Crafters won’t have long to get good deals on everything from bolt material to artificial flowers and yarn before Joann closes its doors forever.

The popular fabric and craft store is going out of business and shuttering all its stores nationwide.

Joann’s roots date back to 1943, with a single storefront in Cleveland, Ohio. And the retailer later grew into a national chain. Formerly known as Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, the company rebranded itself with the shortened “Joann” name for its 75th anniversary.

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 mid-February, Joann said it planned to close 500 stores — or more than half of its nationwide footprint.

The company said on Feb. 22 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.

“We have been proud to serve as a destination for creativity for more than 80 years and thank our dedicated Team Members, customers and communities across the nation for their decades of support,” the store posted on its restructuring website homepage.

Gift cards, as well as personalized discounts and discount partnerships (e.g. Girl Scouts, teachers, military and healthcare) will no longer be accepted.

Both of Joann’s bankruptcy filings seen over the last year arrived amid some slowdowns in discretionary spending — notably with consumers taking a step back from at-home crafts, at least relative to the early COVID-19 pandemic boom. Joann has also faced rising competition in the crafts space from rivals like Hobby Lobby, as well as from larger retailers, like Target, who now offer ample art supplies and kits.

And, while Joann turned to implementing a new business plan after emerging from bankruptcy last spring, company leaders said that the company was back in debt after unanticipated inventory challenges and a slow retail economy, among other challenges.

Elizabeth Nancett was one of the many local crafters taking advantage of Joann’s going-out-of-business discounts at the end of February. Although she lives in Modesto, Nancett said she would frequently drive to Turlock just to shop at Joann for scrapbooking and crocheting supplies.

The crafter said she was surprised to learn about Joann closing for good.

“I know how economics have been lately…so I totally get the reasons, but I thought they were doing well. I usually pick Joann over Michaels, and especially Hobby Lobby. It’s just a really nice experience. Everyone’s really nice and they have great quality of items and great stock. It’s just disappointing to see that they’re bankrupt. It’s sad for people who are creatives.”

Joann isn’t the only large retail store going out of business in Turlock.

In December 2024, Party City announced plans to commence a wind down of its retail and wholesale operations and going out of business sales at its approximately 700 stores nationwide — including the Turlock location that is next to Costco — after serving customers for nearly 40 years as their one-stop-shop for all things celebration.

The Turlock store is expected to be completely closed by the end of March.

Party City filed Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, following the company’s 2023 restructuring through which Party City eliminated nearly $1 billion in debt, among other things.

The company cited an “immensely challenging environment driven by inflationary pressures on costs and consumer spending, among other factors” for the reason for the closings.

Despite the closing of two large retail stores, Anthony Sims, Turlock’s director of economic development, is not worried.

“It is unfortunate that those two businesses are having challenges and closing, but we have a lot of confidence that there’s going to be new users going into those spaces,” Sims said, touting that Turlock is optimally located right off Highway 99 with 115,00 vehicles passing by per day.

Sims cited the 2021 closure of large retailer Bed, Bath and Beyond and how that space was recently occupied by Home Goods. Turlock’s Monte Vista Crossings is a “power retail center,” according to Sims, and ranked number four in California and number eight in the U.S.

“There are a lot of new businesses coming to Turlock and continue to come here,” he said.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.