
In this special episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we are talking with a variety of industry players about the second bankruptcy of JOANN Fabrics including:
- Grace Dobush, our business reporter for our corporate newsletter Craft Industry Insider
- Molly Hamilton from Folkwear Patterns
- Aaron Leventhal, former CEO and owner of Hero Arts
- Venture capital investor Elizabeth Caven
- Kansas City-based fashion designer Whitney Manney
We start with Grace giving us an overview of the current situation at JOANN (January 2025), go through 10-15 minute interviews with each guest, and wrap up with Grace as we look towards what the future might be like for JOANN.
We hope you enjoy this slightly different, more news-focused format for the show!
Photo taken by Abby Glassenberg on Monday, January 20, 2025, of empty aisles at the JOANN in Framingham, Massachusetts.
Grace and I kick things off by setting the stage for the second bankruptcy announcement. Grace has dug into the filing and shares key statistics she’s uncovered.
Next, we talk with Aaron whose company, Hero Arts, was a major vendor to JOANN. Aaron details the role that JOANN played as the scrapbooking industry grew to 6,000 independent shops and then shrank to approximately 600 in the US today. He explains how a company like Hero Arts prepares for and manages orders the size that JOANN placed and what happens when those orders become chaotic and unreliable.
We talk with Whitney Manney who was a recipient of the JOANN Minority Creative Grant. Whitney shares the incredibly positive impact this grant had on her fashion design business including connecting her with talented staff members at JOANN and with the other grant recipients for support and advice as they grew their businesses together. She also talks about the other opportunities that arose as a result of winning this grant.
We talk with Elizabeth Caven about the patent she sold to JOANN for a small, square projector used for projecting sewing patterns onto fabric. Elizabeth’s device, called Kite, also included augmented reality. JOANN bought the patent and used it to create the Ditto Projector in collaboration with Singer. Along the way Elizabeth interacted with leadership at JOANN which gave her some clues about the eventual fate of the company.
And we talk with Molly Hamilton who began dropshipping Folkwear patterns through the JOANN website several years ago. She talks about the frequency with which orders were placed and her company was paid and early clues that something was wrong, including JOANN claiming that her small business owed the company money.
Boxes full of inventory crowded the aisles at JOANN in Framingham, Massachusetts last Monday.
- Here’s a link to the map made by Reddit users of fabric stores in the US. Toggle the JOANN locations on and off via the righthand sidebar.
- View this list of the top 30 creditors for this second bankruptcy filing.
- Read Elizabeth Caven’s article about her views on what may have led to the downfall of JOANN and follow the discussion in the comments below it
There are hundred, or even thousands, more people we could talk with whose businesses have been or will be impacted by the bankruptcy so this episode is by no means a complete picture. We hope that the perspectives shared here provide some food for thought about how JOANN Fabrics fell.
Download a transcript of this episode right here.
This was so wide-ranging and interesting! I would love a link to the entrepreneurs you mention (Whitney & Elizabeth) so we can find them now and as they continue on their creative journeys.
Hi, Thank you for listening to the show. They are all linked in the show notes above.
Could you please provide a transcript for those of us who are deaf/hard of hearing? Thank you.
Hi, Yes, we will work on that and upload it here. Thank you so much.
Hi, We’ve created a transcript of this episode. You can find a link at the bottom of the show notes above. Thank you so much.
Hi- here’s a perspective from the opposite side of the table.
I worked in management for Cloth World in the 1990’s, before Joann’s bought up Cloth World. I’m also a 60 years long seamstress and for the last 25 years, I have purposefully avoided Joann’s like the plaque. The only time I frequented Joann’s was to pick up basics that I needed immediately such as thread and interfacing.
The rest of my fabric purchases have been 100% on line. I purchase my linen from FabricsStore.com (California) and Linen Lab in Korea. I have also purchased fabric from Folkwear and other “indie” vendors. I use Folkwear patterns and Style Arc patterns exclusively.
Why do I avoid Joann’s? The store is always dirty- Not somewhere I want to purchase fabric from. Ability to get waited on is impossible or long, Fabric shelving is chaotic and the quality of fabric versus price per yard was awful. I sew for good quality fabric in my personal clothing, and I quickly found online companies who not only have better quality fabric and excellent customer service. I can get my notions from Madame Sew online. So I have no need, I use our local independent owners for couture buttons.