Jo-Ann Stores

What Jo-Ann Stores does

JOANN Inc. (formerly Jo-Ann Stores) was a national specialty retailer of fabrics, yarn, sewing notions, and craft supplies, operating 829 physical stores across the United States alongside an e-commerce platform. The company targeted individual consumer segments including sewing and quilting enthusiasts and DIY culture participants engaged in home décor, apparel, and personalized craft projects. Founded in 1943 and headquartered in Hudson, Ohio, JOANN had been publicly traded prior to March 2024.

The company's core technology footprint was anchored by the WeaveUp digital textile printing SaaS platform, acquired in March 2022 following a multi-year partnership dating to 2017. WeaveUp enabled on-demand textile printing and custom fabric sourcing, intended to extend JOANN's brick-and-mortar assortment into digitally manufactured custom products. The company also pursued acquisitions in adjacent digital capabilities, including Creativebug in 2017.

JOANN's business model was a direct-to-consumer retail operation, generating one-time purchase revenue from physical store transactions and e-commerce orders, with no subscription or recurring revenue model. The company served a horizontally segmented mass consumer base with no significant enterprise or B2B customer concentration. In March 2024, JOANN filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware, executed a prepackaged restructuring reducing approximately $505 million in debt, secured $132 million in new financing, and transitioned to private ownership. By late 2024, the company ceased operations entirely and closed all stores.

Name

Jo-Ann Stores

Legal name

JOANN Inc.

Website

https://joann.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1943

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Jo-Ann Stores (JOANN Inc.) was a US national specialty retailer of fabrics, yarn, sewing notions, and craft supplies operating 829 stores and an e-commerce platform. The company served individual sewing, quilting, and DIY enthusiast consumers before ceasing operations in late 2024 following Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Craft and Fabric Retail

NAICS

Sewing, Needlework, and Piece Goods Retailers (45913)

SIC

Retail-Apparel & Accessory Stores (5600)

akta.pro primary industry

General Fabric & Textile Stores (CRALADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Yarn, Knitting & Crochet Supplies Retail (CRALACAF), Notions & Sewing Accessories Retail (Thread, Needles, Zippers, Buttons) (CRALADAG), Quilting & Patchwork Shops (CRALADAB)

Keywords

• Fabric retail stores
• Craft supplies retail
• Sewing notions
• Yarn and knitting
• DIY crafting supplies

Headquarters

HQ city

Hudson

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Retail Store Sales: Physical retail sales of fabrics, craft supplies, yarn, sewing notions, and related crafting materials through 829 store locations across the United States
2. E-commerce Platform: Online sales through the company's e-commerce platform, enabling customers to purchase fabric and craft supplies digitally

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Jo-Ann Stores operated a national chain of 829 specialty retail stores and an e-commerce platform selling fabrics, yarn, sewing notions, craft supplies, and home décor materials to individual crafters and DIY consumers across the United States. The company also owned WeaveUp, a digital textile printing SaaS platform for on-demand and custom fabric printing.

Product overview

Jo-Ann Stores operated a retail chain of 829 craft and fabric stores along with an e-commerce platform. The company sold a wide range of craft supplies, fabrics, yarn, sewing notions, and related products. In March 2022, JOANN acquired WeaveUp, a digital textile printing SaaS platform provider, to enhance its digital capabilities and enable on-demand textile product innovation. WeaveUp operated as a print-on-demand fabric company with platform technology that JOANN had been using since 2017 under a partnership arrangement. The company underwent financial restructuring in 2024, reducing debt by approximately $505 million and securing $132 million in new financing while maintaining normal operations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• In-Store Retail Assortment Physical in-store product assortment spanning fabric, yarn, sewing notions, knitting and crochet supplies, craft supplies, holiday/occasion items, art supplies, floral, beads and jewelry, ribbons, and home décor; sold to individual crafters, sewists, and DIY enthusiasts.
• E-commerce Platform Jo-Ann's online store enabling customers to purchase fabrics, yarn, sewing notions, and craft supplies digitally for home delivery, complementing the 829-store physical footprint.
• WeaveUp Digital Textile Printing Platform SaaS-based digital textile printing platform enabling on-demand printing and sourcing of custom fabrics; provides print-on-demand fabric capabilities that JOANN had been using since 2017 under a prior partnership and investment arrangement.
• Creativebug Online arts and crafts education and video tutorial platform offering project-based classes; acquired by JOANN in April 2017 to support its craft and sewing customer base.
• IdeaForest Acquired craft/DIY digital asset and pattern business integrated into JOANN's broader craft offering.

Quantifiable outcome

• Digital textile printing and sourcing capabilities enhanced through WeaveUp acquisition

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• WeaveUpcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 March 2022WeaveUp was a digital print-on-demand fabric company that had an existing partnership with JOANN since 2017, including JOANN's investment and usage of WeaveUp's platform. JOANN acquired WeaveUp in March 2022 to enhance its digital textile printing and sourcing capabilities and accelerate platform development and innovation in on-demand textile products.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Michaels: Michaels is the largest US specialty retailer of arts, crafts, and fabric/sewing supplies. Following JOANN's bankruptcy and store closures, Michaels actively recruited JOANN's customer base via a dedicated 'Welcome JOANN Shoppers' landing page, making it a direct replacement competitor for the same crafters, quilters, and sewists.
• Hobby Lobby: Hobby Lobby is one of the largest US arts-and-crafts and home décor retailers, with a sizable fabric and yarn assortment that directly overlaps JOANN's core merchandise mix. It is a comparable big-box specialty craft destination serving the same DIY and home décor customer.
• A.C. Moore (closed 2020): A.C. Moore was a US East Coast arts, crafts, and fabric retailer that liquidated in 2020, illustrating the secular pressure the specialty craft sector has faced. It is directly comparable in product mix and customer base to JOANN.

Broad incumbents

• Walmart: Walmart carries fabric, yarn, and basic craft supplies as part of its broad assortment, attracting price-sensitive crafters. It competes with JOANN/Michaels on entry-level craft merchandise and on convenience for casual shoppers.
• Amazon: Amazon is the dominant online retailer of fabric, sewing notions, yarn, and craft supplies and absorbed the former Fabric.com business. It competes with JOANN's e-commerce channel and increasingly with its in-store assortment on convenience and selection.

Emerging players

• Etsy: Etsy is the leading online marketplace for handmade crafts, custom fabric goods, and supplies sold by independent makers. It overlaps with JOANN's customer base of sewists, quilters, and DIY crafters—particularly for finished goods and specialty materials.
• Blick Art Materials: Blick is a US specialty retailer of art and craft supplies with deep assortment in fine art, mixed media, and crafting. It overlaps JOANN on the broader craft/hobby supplies side and serves many of the same creative hobbyist customers.
• Spoonflower: Spoonflower is an on-demand digital fabric printing marketplace serving designers, sewists, and crafters, with a near-identical value proposition to WeaveUp (JOANN's acquired subsidiary). It is a direct comparable in on-demand textile printing serving JOANN's craft customer base.

Regional players

• Hobbycraft: Hobbycraft is the UK's largest specialist arts and crafts retailer, offering a comparable product mix of fabrics, yarn, sewing supplies, and craft materials. It is the UK counterpart to JOANN in product and customer, though it does not directly compete in the US market.

Others

• JOANN.com (brand/IP successor): Post-bankruptcy, JOANN's brand and digital assets (including WeaveUp) represent a residual IP estate that could be revived or licensed. Any successor entity would be comparable to JOANN by definition but does not currently compete in the market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/joann_stores
• Facebookfacebook.com/joann
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/jo-ann-stores-inc-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A3 records

Investments4 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Jo-Ann Stores