Joann Fabrics going out of business

[ysabetwordsmith]

Joann Fabrics closing all locations—including Illinois stores

Weeks after announcing the closure of 500 stores, Joann Fabrics announced it will be closing all of its 800+ locations.


I am upset because that's the last big fabric store around here. All that's left will be a few specialty shops that I don't bother with because they're so limited and expensive. And I can't buy fabric without touching it. So that drastically limits the possibility of making clothes should commercial options become untenable.

I'm so frustrated with capitalism nowadays. It can't seem to keep things going anymore -- and the sector of affordable goods is getting hit really hard, as with the loss of Big Lots. You can't DIY if you can't source the base materials. >_<


EDIT 2/27/25 -- oracne offers this Bluesky thread listing some alternative places to buy fabric.

I also suggested that people get together and form a cooperative to purchase fabric and distribute it. This would work at a college fashion or theatre department, other schools, craft clubs, etc. It will be easiest to set up before the Joanns all close, because then you can talk with other crafters at the store and attempt to network solutions.

Also it's a great time to start your own fabric store if that has been a dream -- get in now while you can grab a massive amount of market share.

Comments

[dewline]

Time to watch out for Fabricland in Canada, then...

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Some folks are trying to compile lists of surviving fabric stores, brick and online.

[(Anonymous)]

We'll still have a tiny overpriced quilting store or (ugh) Hobby Lobby if you absolutely have to, but it's not great. My friend teaches sewing- well, technically costume design, but still- at the university here and has no idea where her students are going to find supplies now. And yeah, any kind of fiber stuff can't be trusted to online sources, who knows what will actually arrive and how representative the photos are.

Wyn

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>We'll still have a tiny overpriced quilting store or (ugh) <<

Yeah, that's what I've seen around here, and they're not of use to me personally. I am going to watch in Amish territory to see if they have anything more practical. They're frugal folks so it's worth a try.

>> Hobby Lobby if you absolutely have to, but it's not great.<<

The problem with the mixed-purpose stores is they just have an aisle or two of fabric. You can't go there with a project and buy what you need for it. You have to look at what they've got and think if there's anything you could make with that. :/

>> My friend teaches sewing- well, technically costume design, but still- at the university here and has no idea where her students are going to find supplies now.<<

Okay, a college is big enough to buy in bulk. Some things get used in large quantity, like muslin or whatever else you're using for test models before you use the expensive fabric. Anything for an assignment where people will make the same thing can be bought in large batches. Another thing a college has is space -- room to store and distribute fabric. That's often a limitation in other contexts, but at minimum there should be a multifunction room that can be used in off-hours, and often there is storage space available too.

So then, check around town. Do you have bespoke tailors? Crafters? Bohemians? Quilters? The more people you can bundle together, the better prices you can get buying bulk and dividing the loot. Seriously consider forming a cooperative to purchase and distribute fabric, maybe once a month or so. There should be enough base to make it feasible, and it could be customized to the department's needs rather than trying to do thing piecemeal or through another business.

>> And yeah, any kind of fiber stuff can't be trusted to online sources, who knows what will actually arrive and how representative the photos are.<<

Only the most basic stuff, like muslin or denim, that has little variation, is really feasible to buy online -- or things where the details don't matter, like buying fat quarter packages of different quilt fabrics, where all you need is cotton in assorted shades of target color. But it's still greatly inferior to having a real fabric store.

Re: Thoughts

[fyreharper]

I mean. The problem with the mixed-purpose stores is they just have an aisle or two of fabric. The problem with Hobby Lobby is their owners put extra effort into being effing bigots.

[oracne]

Possibly useful Bluesky thread: https://bsky.app/profile/starsofcassiopeia.bsky.social/post/3lixoooitq22j

Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I have added this resource to the main post so more people can see it.

Oof!

[rebeccmeister]

I 100% agree about how important it is to be able to touch and feel fabric when deciding what to buy!

One small fabric store that tries really hard and sells online, is Stonemountain and Daughter, in Berkeley, CA.

https://stonemountainfabric.com/

On their e-mail list they tend to highlight specific fabrics along with providing photos of the fabrics used to sew garments made from patterns they carry. I can't claim they are inexpensive, though. But I do think they price things as affordably as they can. When I lived in the area it was so much better to go there compared to chains like JoAnn's.

I hope you are able to find some other option. But I also agree with your frustrations over capitalism and what has been happening to brick-and-mortar shopping.

Re: Oof!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I 100% agree about how important it is to be able to touch and feel fabric when deciding what to buy! <<

That's true for a lot of things.

Most of what I buy online is either a replacement for something I already had, or a later version (e.g. next book in a series). It's just a bad way to buy unfamiliar anything.

>>On their e-mail list they tend to highlight specific fabrics along with providing photos of the fabrics used to sew garments made from patterns they carry. I can't claim they are inexpensive, though. But I do think they price things as affordably as they can.<<

What made Joann great was economy of scale. They could offer a very wide range from cheap novelty fabrics through practical linens and cottons up to luxurious silks and velvets. I loved being able to wander through in search of inspiration.

>> I hope you are able to find some other option. But I also agree with your frustrations over capitalism and what has been happening to brick-and-mortar shopping.<<

I'm going to look in Amish territory. They may have a store for themselves.

Re: Oof!

[rebeccmeister]

Oh, I could see how there might be options in Amish territory. I hope you are able to find something!

[sixbeforelunch]

This sucks. Joanne's is my mom's happy place so I'm sad for her and for you.

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I have spent a lot of fun time in there and will deeply miss them.

[fred_mouse]

If I understand it correctly it isn't even that it was doing poorly, but that it got bought by one of those predatory capitalism outfits that make money by gutting the companies they buy -- that this is the same as happened to Toys'R'Us.

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Those people are evil.

However, this yet again highlights one of the critical flaws in capitalism: it encourages people to put all their eggs in one basket. If the 800 stores were privately owned, they would all have to fail individually. But with one company owning all of them, a single failure wipes out a whole swath of stores. Going to another town doesn't help because their store closed too.

Re: Yes ...

[fred_mouse]

Agreed. Capitalism doesn't have the market pressures that people who shill for it claim. Because when the choices are bad and worse, well, you still need to eat / have clothing / other necessities.

[gatheringrivers]

Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! *wails*

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Right at the point where we desperately need to expand skills and local production of goods, and make things that will last a long time, we've lost a crucial resource for doing that.

Come to think of it, this is a lot like how we're losing nurseries and seed companies, when we most need to be making landraces of everything everywhere. All the bargain nurseries fell at the same time; what's left is increasingly expensive.

[see_also_friend]

While it won't help with finding /specialty/ fabric, I've often had good luck upcycling old clothes, linens and blankets. Depending on local resources, it may be possible to find some at rummage sales, thrift stores, estate sales, etc.

It also might be possible to do zero-waste or upcycling sewing. Buddhist monks did it for centuries :
https://www.learnreligions.com/the-buddhas-robe-450083

If I were going to look for specialty fabric, I'd probably try looking for some that I already have and enjoy in garment form. Then I should have an idea of the feel, drape, etc.

I do wish the online fabric retailers would offer 'sample books' or something. You know, like those wallpaper books they used to have (and maybe still do?) or like the paint chips at Home Depot. Then folks could buy a set of little bits of the fabric to see if any of them would work. (Acyually, that might be a good way to reduce fabric waste, too.)

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> While it won't help with finding /specialty/ fabric, I've often had good luck upcycling old clothes, linens and blankets. <<

I've done it. But it doesn't have near the lifespan of new fabric. I don't mind modifying thrift clothes, but if I'm going to invest hours of sewing, I want new or near-new cloth in large pieces.

>> I do wish the online fabric retailers would offer 'sample books' or something. <<

Some do, but the samples cost money. This is perfectly reasonable for specialty fabric like velvet, satin, etc. But it kills the frugality of buying things like muslin or cotton knit.

[cornerofmadness]

I'm extremely upset about this too. Like you if I can't touch the fabric and get its feel I'm not buying it. I mean spoonflower has pretty stuff online but I don't know what that fabric is like. And I'm betting you can't send it back if it's the wrong feel and flow for your project.

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

The only way I could see mail-order fabric working is with something which naturally has very little variation like unbleached muslin.

[priscilla_king]

There's an independent woman-owned fabric boutique on Jackson Street in Gate City, with booths where people sell their crafts as well as shelves of fabric and notions. Selection is small for the size of the building; business is slow. It's a quirky place--often closed during normal business hours, usually open for evening classes, and they've not been around long enough still to have a phone. You have to be in town and catch someone there. Well, THAT's how independent they are. The building is easy to find: it's the Hackney Building right above the one traffic light on Jackson Street.

I was asked to teach a knitting class there once, then warned that most of the "students" came in from Tennessee and wanted to giggle and drink wine more than actually build skills. I didn't want to encourage people to drink wine before driving back to Kingsport...so, well, they don't sell yarn anyway. Only asked to be polite.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> There's an independent woman-owned fabric boutique on Jackson Street in Gate City, with booths where people sell their crafts as well as shelves of fabric and notions. Selection is small for the size of the building; business is slow. <<

Better than nothing and the craft booths sound cool.

>> It's a quirky place--often closed during normal business hours,<<

Yeah, a lot of places are like that around here.

>> I was asked to teach a knitting class there once, then warned that most of the "students" came in from Tennessee and wanted to giggle and drink wine more than actually build skills. I didn't want to encourage people to drink wine before driving back to Kingsport...so,<<

I agree that drinking and driving is a poor life choice.

>> well, they don't sell yarn anyway. Only asked to be polite.<<

*chuckle* I once got invited to teach a poetry workshop for a group. Only the organizer and a couple other folks showed up. She was incensed that several others who had said they'd come instead chose to stay home and watch pay-per-view wrestling. Me, I though it was hilarious -- and well worth the trip into town just to have that story to tell. :D Besides, the rest of us had fun with it.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I think of "men's" T-shirts as the default unisex kind of T-shirts and "women's" as the cutaway, shrink-to-fit, flaunt-the-C-cups kind. <<

Makes sense.

>> I get both from charity stores (would not pay for the ones I've designed on Zazzle), but I'm beginning to think a shirt exchange is evolving as part of the American courtship ritual, after reading rap lyrics where the refrain is something like "This girl's a keeper (because) after we had sex she got up and put on my T-shirt." Well, it fits reality. Even men who were a foot taller than I am wanted to trade shirts.<<

I've seen that too.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Here, I'd look for old sheets, scrap, etc of sufficient size. <<

Sometimes that works, if you can find decent sheets and want flat-woven fabric. Most of what I wear is knits.

>> Or get some old clothes and modify them. I've resized really large thrifted shirts (with expensive fabric), for example.<<

That I've done.

>> If I am buying fabric new and off the roll, it is probably for something specific and custom I am marketing. Reenactment stuff, a custom dress, a baby quilt, etc.<<

Yeah, when I go looking for fabric, it's usually for a specific project.

>> For clothes, I've also had good luck shopping at rummage sales and yard sales. It won't work as well if you need special sizes or some adaptive stuff, but $2-5 per garment is other wise fairly good, even if it needs slight repairs or alterations.<<

I can do that with T-shirts but not much else, since my body is hard to fit.

>> I'll suggest centering it around a group or groups that routinely use a lot of fabric - theatres, SCA and so on. If other people buy in it will make it easier/more affordable, but you still want a fairly large and tight-knit group to form the core, for extra stability.<<

That's my thought too.