Fabric and craft retailer Joann to go out of business and close all of its stores

NEW YORK (AP) — Fabric and crafts retailer Joann Inc., which has been a destination for generations of quilters, knitters and lovers of crafts projects for more than 80 years, is going out of business and shuttering all its stores.

The announcement comes after the Hudson, Ohio-based retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January, the second time in a year. It cited sluggish consumer demand and inventory shortages. At the time it vowed it would keep all of its stores open.

But earlier this month, Joann said it planned to close 500 stores — or more than half of its nationwide footprint. The company said on Sunday that after a recent auction, financial services company GA Group, together with Joann’s term lenders, were selected as the winning bidder to “acquire substantially all of Joann's assets” and would begin winding down the company’s operations and conduct going-out-of-business sales at all store locations.

The company said in a question-and-answer section on its website devoted to its restructuring that the stores, Joann.com and the mobile app will remain open and operate as it conducts going-out-of- business sales.

The retailer said that the dates for store closures or changes to the website will be posted as soon as possible, and it said it expects it will take a “number of weeks to complete our final sales.”

Joann previously sought Chapter 11 in March 2024 and later emerged as a private company. But after operational challenges continued to pile up, Joann filed for bankruptcy again in January.

"Joann leadership, our board, advisors and legal partners made every possible effort to pursue a more favorable outcome that would keep the company in business," Joann said in a statement posted on its website. “We are committed to working constructively with the winning bidder to ensure an orderly wind-down of operations that minimizes the impact on all our stakeholders.”