Another day, another closure notice from a major retailer. In the past month alone, we've had news about store closings from Big Lots, Party City, Walmart, CVS, and Macy's, among others. Now, JOANN is the latest company to announce that it will close locations in 2025. The 82-year-old craft and fabric store confirmed the news to Retail Dive, with Amanda Hayes, JOANN's director of corporate communications, diversity, and inclusion, saying the stores "are being closed as part of routine store location evaluation and optimization."
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JOANN filed for bankruptcy last year.
In March 2024, JOANN filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, noting that it had secured $132 million in funding to pay off its debt, as The Washington Post reported. Some analysts opined that the store had fallen on hard times due to a post-Covid slump, inflation, and customers taking their business to Hobby Lobby, which tends to offer lower prices.
However, at the time, the retailer operated 829 stores in 49 states and said it had no plans to close any of them—until now.
JOANN is closing at least six stores.
In an email to Retail Dive, Hayes confirmed that JOANN will close its locations in the following six cities:
- Burlington, Iowa
- Owings Mills, Maryland
- Holyoke, Massachusetts
- Ithaca, New York
- Hickory, North Carolina
- Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Best Life has reached out to JOANN for more information, and we will update this story with their response.
Shoppers can expect major sales at these locations.
Likewise, Barbara Boyles, the store manager of the Burlington, Iowa store told The Hawk Eye that they were instructed to start a liquidation sale of 70 to 90 percent off that ran from Dec. 1 to its final closing on Jan. 19. She said at some point during that time, the company would likely tell employees to stop cutting fabric "which will then be sold by what is left on the bolt."
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Meanwhile, Hobby Lobby is opening stores.
On the other end of the spectrum, JOANN's main rival, Hobby Lobby, recently opened five new locations in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, South Carolina, and Idaho, as Best Life reported.
"Inflation has negatively impacted nearly all businesses, individuals, and families over the past several years, Hobby Lobby's founder and CEO David Green said in a press release. "We have worked hard to hold our prices down, and are thankful for our continued success as a company."
