 yard of fabric will generate close to 20 yards of binding this way. (FWIW, I don't quilt at all, but I do use a lot of narrow binding & piping on Hong Kong seams and utility items.)

Hancocks was my favorite fabric store of the big chains. I still have items in the stash that I bought when they went out of business nearly 10 years ago. FWIW, if you quilt, one last member of the Hancock family is still in the business, having split his store off from the chain when the family sold in the early 1990s, and narrowed its specialty to quilting. It's called Hancocks of Paducah, and is located in, you guessed it, Paducah, KY. It's HUGE; 60,000 sq. ft of floor space.

I'm something of a fabric tourist; I make it a point to seek out unique fabric stores wherever I travel. For NYC I'll fly SWA and bring an extra rolling suitcase, but most of the rest of my indulgence happens on road trips. One of my favorite destinations is a small chain located in Michigan, called Field's Fabrics; they have a lovely large selection of both apparel and decor fabrics at very nice prices. I snagged 3 very nice pieces of printed jersey 3 weeks ago for summer work tops, purchased on a break from watching DD compete near there.

I have a friend who likes to go on craft retreats; they are definitely a thing, along with quilting and knit/crochet events. I'm not huge on sewing as a social activity; I tend to get into a "zone" while sewing, and I resent being interrupted. Costume stoning, however, is a great activity to mix with socializing; provided no one gets too high from the glue fumes!

 

[DodgerGirl]

My aunt also did crafts even when she was pregnant with my cousins and when she needed craft supplies she would go to Joann's or Michael's and my aunt would buy anything she could to make crafts like ceramic banks and she would paint them and give them to my cousins teachers and wreaths for her house's door. Why I also think Joann Fabrics is going broke is because I think they opened too many stores in the cities that could've been popular. But when you are looking at it from a different vision there really isn't any other craft store chains besides Michael's and Hobby Lobby but I think a store will buy the Joann name and sell it to a store like Walmart and Target