Hi everyone! I know it’s been a while since I published a post on this blog, but unfortunately I haven’t felt up to writing. I keep going back and forth about what to write and if I should talk about certain things online. Right now I feel like I have more things to talk about on this blog than on my other lifestyle focused blog.
Since it’s been a while since I posted, I decided to start by talking about my thoughts about JoAnn stores closing for good.
When I found out JoAnn stores are closing down completely, I’ve been feeling mixed emotions. JoAnn has been my go-to place to shop for fabric in person if I need more than a yard of fabric. I’ve also become accustomed to their pattern sales, which was the only way for me to afford sewing patterns for many years, especially when I was in college. Without JoAnn in my area, I will need to start searching for a new fabric store all over again.
Recently, I saw on YouTube a video about other places to shop for fabric instead of JoAnn. One of the places mentioned is Hobby Lobby. Although I used to shop at Hobby Lobby frequently many years ago, things have changed and I no longer need to travel to the area where Hobby Lobby stores are located. Also, I think they got rid of their sewing pattern section. (It was no longer there the last time I visited my old favorite store) This is why, even though Hobby Lobby is a great alternative to JoAnn, Hobby Lobby still doesn’t sell everything I need nor is it within a logical travel distance for me anymore.
I haven’t started shopping online to see where I can purchase fabric from. I already know I can shop for fabric at Hobby Lobby online (I’ve done it before) but I wanted to see if there are other places to shop for fabric.
Even though I’m really upset about JoAnn store closures, I also feel a bit justified in my complaints about the store. For many years I’ve been complaining about my local store location and the second location I would shop at. Although I never talked about it online, I felt conflicted about what I was seeing. On the one hand I felt like the management of the stores weren’t very good and the contributed to what I was seeing in stores. On the other hand, I wondered if I was seeing the stores in a poor light because of other things that were happening in my life. Turned out it wasn’t my fault for seeing the problems with the stores that I did.
After all the problems I saw while shopping at the stores, I am not surprised JoAnn is going out of business. Based off what I saw, I don’t know how the business stayed alive for as long as it did. I thought it should’ve closed years ago. (Maybe the boost in sales due to the Covid-19 lockdowns helped boost sales enough to keep it alive?) Now that it is, I feel happy to see a business that isn’t run well close. I know I’m still upset about searching for a new place to buy fabric and potentially paying more for sewing patterns, but I would rather spend my money at a company that is better run and treats their employees better than JoAnn did.
That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!