Anyone who loves do-it-yourself projects and crafting has probably visited a JOANN Fabric and Craft Stores location.
The company has been around for nearly eight decades and has locations in almost every U.S. state.
Some headlines from articles published online in late November 2022 suggest that JOANN is closing its physical stores, and online searches show people have wondered in recent weeks whether the company is going out of business.
VERIFY reader Kathy also asked if the popular crafting retailer is closing most of its stores.
THE QUESTION
Is JOANN Fabric going out of business or closing most of its stores?
THE SOURCES
- Shauntina Lilly, public relations manager for JOANN Fabric and Craft Stores
- Manager at a JOANN Fabric and Crafts location in Spokane, Washington
- Search of JOANN Fabric press releases, Facebook page and Twitter account
THE ANSWER
No, JOANN Fabric isn’t going out of business or closing most of its stores.
WHAT WE FOUND
JOANN “has no plans to close its physical stores,” despite “unfounded reports” that the company is doing so, Shauntina Lilly, the company’s public relations manager, told VERIFY in an email.
A manager at a JOANN store in Spokane, Washington, also confirmed that the store isn’t going out of business and doesn’t have any plans to close.
The company is expected to close eight out of its more than 800 stores throughout the country over the next three months, and some team members who work at those closing stores may receive severance packages, Lilly added.
“In alignment with standard brick and mortar business processes, JOANN closes stores occasionally while simultaneously investing in, and opening brand new stores to best meet the needs of our customers,” Lilly wrote in an email.
JOANN has a page for future store openings on its website, but it doesn’t list any locations yet.
A search of JOANN’s press release archives, Facebook page and Twitter account didn’t return any results about the company closing all its stores, either.
In late November, JOANN Fabric did address the rumors of mass store closures via its official Twitter account.
“Any store closures that we have planned are part of our normal business evaluation process,” the company wrote in a tweet on Nov. 28. “We are definitely not going out of business or having any mass store closures.”
VERIFY found news reports about two of the eight store closures planned in upcoming months.
A JOANN location at the Meadowbrook Mall in Bridgeport, West Virginia, is slated to close on Jan. 22, 2023 after more than 30 years in business, according to local TV news station WDTV. A reason for the closure wasn’t provided.
Another store in Marion, Ohio, will also close in mid-January, the Marion Star newspaper reported in late November.
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