Jo-Ann Stores, LLC, (stylized JOANN) was an American specialty retail chain that specialized in fabrics and

arts and crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

supplies. The chain was based in

Hudson, Ohio Hudson is a city in northern Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,110 at the 2020 census. It is a suburban community in the Akron metropolitan area. John Brown made his first public vow to destroy slavery here and the ci ...

, and had operated over 800 stores across 49 U.S. states until the beginning of 2025. By the end of February 2025, the company began the process of liquidating all of its stores after failing to obtain a buyer. 255 stores were shuttered by the end of April while the remaining 535 locations permanently closed by May 30, 2025, a day ahead of the planned closing schedule. It was revealed on June 5 that

Michaels Michaels Stores, Inc., doing business as Michaels, is an American privately held arts and crafts retail chain. It is North America's largest provider of arts, crafts, framing, floral and wall décor, and merchandise for makers and do-it-yourse ...

had acquired all of Joann’s intellectual property and website, but none of the physical stores. Michaels itself has plans to expand its selection of products by introducing Joann's private labels to physical stores and online within the coming months. An increase in fabric searches on Michaels' website prompted the company to move forward with this decision.

History

Origin

German immigrants Hilda and Berthold Reich, Sigmund and Mathilda Rohrbach, and Justin and Alma Zimmerman opened the Cleveland Fabric Shop in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, Ohio in 1943. After further expansion, the store's name was changed to ''Jo-Ann Fabrics'' in 1963. The store's name was created by combining the names of the daughters from both families: Joan and Jacqueline Ann. Jo-Ann Fabrics became a publicly held corporation traded on the

American Stock Exchange NYSE American, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and more recently as NYSE MKT, is an American stock exchange situated in New York City. AMEX was previously a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known ...

under the name of ''Fabri-Centers of America, Inc.'' in 1969. The company made its first acquisition with the purchase of Cloth World, a 342-store southern company, in 1994. At the time of the acquisition, Fabri-Centers operated 655 stores. In 1997, Fabri-Centers settled for $3.3 million on federal charges that it had misled investors in 1992 by overstating its earnings before it sold securities. CEO Alan D. Rosskamm, grandson of Hilda and Berthold Reich, settled a related administrative complaint as well. Fabri-Centers acquired House of Fabrics, which also previously operated as Fabricland, Fabric King, and So-Fro Fabrics, in 1998. In September 1998, the company changed its name to Jo-Ann Stores Inc., and all of its stores were renamed Jo-Ann Fabrics. Darrell Webb became chairman and CEO of Jo-Ann Fabrics in March 2006. Jo-Ann Stores announced plans to sell out to private equity firm

Leonard Green & Partners Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. (LGP) is an American private equity investment firm founded in 1989 and based in Los Angeles. The firm specializes in private equity investments. LGP has invested in over 95 companies since its inception, including ...

for $1.6 billion on March 23, 2010, and was delisted from the stock exchange in March 2011. Darrell Webb resigned in March 2011 and Travis Smith was promoted to CEO after joining the company in March 2006. Travis Smith announced his resignation in March 2014. The company's CFO, Jim Kerr, agreed to become CEO until a replacement was found. Jo-Ann stores named

Jill Soltau Jill Ann Soltau (born 1967) is an American businesswoman who was the CEO of JCPenney from October 2018 through December 2020. She was previously CEO of Jo-Ann Fabrics. Education A native of Viroqua, Wisconsin, Soltau is a 1989 graduate of Univer ...

as president, chief executive officer and a member of the company board of directors in March 2015. Under Soltau's leadership, the retailer opposed President Trump's tariffs citing American manufacturers not being able to meet Jo-Ann's quality or volume needs. She joined seven other retail CEOs at a meeting with the administration where they discussed how the tariff would raise consumer prices and hurt businesses. Jo-Ann Stores rebranded to ''Joann'' in March 2018 as a way to move beyond fabrics and encompass more craft. Soltau left Jo-Ann Stores in March 2018.

Wade Miquelon Wade Miquelon (born October 28, 1964) is an American business executive and former CEO of Jo-Ann Stores. He was previously an executive at Procter & Gamble and Walgreens. Education Miquelon received a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engine ...

became president, CEO, and a member of the board of directors in March 2019. In March 2019, Jo-Ann partnered with

GoldieBlox GoldieBlox is an American toy company that markets interactive toys designed for girls. GoldieBlox, which pairs a construction kit with a storybook, launched in 2012 as a prototype on Kickstarter. Its Kickstarter campaign led to more than $1 mill ...

for a monthly subscription box called the GoldieBlox Box to help children ages 8 and up to develop STEM skills.

COVID-19 pandemic

Prior to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the chain lost $546.6M in its 2019 fiscal year. However, by the end of the 2020 fiscal year, it made $210.9M to $212.9M and added 9 million new customers. The increase in sales is credited to mask mandates and an increased interest in do-it-yourself projects. In March 2021, Jo-Ann made plans to create an e-commerce facility in West Jefferson, Ohio to better serve its online sales. On March 16, 2021, Jo-Ann went public on the

Nasdaq The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

stock exchange under the ticker symbol JOAN. Leonard Green & Partners retained a majority stake in the company, allowing it to nominate up to five members of the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

COVID-19 lockdown controversy

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jo-Ann received public criticism for keeping many of their stores open amidst health concerns for elderly customers and refusing paid sick leave for employees affected by

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. Jo-Ann defended themselves in a statement by claiming that their free mask kits helped local hospitals, which allowed the stores to be considered "essential business", despite many hospitals rejecting homemade masks.

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

's governor,

Gretchen Whitmer Gretchen Esther Whitmer (; born August 23, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 49th governor of Michigan since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she served in the Michigan House of R ...

, forced stores to close down in the state after Jo-Ann sent a letter requesting to not be included in stay-at-home orders. Whitmer stressed that the same materials used to create masks are able to be sold online without in-person contact. Most of the materials used in the free mask kits were later revealed to be remnants, which are often sold by Jo-Ann at a discount, leading some media outlets to disparage the program as "just scraps from the clearance bin".

Bankruptcies and liquidation

In September 2023, Jo-Ann announced it would lay off an unspecified number of administrative employees. In October 2023,

Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings Inc. is an American credit rating agency. It is one of the three nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSRO) designated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and is considered as being one of the " Bi ...

and CreditRiskMonitor reported that Joann was nearing a potential

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

filing. That month, Joann was handed a delisting notice from Nasdaq as its stock share price fell below $1 per share, and stated that if Joann was unable to get its shares up to $1 or above, its stock would be delisted from the Nasdaq. Jo-Ann filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 18, 2024. The company planned to cut over $500 million in debt and restructure into a privately held company. It planned to complete its filing by late April with no employees or stores affected. Nasdaq halted the trading of the company's stock on March 28, and on April 9, Jo-Ann was formally delisted from the exchange. The company's reorganization plan was approved by a federal judge on April 25, and Jo-Ann emerged from bankruptcy as a private company. On January 15, 2025, Joann filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in less than a year. The company cited continued declining sales as a contribution to its second filing. Stores were expected to remain open throughout the procedure as the company attempts to shed its debt by $500 million. On February 12, 2025, Joann announced the closure of 500 of its remaining 800 locations, in an effort to "right-size" the company's footprint. 61 of the locations slated for closure were in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, while

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

will each see more than 30 Jo-Ann locations close. On February 24, 2025, it was announced that Joann would liquidate the remaining 300 locations after failing to find a buyer. Its assets was be sold to GA Group, a private equity-firm. The last Jo-Ann stores closed on May 30, 2025. A few days after the last store closed its doors, on June 5, 2025, it was announced that competitor

had acquired Joann's intellectual property - including its' website, logo and private labels - but none of the physical stores. Michaels itself has plans to expand its selection of products by introducing Joann's private labels to physical stores and online within the coming months. An increase in fabric searches on Michaels' website prompted the company to move forward with this decision.

References

External links

Official website
(Archive)
Corporate Profile
at

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...

{{authority control 1943 establishments in Ohio American companies established in 1943 American companies disestablished in 2025 Arts and crafts retailers Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2024 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2025 Retail companies established in 1943 Retail companies disestablished in 2025 Retail companies of the United States Companies based in Akron, Ohio Defunct companies based in Ohio 2025 disestablishments in Ohio 2011 mergers and acquisitions 2021 initial public offerings Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Hudson, Ohio