A few nights ago I would have found myself driving to the local Joann Fabrics store. Daylight Savings Time is gone until Spring, so it’s dark well before 6pm, and I’ve been feeling the weight of the world laying heavy on my heart AND my mind lately. It is this kind of mood that would often send me to the aisles of the local Joann store, a place where I sought and found some solace.

Joann stores are no longer around, but I still sometimes catch myself driving home from work and almost automatically heading toward the exit that once took me to the Joann store closest to my house.

In the wake of Joann going out of business entirely, I have visited and shopped at other places where I find many of the same, or similar, items. Sometimes this is the remaining craft Big Box store, while other times it has been a small, local business that carries either yarn or fabric. On rare occasions it may even be the giant megastore that hosts an aisle or 2 of craft supplies.

A number of these places have used the demise of Joann stores to promote their businesses, and I don’t blame them. There’s a wide-open market for things once offered in abundance at the local Joann store, and customers who are still in need of, or at least on the hunt for, those things.

The challenge I have found is that none of these places has the same “vibe” as Joann stores did, no matter which Joann store it was or where it was located. I’ve been in a number of stores over the years in multiple states, and they all had that homey, warm feeling that often felt like the embrace of an old friend. I’m not sure what it was that created the sense of connection, but Joann stores had it across their organization. Sadly, the stores left to pick up the displaced Joann customer base do not.

The Joann “Secret”

I suspect that many have heard this about the Joann experience and wish they could crack the code. I know I would want to do this if I were the store manager or an executive in one of those businesses. The challenge is that I’m not sure it’s something that can be replicated all that easily. In fact, while I’ve felt the difference between Joann and other craft stores, I’m not sure I could explain what is missing.

Some of that warmth over the years may have been leftover nostalgia for the days when we accompanied mothers or grandmothers to the fabric store in our childhood hometowns, where we sat in chairs at the pattern bar, swinging our legs that didn’t touch the ground, and nodding to questions about this dress or costume versus that one, which would be followed by picking out the fabric and notions to complete the project. I especially loved the hunt for buttons!

A more likely factor to that “Joann vibe” was their practice of hiring people who had crafting and/or sewing skills. Especially in the evenings when the store traffic had slowed down, regular shoppers knew the employees and would chat about their latest projects, the state of the world, families, and more. This made a seemingly uneventful trip to the store feel more like we had spent some time with part of our crafting community; and community is important! Joann employees very often became an extension of our crafty communities, and many of us can FEEL the difference between them and the folks working in the remaining Big Box craft stores.

IMPORTANT NOTE to the remaining Big Box Craft Store: please DO NOT start requiring your non-crafter employees to start asking us about what we are making. REAL CRAFTERS will see right through it. ALSO, this is not the fault of your current employees. This is company culture, and that begins at the TOP.

In my brief stint as a casual Joann employee, I know that everyone I worked with was either a sewist, crocheter, knitter, scrapbooker, or artist in some other right. At the remaining Big Box Craft store – which I am THANKFUL to have around – it’s obvious that this is not a hiring priority.

At this point, some will ask “why not just shop at local small businesses, then?“

GREAT question! For some people the pricing at small businesses is an issue. Small businesses don’t buy in bulk the way that national chains do, which translates into them needing to charge higher prices to remain in business. Those prices are very different than what typical Joann shoppers were accustomed to finding when they shopped. In addition, we have to talk about shop hours.

I have ZERO complaint about any small business owner that chooses to limit their store hours. That is their call, their choice and their right. I do, however, think it is important for them to understand that families are busier than ever, and much of the customer traffic in the crafting world takes place on evenings and weekends. The “answer” to the replacement for Joann stores isn’t as simple as hollering “Shop Local!“.

The more I thought about this “feeling” or “vibe“, I considered options that were less about Joann or other stores, and more about my perspective. Perhaps the closing of the Joann business simply coincided with my own more intentional approach to shopping for fabric, yarn and other supplies. I have been working hard to pivot AWAY from mindless shopping in order to “feel better“, so it may be that I am making progress in that aspect of my life.

We should also consider the increased attention within crafting and fiber circles to “shop our stashes“. I’m not the only person with an overabundant supply of fabric and yarn in many colors, fiber content and textures. Many of us have looked honestly at the stacks, and drawers, and containers and more, and begun to ask ourselves why we keep shopping. There are multiple HASHTAGS on social media to tag projects that emerged from a “stash“, and I’ve highlighted a few of my own stash-inspired projects on this site.

It is also possible that the missing “vibe” has less to do with anything embedded in the walls of a Joann store, or codified in the employee handbook at Joann headquarters. Maybe it’s all about changes in our culture and society; and there are a LOT of things going on right now that could be impacting this topic.

It’s (at least partially) the economy

First off, the prolonged government shutdown, rising prices due to tariffs and economic instability – perceived or real – are making everyone stop and think more concretely about their purchasing habits. While the BIG economic factors (e.g. GDP, stock market performance) continue to tell a story of strength, the average American is feeling the direct impact of higher costs, every day. This means that kitchen table conversations are more focused on how much money is spent vs. saved, and where those spending dollars should and will go. Even for people who don’t have those conversations with another person, there is an increasing tendency to think “I should probably be saving more,…” that is growing stronger for many people.

This inevitably leads to concern about the local small businesses. Growing up in a family that made their living for a number of years as artists who worked juried craft shows across multiple states, I feel deeply for people whose incomes are derived from their small business. While I have no issues with walking into a national chain store and walking out after not finding anything I wanted or needed to buy, I struggle with this at the smaller, local stores. I feel a sort of “responsibility” to make a purchase of some kind, in support of them as small business owners.

While I realize that this is NOT my responsibility, I have yet to overcome this impulse. In fact, I stopped participating in the local Yarn Crawl because the last one I did ended with me spending more than $550 on mismatched yarns from 8 or 9 shops across the region.

It was all wonderful yarn, sold by lovely people,… but I realized, as I piled it into bags and sealed containers already filled with 2 years worth of prior crawl acquisitions that I needed to rethink my yarn crawling participation.

The overarching purpose of fabric shop hops, yarn crawls, and similar events is to a) bring more people into shops, b) to establish (hopefully) a new habit or routine for people who already buy fabric, yarn and related supplies, c) to gain new customers, and d) to make money.

To be clear, these are all perfectly legitimate and understandable goals for small business owners. I am NOT criticizing the events, and would absolutely be hosting/participating in them if I was a small business owner. They clearly bring out the shoppers, and as one yarn shop owner in an outlying county told me, her shop generates more than 60% of its annual revenue during the yarn crawls each year. This is an anecdotal data point, but a data point all the same. The “frenzy” to buy during these time-limited events is intentional, and it works.

While it does not entirely surprise me (retailers have routinely counted on 4th quarter holiday shopping to “make” their numbers each year), it enlightened me as to the PURPOSE of the yarn crawl as well as my responsibility in understanding it, and reconciling those somewhat crossed purposes. In other words, to know and respect my own goals, needs and wants and participate – or not – accordingly.

NOTE: these crawls and hops are full-blown events. Freebies, snacks, and multiple drawings where you can win free stuff, are offered; plus you get additional “chances” to win when you buy/spend more.

Reflection

I have begun to pay more attention to my emotional state when I feel the urge to go buy more fabric, yarn or related supplies. When I am in a mood that has previously sent me shopping for things that soothe me, I pivot my thinking to what I could do with the things I already have at home. I have found that I end up feeling the same soothing feelings after digging through my already-acquired fabric and yarn. The additional bonus is twofold: I spend no more money, and my stash stays the same size. I have also found that engaging in large-scale organizing of smaller craft items (findings, tools, etc.) engages my “feel-good” hormones (endorphins) and resolves the angst that so often has sent me out to shop.

I have also made boosting my savings account more of a competition with myself, and that has helped me make better spending decisions. In addition, I have been reading more about the psychology of shopping. In this article on Mindless Shopping, this statement resonated with me: “…the constant bombardment of advertisements and social media posts showcasing new products can make us feel like we’re missing out if we don’t constantly shop.“

Yes, social media can make us want to shop, too.

Each of us must reconcile our financial goals, “clutter” tolerance, and true “need” for more fabric, yarn or whatever it is that compels us to SHOP. We must also consider our budgets, space in our homes, and the goals around each.

The lesson in the drastic difference between shopping for fabric or yarn at Joann stores, and doing so today in the remaining Big Box options, is that community matters. The GOOD NEWS is that we don’t have to SHOP to find community. We can join a local crafting group, take a local class, show up to public crocheting/knitting events, or start our own fiber-centric group!

Crafters are creative and can transform simple things into works of art. As we continue to process the stages of “grief” around the loss of community that once resided in our neighborhood Joann stores, we can move on into new ways of being in community, finding and/or creating activities and small groups that promise a different way forward on our crafting and fiber journeys.

Good luck to all, and keep on stitchin’ !!

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(C) 2025 Fiber Harmony (Stitch ‘n Dish)