Listen to the episode
A Farewell to Joann – The Asian Sewist Collective Podcast
Links Mentioned
Patterns & Designers mentioned:
None
Sewing Friends Mentioned:
@marikoabecreative
Transcript
Ada
Welcome to the Asian Sewist Collective Podcast. The Asian Sewist Collective is a group of Asian people from around the world brought together by our shared appreciation for fiber and textile arts and our desire to see more Asian representation in the sewing community.
Nicole
In this podcast we explore the intersection of identities and our shared sewing practice as we create a space for Asian Sewists and our allies.
Ada
I’m your co-host, Ada Chen, and I’m recording from Denver, Colorado. Denver is the traditional territory of the Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho peoples. I’m a Taiwanese American marketer, turned entrepreneur, and these days you’ll find me running my natural skincare brand, Erleia. That’s E-R-L-E-I-A. Find us on social media at Erleia Skin. Most importantly for this podcast you can find my sewing at i.hope.sew on Instagram.
Nicole
And I’m your co-host, Nicole. I’m recording outside of Chicago, Illinois, the original homelands of the Council of the Three Fires, the Ojibwe, the Potawatomi, and the Odawa people. I’m a Philippine American lawyer who loves to sew and you can find me on Instagram at Nicoleangelinesews.
Nicole
Hi, everyone. Nicole here. Welcome to another episode of the Asian Sewers Collective podcast. So by now, I’m sure the sewing community in North America, maybe even other parts of the world, has heard that the American staple, Joann, is closing. Joann Fabrics officially going out of business. And Ada and I have done a little bit of hopping around the Joanns near us, mine in the Chicago area and Ada in the Denver area. We thought we’d share experiences and lament with some of you who are going to be losing this resource in the sewing community as well.
So this is just a check in about Joann, Auntie Jo, as I like to call her. If you have any thoughts, opinions, feelings about what’s happening, email us at asianssewistcollective [at] gmail.com. And I will be posting a walkthrough of my recent Joann visit on Instagram at the same time this podcast is publishing. So go to Instagram and check it out.
Nicole
I’ll start with a little bit of background for our listeners who may not be as familiar with Joann Fabrics before jumping into a little bit of my Joann story. I’ll do a short preview about what’s going on at the store near me. And then before I cut over to Ada to check in with her in Denver. So Joann is a privately held company founded in Cleveland, Ohio in the U.S. s in 1943. So it’s been around for a long time.
They’re known for their fabrics, also their arts and craft supplies, as well as things like baking supplies and home decor. Of course, you have heard their closing. They actually filed for bankruptcy twice. The first time was last year in 2024 on March 18th. They filed for what’s called Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection here in the U.S. s federal courts. And the plan at the time was that they were going to restructure their company to help eliminate or reduce half a billion dollars of debt that they had. But unfortunately, less than a year later, on January 2025, Joann filed for a another Chapter 11 bankruptcy in efforts to reduce this debt. And about a month later, on February 12th, 2025, they announced that they were going to close more than half of its 800
Nicole
For me, the store that was near me was not part of the 500 that were cut at the beginning. ah two of the three have three stores near me, but I have a main one that I go to. And when I say near me, I mean within 20 minutes. But and unfortunately, on February 24th, so a couple weeks later, it was announced that Joann is just going to liquidate the remaining 300. All Joann stores are going to be closing.
So you’ve heard us talk about Joann here and there. Since it’s going away, a and I thought we’d just share our experiences. And I’ll start with my Joann story. You know, my mom was a nurse for three decades, an ICU nurse. And when I was younger, she used to make her own scrubs. And, you know, as you imagine, scrubs are pretty square. They’re simple. I don’t mean to devalue my mom making her own scrubs, but she used to turn them out, you know. I’m sure designs now have evolved, but you know, in the early nineties, mid nineties, they were boxy and my mom would buy fabric and, you know, you just wash them in the hottest wash you can when she gets home and she could turn through them and make them pretty quick too.
Nicole
We would go to the Joann in Bloomingdale, Illinois, and it was really tiny. Like I remember exactly where it was and what it looked like and I remember being so bored every time I went in there. I would just follow her around while she looked at the fabrics. I remember how tight the space was. And the revolving product racks, the columns, you know, like sometimes you see them at stores where there’s jewelry. And they’re on a rotating rack and you spin them. I remember those. I remember the racks. I remember the tiny cut counter and the ceilings. The ceilings were so low, adding to that sort of claustrophobic, unpleasant feeling for me.
Anyway, you know, as a kid, you know, nine, 10 years old, right around there. It was very unpleasant. And that’s my earliest introduction to Joann. And, you know, whenever we went out, I’m such a need to go to Joann or Hancock Fabrics, which is also no longer around. I would just groan and roll my eyes, but I knew it was another stepping stone to going somewhere else that I was interested in. And once I left for college, I didn’t really think about Joann. So I started learning how to sew fully, which is, as all of you listeners know, was February, March 2020.
Nicole
I moved away. I came home. Still didn’t really have a reason to go to Joann, but it had moved to a different area in the same town. It was much bigger. It’s the new Joann style that we all, many of us know now. And, you know, high ceilings, huge amounts of floor space, like white walls, green splashes. bright They’re bright green. it was fun. I mean, I didn’t really have a reason to shop at Joann. I wasn’t sewing, like I said, and I wasn’t really into any other crafts, any other crafts, but you know, fast forward to 2020, the Joann near me, which is in Darien, Illinois, becomes the only place that has fabric for me to be able to buy not quite look at, but at least buy and touch pretty quickly. And of course, everything was closed. was buy online, pick up in store, drive up rather, all that kind of stuff. And even now it’s still only the nearest place near me. So when I say near you know, these three are 20 minutes away from me, but there isn’t anything else within an hour of me.
There are other places, a certain lobby, which not shall be shall not be fully named is right down the street. I do not shop there. But many of my early fabric purchases were from Joann. and certainly things I had no idea of what they were like like, lots of polyester, some special occasion fabrics. I don’t know why. Quilting cotton that I was going to make in the clothing. I just did not know what I was doing. but it’s still special, like a special place to me because I learned so much while I was there. And the last time I was at my local Joann was actually last November.
Nicole
And it was, I was with my dog cause they are dog friendly stores and I’d put his bed in there or put a blanket in there and sat him in a cart. You may have seen the video on my Instagram, but it was the day after my grandma died and it was my self care. So I’m going to go on a weekday and walk around really slowly and just hang. And I went there, you know, to take care of myself, not knowing that a few days later he would also pass away. So I hadn’t gone back to Joann since November. And there’s an avoidance thing there, of course, along with grief, but I didn’t really have a reason to go anyway. got a lot of stuff. And you all know I love to shop and I get into these moods and haven’t shopped in anything forever. But I’ve accepted I don’t need anything. However, I did stop in the other day because I wanted to check out what was going on. You know, we did an episode about shopping for sewing and I talked about a closing sale last year on a different episode. But I was like, OK, I’ll just stop in and see.
So the Darien one is… was not originally on the closed list. It’s in the very early stages of closing. It actually does not look like it’s going out of business because they’re still very stocked up on everything. And I don’t know if this is the case in y’all stores, but I also saw signs that they’re receiving new inventory from the warehouses every day because these Joann warehouses are clearing out their inventory too.
And I’ll post on Instagram the reel of my full walkthrough, but just a couple of points, you know, like… I mean, I don’t really need fabric. I only bought Halloween themed items and crafts, you know, like a garland that has moon phases that are nice for year round, especially for someone who loves celestial themed stuff like, you know, I do.
Nicole
It was marked 80% off along with all the Christmas stuff. and There wasn’t a lot of Christmas and Halloween, but it ended up coming out to 85% eighty five percent off So I just walked around, took my time. it was a weekday during the day, so there were very few people here or at the store.
And I overheard the coworkers discussing how they were getting new corporate directives every day. So it sounds really stressful for them. Like the sales will change. They were always understaffed to begin with. And they’re getting these directives every day and inventory every day. And I’m sure they’re also dealing with the fact that they’re going to lose their jobs in a couple of months.
Nicole
But an example of what they’re getting told to do is put out those 80% off signs for the Halloween and Christmas stuff, but then a second sign that says an extra 15% off to convey that the stuff was actually 85%. I don’t know how that math works. It may not work, but they were talking about how corporate wanted them to do that. And the employees just decided they weren’t going to do that because it was going to cause a lot of confusion on the front end. And they’d rather have the customers at the register pleasantly surprised that it’s a little bit less expensive.
Nicole
I don’t blame them. You know. They’ve gone through a lot and they’re trying their best. you know These are the folks that I would see regularly because they were they were so understaffed. It was always the same few people. And whenever a company goes out of business, I always get a little bit sad about the stores closing. I’m definitely part of the system that is over consumptive and you know capitalism and These places feed into that, but I’m always sad about people losing their jobs. That sucks. I really hope they find their way and that they continue to find a way to stay connected to their craft because all of the folks I know that I’ve talked to at this Joann store, sewing is part of their craft. It matters to them.
Nicole
But that’s just a little bit of background with my Joann, my relationship with Auntie Jo, as I call her. And there isn’t there are no stores next to me that I could really you know walk through and touch and learn about fabric beside Joann at the beginning of my sewing journey. So I that’s how I got my start. And so it is a special place to me. And I am now that person that will go to a store or the mall or somewhere and I don’t really buy things, but I will touch all of the clothing and then check the labels to see if they’re cotton or some sort of blend or what do they mean by eco-conscious. And it all started at Joann because I didn’t know what I was buying. And, you know, once I realized I was buying, I knew what to look for there. And my standards for my own clothing change, whether it was ready to wear or made.
And there are some places in the city or around the city of Chicago that I’d have to go a little bit further for, but I really don’t need anything even when Joann goes away. I have so much already. I have plenty of notions, plenty of zippers, plenty of thread. And you know there’s some really awesome secondhand creative reuse places just as far away as those brand new stores that if I ever run out or I’m no longer expired by my seemingly endless stash that I’ll be able to get through and figure something out. But yeah, I think losing Joann is a bummer. It’s the jobs. It’s, you know, hopefully the workers will find their way and the folks that really rely on Joann are able to sustain their craft in a new way too.
I am in a metropolitan area. I live outside of the city of Chicago. And even though they’re the only place around me, where I could, you know, reasonably go and check out fabric on a regular basis or just pop out and get supplies. I know there are a lot of places that Joann is the only place that they can shop. And I mean, I hope they don’t go to the lobby, but I get it. If they will, I really hope they don’t, but or that there’s something else that they can find. But For those who really rely on Joann, I hope they can find another place where they can get what they need to continue enjoying their craft.
Nicole
But that’s it for me. I will cut it over to Ada and she’s going to walk you through what’s going on in Denver. And we’ll just go from there. Again, if you have some sort of connection to Joann and want to share a memory, let us know on Instagram or email us at asianssewistcollective at gmail.com. And by the time this episode’s out… I’ll go ahead and put up some Instagram reels of our walkthroughs through um Joann. Thanks for listening.
Ada
Okay, so before I was teaching on Monday, I went to two of the Joanns in my area. These were not on the original like closure list when it was only going to be 500 of them. So they are fairly busy. The first one that I went to was in Lakewood. This is technically the closest one to my house, even though it’s like one town over. And it is one of the larger Joanns, I think in the Denver metro area and they’ve always been busy like even before the bankruptcy and all of that like I’m not a big Joann’s shopper but if I need something in a pinch like I’m not going to have time to go to a thrift store or maybe one of the creative restores has already closed.
This Joann’s is open to like eight or nine so I have gone there in a pinch when I need something to finish a project or I just can’t find it elsewhere and again it’s always been busy. It’s usually pretty well stocked and when I went in there were christmas decorations at the front which I think kind of highlights the giant problem with how much just stuff especially plastic stuff is out there right now there wasn’t a sign on it but i’ve been reading online that holiday stuff is 70% to 80% off so I looked through that but I don’t really need any new Christmas decorations like we’re all set on that. I was looking a little bit at some of the quilting like rulers, rotary cutters, rotary cutter mats for teaching and the discounts were like 20 % which as you know if you get the circular in the mail or you pay any attention to coupons is not a great deal for Joann so I ended up passing on those because I felt like I could wait and get and get a better deal somewhere else. Or maybe even be able to like thrift enough supplies for this. If anyone has a lead on getting six rotary cutters, let me know.
But yeah, I went from there into the fabric section, and I’ll be honest, I’m not a big Joann’s like actual fabrics person. So I looked through the special occasion fabric because I think at that point it was 25 % off. It might have gone down a little in the last few days since I’ve been, but it was okay. It wasn’t anything special that I really needed to have so I just went through the rest of the aisles and I checked out the patterns and what I ended up actually picking up was thread and zippers because the prices on that were pretty comparable with where I’d guessed them elsewhere on sale and I can always use more thread honestly. Same with zippers. I’ve been on like a zippered top kind of kick so some sporty zippers were purchased. Nothing in like black or white was left. It was just the colors. Although there were some grays and brown so I got some pretty neutral colors and that was pretty much it.
Ada
I got honestly a little overwhelmed looking at the rest of the store and I knew that I wanted to hit the other store before I had to teach. So I checked out. I also checked with them about patterns because it looked like patterns had been 199, but then there were literally just boxes of patterns that were go back. So like they needed to be restocked that were out at this location and they hadn’t had time to restock them. And it was just kind of chaotic and it looked like very, not even empty but like picked through so like a little bit of chaos but the drawers were still all full and that’s because when I went to the checkout counter and I asked the patterns were all just 30 % off which you know in the grand scheme of things. I’m not really a tissue paper pattern person
and I do think that the real shame in the store closing all of the locations is that for folks who rely on those patterns who learned on them who still so with them, who might not have access to a printer for indie patterns online, whether that’s an eight and a half by 11 printer or like a 24 by 36 plotter, or that’s just like not in your budget, or maybe you don’t have a projector or access to
one, like where are you going to get your patterns?
That kind of seems like a big shame to me, like you can order them online, but it’s not the same experience, we all know. So I passed on them. Maybe if they are cheaper in the future, I will go back and get some. But I went to the second location, which is I think the only one in Denver proper. It is in a strip mall that I believe used to have a Party City or gives that kind of vibe in the strip mall. So that’s kind of telling. And for anyone who’s not in the US Party City also went bankrupt and closed all of its stores. So actually, I do know for a fact that one of the other Joanns here is in the same plaza as Party City and there are anchor tenants on opposite sides. And it was very interesting to be in that plaza running errands, not going to either store, but I digress.
Ada
The second store had so much more stuff like it looked like people hadn’t even been there, even though the store was packed for a Monday afternoon. I saw people actually there was no one else by the patterns at the other store but at this store there were at least five people flipping through the pattern catalog books and then going through the drawers. and it
was the same deal so patterns are only a percentage off. And then I picked up some more thread and zippers, some colors that I hadn’t seen at the other location. And everything else was pretty much the 20 % off that was not a great deal, but it kind of seemed like everyone was in a bit of a panic buying mode when they got up there.
I did find, however, in the special occasions, like lace section, a dupe of the Oscar de la Renta lace that myself and Mariko were looking for at Mood Fabrics in LA like two years ago, I was really tempted. It was $50 a yard and then 25 % off, so still $40 a yard and I really realistically asked myself, again, it was the same thought as like the Christmas decor that I saw, like, do I really need this stuff? Am I gonna re-wear this dress if I make it? Like, is this even still something I want to make? And I decided not right now, I have a lot of fabric and I have a class to get to.
Ada
So I checked out with my thread, I was able to find the five or six pack of recycled PET thread that I like from Gutermann. If you have been into a Joann’s, you’ve probably seen this. I actually really like that thread. If you want to give it a try, it does come in some odd like darker colors, and I think that is actually to do with the limitations on what colors they can dye recycled PET. So the more you know, but I was able to snag the last few packs of that and some more metallic thread, some machine quilting thread first in future machine quilts and then again more zippers but it did seem like that store was getting way more traffic than I’ve usually seen in there usually that store is pretty pretty quiet. It’s not somewhere that a lot of people who aren’t in that area would frequent I would guess that most people actually live closer to a different location but every other time I’ve been there before it wasn’t the busiest and that day I was like I’ve never seen this many people in Joann’s and on a Monday afternoon no less.
So I was in and out of both locations pretty quick and then I went to class and it seems like from what I’m seeing online on Instagram, TikTok and Reddit that folks are you know there’s a wide variety of folks so if you work at Joann’s or are thinking about working there as a temporary worker, I salute you. Truly like that seems like a very thankless and difficult job. had, I was probably near the cut counter at the first location for a good 30 minutes and there were signs like probably two on every aisle that said minimum two yards of every fabric for the cuts and I heard no less than three different and gonna call it out Boomers bring their fabrics up to the counter and ask for a half yard or a quarter yard or something that wasn’t even a full yard so not even close to two after having passed at least a dozen of these signs and the poor person working the cut counter had to explain to them we now have a two -yard minimum and that was just like mind -boggling to me. I just… how can you see that sign and just think it doesn’t apply to you? I don’t know.
Ada
But yeah, if you are working the liquidation sale, I really respect you. I hope you hang in there and I hope that people treat you with respect. And if it gets too bad, peace out. That’s kind of my motto. If you are going to shop, please be respectful. I think I’ve had to lecture folks in class about this multiple times about just being respectful when you are going into shop at a big box store like this. The folks working there probably are getting paid the minimum for our area maybe a little bit more and they are not expected to be fabric experts like they shouldn’t be the person you are asking if this faux fur is going to work for your cape. That’s a question that you consult the sewing community for or you ask a sewing friend, like not the person who is just trying to get you through the line.
So yeah, it’s been a really interesting few weeks to have taught classes and have this kind of going on and have people who are interested in sewing and interested in other crafts come in and kind of talk about how we got here. But Yeah, I will say I will probably miss the store and the convenience. I’m mostly like an online shopper if we’re being real and I go to shop in store in major fabric locations, so New York, LA, and then when I’m traveling as well. So I’m not gonna necessarily be missing anything from my already overflowing stash, but for things like the odd
notions, a button here or there, or like a spare needle if I ever run out. I think that’s going to be a shame, and I really do think that all of the locations being gone is going to be a detractor for a lot of folks in the sewing community, those who don’t have access to those online stores or who can’t afford it, or those who really do prefer to touch their fabrics in person.
I’m not gonna necessarily lump myself in there but I can definitely see like how this would impact many people’s sewing honestly and I joke a lot with my students that like well if you came here because you watch the YouTube video where someone said I’m gonna make this dress in a day and they started their trip with earth they started their video with a trip to Joann’s and then they made the dress in like maybe two days or with very little sleep in one day. This is not gonna be where you learn that. Yeah I think we’re just not gonna see that type of video anymore or they’re gonna be a little bit different and I think it’ll be really interesting to see kind of the downstream effect of what that means for crafting in general and how does that kind of change the crafting and sewing communities on a broader level. So yeah, I also have a thinking suspicion that in 10 15 20 years as folks are cleaning out their Parents or grandparents houses. We’re gonna be still seeing a lot of miss Joann’s fabrics Being donated to creative reuse centers because I still come across those from you know They were probably purchased in the 80s or 90s So I have a feeling that we will still be seeing these fabrics for many, many years to come. Anyways, that’s my report back.
Ada
Thank you so much for joining us for this episode of the Asian Sewist Collective podcast If you like our show, please consider supporting us on coffee by becoming a one-time or monthly supporter or by buying our sewing labels. Your financial support helps us with our overhead expenses. The link to our coffee page is KO-FI .com Asian Sewist Collective and you can find the link in our show notes on our website and on our Instagram account. Check us out on Instagram at Asian Sewist Collective. That’s one word Asian Sewist Collective. You can also help us out by spreading the word and telling your friends We would also appreciate it if you could rate review and subscribe to this podcast on Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast
Nicole
All of the links and resources mentioned in today’s episode will be in the show notes on our website That’s Asian Sewist Collective.com and we’d love to hear from you Email us with your questions comments or even voice messages if you want to be featured on future episodes at Asian Sewist Collective@ gmail.com. Thank you so much to the other members of our collective who made this episode a reality. This is the Asian Sewist Collective podcast and we’ll see you next time.