JOANN Fabric Closing: Where to Go to Sew?

After 80 years of filling your grandma’s arsenal with fabric by the yard, yarn and more, JOANN Fabric is set to close all of its stores nationwide. This includes all 14 of JOANN’s Colorado locations.

“I was with a couple of the people I’ve known that work at [JOANN’s] in a corner having choked-up moments,” said Mary Schaefer, a seamstress for the Denver theater community and Disguises, a costume superstore. “It was my happy place.”

A year ago, JOANN Fabric filed for its first bankruptcy protection. Following JOANN’s second bankruptcy, it announced on Feb. 25 that it would close all 800 stores; however, the company still hasn’t clarified the exact date of complete closure. This follows the wave of closures by other chains such as Big Lots, Party City and Forever 21. 

In a statement, JOANN said, “We deeply appreciate our dedicated team members, our customers and communities across the nation for their unwavering support for more than 80 years.” It also indicated that “the winning bidders plan to begin winding down the company’s operations and conduct going-out-of-business sales at all store locations.” 

Schaefer, along with other Aria Cohousing residents, a cohort of people who live together in Northwest Denver, attended Threads and Things group meeting on March 20. They meet on the second Tuesday morning and the third Thursday evening of every month to do an assortment of craft projects. 

Attendees lamented over JOANN Fabric’s closure as they worked on projects such as weaving. “I’ve always wondered why JOANN’s—since there’s Michael’s and Hobby Lobby—doesn’t just concentrate on fabric because they have that market,” Schaefer said.

As a costume designer, Schaefer could purchase fabric and necessary garments online, but there are limitations beyond just time for shipping. For instance, when she wants a skirt to flare or predict how fabric will appear in lighting on stage, she finds shopping at JOANN’s more expedient. 

“[JOANN’s] also used to have these coupons, and we’d watch out for those and stock up on whatever was on sale,” Schaefer said. “They transitioned to an app, and they consistently had almost every week a coupon that was either 40 or 60 percent off of a cut fabric.”

While its coupon technique had been around for the 16 years Schaefer spent as a craft and sewing enthusiast, it was not unique in retail. Other chains facing similar financial struggles, like Kohl’s with its ‘Kohl’s Cash’ and Big Lots with its frequent 20 percent discounts for members, have relied on similar tactics to keep customers coming back. However, these efforts weren’t enough to stave off closures. Kohl’s, for instance, is set to close 27 stores across 15 states on March 29 including the one at Arapahoe Crossing on Parker Road, while Big Lots plans to shut down its operations.

On March 8, JOANN Fabric in Westminster at 9250 Sheridan Boulevard had a nearly depleted supply but still had customers of all ages browsing. “I was always complaining about how if I had to go in and get a zipper to finish up something, there’d be 10 or 12 people in line,” Schaefer said. “It was a regular problem; everyone I knew who went there was like, ‘Yeah.’ But now I get it; everyone was doing the whole coupon thing, and they just couldn’t afford the staff for all the registers.”

Mounting debt, increased competition, supply chain disruptions and rising costs also contributed to JOANN’s woes. In addition, fast fashion from online retailers like Shein and H&M makes it less expensive to buy clothing, not to mention changes in culture over the decades.

“There used to be home economics classes when people used to find it cheaper to make clothes than to buy them,” said Janet Boys, another resident and Threads and Things attendee. “I think everyone who graduates from high school should at least know how to sew on a button and a hem.”

Ann Long, a resident who worked on a floral needlework project, asked the group, “Did your mothers have a sewing machine in the house?” Most Threads and Things attendees then nodded. 

“Mine did too,” Long said. “And when I got my own home, I got a sewing machine for just $25.”

Susan Wilson, also from Aria Cohousing, began crafting at an early age. “My grandmother taught me how to crochet when I was about eight years old, and I used to make doll clothes,” Wilson said. “And I learned to weave in college; it was required for my degree as an occupational therapist in 1969.”

Locally, only Skinner Middle School offers home economics classes—now referred to as Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS)—at a formative age. However, it is an elective course that isn’t mandatory to take. Beyond that, interest seems to be dwindling. According to PBS reporting, most states saw a reduction in enrollment at FCS colleges from 2020 to 2023.

Strawberry Mountain, a second-hand clothing store on Santa Fe Drive, plans to mend this inexperience and fill the void left by the demise of JOANN. On March 20, it held a Fix-it class for a $30 entry fee, where you could bring three to five damaged or broken pieces of clothing or accessories to repair and ultimately keep beloved items sustainable. Following that sold-out session, Strawberry Mountain plans to host a dye class on April 10 as another means of salvaging garments with stains or undesired colors. 

“Just yesterday I was in the shop and heard a girl say that something was a little too big in the waist, and her friend said, ‘Oh, well, my grandma can fix that,’” said Nadia Mackinnon, owner of Strawberry Mountain. “And I thought, ‘Huh, your grandma can fix it, but why can’t you fix it?’ Why is this a lost skill?”

Andrea Fischer, the instructor at the Fix-it class, discovered that traditional sewing classes with more technical approaches leave some students with a limited understanding. Fischer visually demonstrated mostly hand sewing skills to attendees, as well as repairing items individually using low-cost tools from ReCreative Denver, a nonprofit located across the street from Strawberry Mountain that supplies Mackinnon with thread, fabric and other supplies and hosts related workshops.

“I cannot get neon thread anywhere else except for JOANN’s,” Fischer, who is preparing a large yarn installation job for the city and has a history of work with Meow Wolf and the Denver Art Museum, said. However, she also stated that she tries to avoid JOANN’s as much as possible. 

“For the last six years, I’ve shopped at ReCreative at least once a week,” she said. “I spend a lot of time seeking out materials so I don’t shop at JOANN’s.”

Wilson from Aria Cohousing expressed a similar concern about not knowing where else to get thread and notions, which are small objects or accessories (such as buttons) that can be attached to projects.

“ReCreative is more affordable, and their recycled materials allow things to be one of a kind with a lot of vintage fabrics that you can’t get at JOANN’s,” Fischer said. “A little example would be craft acrylic paints. I would have to do two or three layers more of JOANN’s paint than a 20-year-old bottle at ReCreative.”

While JOANN Fabric did offer domestically made fabric, 81.4 percent of its shipments are from Asia, which some attendees at Threads and Things describe as a mixed bag in terms of material quality. Comparatively, ReCreative has an inventory that constantly changes and is sourced from the local community.

“Fashion and textile work is something that we all use every day, like your couch that you sit on, the car seat that you drive, your loofah, everything,” Fischer said. “I think there was a time that [sewing] was a dying art, but now that things are so expensive, there’s a huge tick in people finally wanting to fix their own items. And so I’d direct people to look at ReCreative.”

Although some are eager to locate local suppliers, others are still grieving the loss of what they had come to expect from JOANN Fabric.

“It’s really a shame that they’ll be gone,” Shaefer said. “It’s kind of like walking into Home Depot; you just love to walk around and see what’s there and what’s new.”