Hello Crafties!
We've all heard the sad news by now that JoAnn Fabrics is closing all its locations. While I'm not going to dive deep into all the legal stuff here, the writing was on the wall for a long time now. The economy has sucked for the last several years now and post 2020, the selection and stock of yarn and other craft materials in-store rapidly declined while prices soared. As a business owner myself, I understand the balancing act of trying to create the most value while also turning a profit. It's not an easy task but it is achievable with the right people in management.
Over the years, the ambience has shifted for the worse in store as well. When I first started going there 10+ years ago, you could feel a sense of joy in the atmosphere of almost any location you went into. Now, that's not really the case and it's not an issue exclusive to JoAnn but it certainly doesn't help its case.
Now in the face of the store's closing, the crafting community is taking a dramatic blow. For many, JoAnn was their only craft store locally. On top of that, many of us makers supply our businesses through JoAnn because it was the most cost effective option. Not to mention, the arts & crafts have been on the rise since 2020. Many young people are learning various new skills and reviving what many thought were dying arts. Now we're all faced with turning to competitors and online alternatives. The latter can be rather dicey depending on your craft.
If you're like me, now you're looking at your options for wracking up on your favorite and most needed supplies before JoAnn's closes their doors for the last time. Last week, they finally sent out the emails announcing the bad news and an up to 40% off storewide discount. I haven't been able to find any final dates for store closures yet but I can only assume they'll be done by July-ish.
It seems like it wasn't so long ago that we lost Hancock Fabrics and now almost 10 years later, we've lost an absolute giant in the industry.
I'll always have fond memories of going to the different locations in my city with my mom and grandmother. I can only hope that remaining craft stores will experience a new golden era someday where products become better stocked, more plentiful and less expensive.
I have to say, when I did venture to my closest location I wasn't all that impressed by the discounting. I understand there needs to be a balance of profit here as it is a liquidation sale, however, I didn't leave with much for a couple of reasons.
Folks had been in there and grabbed most of what I would have bought.
The discount to pricing to budget ration wasn't worth it.
Maybe near the true end, that will change. Heck, who knows? Maybe by the time this blog goes live things will have changed. It's just something we'll need to wait and see about.
So what's next for Infiniti Crafting Co.?
If you've been around for a while, you'll know that back in my yarn-hauling days, I did so at JoAnn. Much of my stash consists of their Big Twist yarns, which means I design with it a lot. Thankfully, for most of these yarns there are some easy alternatives found in Red Heart or Caron. So designs like the Infiniti Beanie or the Airways Shawl, among others, can be stitched with similar consistency.
There are two areas of my business most affected by this closure. One is the yarny aspect of it. While I haven't really purchased much yarn in the last couple of years, JoAnn was my preferred hauling location. Especially amid a new design or pattern release.
There's also the fact that I've been into beading these last several months and making eyeglass chains. I think now will be a really great time to haul some of those supplies. Especially the strands that I used for the Neon Love eyeglass chains because I got them exclusively from JoAnn.
Lastly, I was a member of their affiliate program which means that I would earn small commissions when people shopped through my links here on the blog and on YouTube. The shut down is obviously going to kill that and I find it really unfortunate as I've been blogging more this year. But alas, if I deem it necessary, I'll seek out new partnerships that will keep this website afloat.
That's all I've got for today. How are you guys holding up over the JoAnn closure?
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