Retailers are shutting down select stores in droves: From Bed Bath & Beyond shutting down physical stores completely to Macy’s plan to gradually close select locations over three years. A popular content creator shared another store on the possible chopping block and predictions for the future of the retail business.
TikTok user @seatrick is a popular content creator who goes by they/them pronouns and has amassed 260,000 followers for posts about “sewing, drag, cooking, and Disney.” In a video with over 924,000 views, they reveal how JOANN Fabric is going under. “So, JOANN Fabric is likely gonna be filing bankruptcy this week. Filing bankruptcy and completely going under,” they say. “And closing all their stores are two separate things.” However, @seatrick offers a glimmer of hope. “But there are ways to save the company after they declare bankruptcy,” they shared.
In their opinion, JOANN will be purchased by a large art supply store, Michaels, much like Hancock Fabrics. Michaels purchased the company last minute, not even bothering to show up for the auction. “Hancock Fabrics got fed to the vultures and once the entire corpse was picked clean, Michaels comes hobbling in and buys the rights to the name,” they say. “A short while after, you could start buying Hancock Fabrics off their website again.”
Since the art supplier is expanding its fabric offerings, it would make sense for Michaels to acquire JOANN, @seatrick claims. They will be surprised if the Michaels doesn’t purchase it. In addition, the content creator says the company has a history of doing this in the past. “Michaels has a very bad habit of purchasing companies like this. One of them being a smaller chain of craft stores that was tied to the manufacturing label, Darice,” they explain. “Darice was a very affordable craft supplier for a lot of people and Michael’s purchased them and then just let the whole thing die.”
What does this mean for JOANN? “I think their prices are gonna be sky high, particularly because they almost have no competition outside of Walmart and Hobby Lobby. I don’t think that the quality of the fabric is going to be very good but it will be a store,” they say. On the other hand, since the prices of hobbies are through the roof, @seatrick believes people will gravitate toward shopping for fabrics online.
@seatrick My heart goew out to all the workers at Joanns stores, warehouses, and offices. I worked at Hancock through the bankruptcy and liquidation and its not something I’d wish on anyone. I’ve been hoping a new chain would open and expand to bring better competition to the market, but its just too tough fighting against these giants.
♬ original sound – SeaTrick
The Daily Dot reached out to @seatrick via email and TikTok comment and JOANN Fabric via email. In the comments section, viewers refused to shop anywhere except for JOANN.
“My area only has Hobby Lobby and Joann’s. I NEED Joann’s to stay in business so I don’t have to shop with the devil,” one viewer stated.
“I need Joann’s to stay open. My conscience will not allow me to buy at hobby lobby,” a second wrote.
“I just got a [JOANN’s] close to me. I SWEAR TO ALL THAT IS HOLY I REFUSE TO GO TO HOBBY LOBBY FOR EMBROIDERY SUPPLIES!” a third remarked.
Other users agree JOANN is superior to other places.
“I need joanns. Michael’s is over priced and does not have the selection. need to see and feel fabric before buying,” one user commented.
“I really hope Joann’s doesn’t close there’s no other places in town that sell nice cotton prints and the variety of fabrics like they do where I live,” a second said.
Why is JOANN Fabric in financial difficulty? Because of plummeting sales and crippling debt. However, the company isn’t completely going out of business. In October, the company announced it would be closing eight stores. The first to go was its Northeast Ohio location. From there, it was a domino effect, leading to the shutdown of some of the other locations. As a result, mass layoffs ensued.
