Joan, a fabric and craft retailer who has been providing quilters, tailors and school projects for 80 years, announced that he will close all stores in the latest chapter in the company's financial mayhem.
The company's assets were auctioned off on Friday, about a month after Joanne filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time within a year. Joan announced early in February that he would close 500 of the remaining 800 stores as part of the bankruptcy process.
According to a news release from Joan, financial services company GA Group, which is the auction's winning bidder, has acquired “virtually all of Joann's assets” along with lenders. GA Group plans to remove the company's operations and make out-of-business sales at all stores until it withheld bankruptcy court approval, the company said.
In a statement, Joan said that his leadership “has made every effort to pursue a more favorable outcome that would keep the company in business.”
Joann, formerly known as Jo-Ann Fabrics, is based in Hudson, Ohio. Storefronts of 49 state chains have long been a standby for creative crafters, offering colorful thread and fabric rolls that fill the entire aisle, offering sewing machines, seasonal products and other craft supplies.
In March 2024, Joan, a company that was then publicly available, filed for bankruptcy to reduce his debt and returned to personal ownership. The company believes this is due to a retail environment where low sales are difficult. Its initial submission ended in August 2024.
The retailer continued its downward spiral in the following months. When the company announced in February that it would close more than half of its stores, Joan said in a statement that it faced important and lasting challenges in the retail environment. To take this step.
Joan said sales for the closures would soon begin, but the timeline for store closures and operational decommissioning was not yet clear. In a note to suppliers, Joan said, “We have stopped purchasing goods and services, except for things we generally consider to be essential to helping to blow out orderly operations.” The GA Group did not immediately respond to details on Monday.
Many homeworkers, like Stacey Blumfield, 38, of Alexandria, Louisiana, were saddened by the news of the closure. Blumfield has been shopping at his hometown of Joanne for almost ten years. Because the only shop nearby is the one that carries the yarn needed for knitting and crocheting projects.
“Whatever you need, they probably have it and it's going to be the quality you wanted,” she said.
