JoAnn-"restructuring"

[ClownLoach]

It sounds like there is considerable customer feedback that stores are not being stocked, items not coming in, empty shelves, and skeleton crew staffing. Does not sound good for JoAnn who apparently hasn't had a CEO for almost a year now? I guess no one wants the job? I didn't get a call...

I used to think JoAnn and Michaels should combine (before Michaels went to Apollo ownership). JoAnn has invested deeply in technology, store design, and merchandising but never seemed to have aggressive enough leadership to get over the "hump" of most of the chain remaining in old dumpy boxes. They finally found the right store format just recently and all the new or remodeled stores starting in 2021 are fantastic. Michaels used to have very productive, aggressively managed stores that were packed with product and kept in stock, and their leadership ability and processes combined with the best parts of JoAnn could have created a chain capable of competing with the seemingly unstoppable Hobby Lobby juggernaut. Michaels was always trying to add fabrics but never got the mix right and I think they either stopped now or only a few stores in Salt Lake City still are testing out a full size fabric department. Today under private ownership their stores are slow, stagnant, sell lower quality goods than before and now only have very few employees who look angry and overwhelmed with an all self checkout front end. Unfortunately, today I think this situation is going to turn out similar to the electronics business where HL is like Best Buy and Michaels, JoAnn, and others like ACMoores are like the chains that fell by the wayside (Circuit City, Comp USA, Good Guys etc).

Hobby Lobby is the clear leader in the category, for now. Michaels still has the location advantage in my view with more locations in given markets that are more convenient for customers.

My opinion of Jo Ann is negative. Short of relocating hundreds of stores there is no way the chain could fix itself. There is some sort of passive indifference in the chain that has held it back, never used the competitive advantage it had in fabric correctly, and just never seemed to try hard enough.

Look at the 2 Jo Ann Stores in my area: one in Carson City is in the back of a dead mall. This has been a dead mall for like 25 years. The store never has more than 2 customers inside. I have no clue how it stays open. The employees seem bored/half asleep, products look tired/shop worn, it feels like a store that should have closed but nobody bothered to come tell them they were closing. Then the one in Reno- this is an old Kmart Foods building- other anchor tenants are Dollar Tree, Harbor Freight, the worst Grocery Outlet I've ever seen, Savers, and maybe Rent a Center (maybe that closed). This is an extremely unpleasant shopping center in a bad area. This does not feel safe at night, it is not lit properly, and does not have a positive vibe. There are/have been numerous vacant boxes in much better shopping centers within a mile of this location (where you will find Michaels and Hobby Lobby) that Jo Ann could have relocated into over the years but they couldn't be bothered to do that.

I am starting to think that there is no clear leader left and Walmart, Target, and especially Amazon have taken significant chunks of this business. Every semi-professional crafter I know who makes goods for resale stopped using all of the chain stores and switched to Amazon or Temu or others for raw materials. This explains the collapse of Joann, the crash at Michaels that landed them back under PE ownership, and now the scaling down of Hobby Lobby. Worse, it is well known that both Joann and Michaels performance on e-commerce has been abysmal with many late or canceled orders based on reviews, Reddit etc. feedback which make their situations sound exponentially worse than other chain retail. Makes sense because so much of these items are tiny and SKU intensive so it is probably very difficult to find the exact correct items due to the thousands of colors of paper and paint, or thousands of different beads etc they sell. As they irritate and give bad experiences to their e-commerce customers it opens the door to Amazon and Walmart to take share. Hobby Lobby got it right in not offering e-commerce aside from a limited assortment that ships only from the Oklahoma DC. I think this is shaking out like the electronics stores as I said before, or the office supply stores, where 75% or more of the boxes close down and brands are forced to consolidate as they shrink.

[storewanderer]

I am starting to think that there is no clear leader left and Walmart, Target, and especially Amazon have taken significant chunks of this business. Every semi-professional crafter I know who makes goods for resale stopped using all of the chain stores and switched to Amazon or Temu or others for raw materials. This explains the collapse of Joann, the crash at Michaels that landed them back under PE ownership, and now the scaling down of Hobby Lobby. Worse, it is well known that both Joann and Michaels performance on e-commerce has been abysmal with many late or canceled orders based on reviews, Reddit etc. feedback which make their situations sound exponentially worse than other chain retail. Makes sense because so much of these items are tiny and SKU intensive so it is probably very difficult to find the exact correct items due to the thousands of colors of paper and paint, or thousands of different beads etc they sell. As they irritate and give bad experiences to their e-commerce customers it opens the door to Amazon and Walmart to take share. Hobby Lobby got it right in not offering e-commerce aside from a limited assortment that ships only from the Oklahoma DC. I think this is shaking out like the electronics stores as I said before, or the office supply stores, where 75% or more of the boxes close down and brands are forced to consolidate as they shrink.

Some Dollar Tree units also have a pretty nicely assorted aisle of "cheap" but selling at deep discounts vs other stores crafting items. Those who are making goods for resale definitely will buy certain items there from that assortment if they can find a store where the aisle is stocked/maintained.

I am noticing traffic at Michaels in the past couple years seems to be less and less... and as you describe staffing levels are pretty low. The stores in my area are still stocked fully and appearance wise don't really look much different than they ever have.

The fabric/crafts department at Wal Mart rarely seems to have activity and hasn't had dedicated staffing in years. But they keep the department there... so it must somehow work. Maybe it gets better traffic in the morning or something, I am never there in the morning. I think some stores have lost fabric cutting in remodels.

[Alpha8472]

My local Walmart has precut fabric ready to buy off the shelf. It is profitable because senior citizen ladies shop early in the morning and buy a ton of that stuff. Fabrics and crafts is a money maker and it is often cheaper at Walmart.

[storewanderer]

My local Walmart has precut fabric ready to buy off the shelf. It is profitable because senior citizen ladies shop early in the morning and buy a ton of that stuff. Fabrics and crafts is a money maker and it is often cheaper at Walmart.

Their pricing in the category is great. On the rare occasion I need something from that category that is where I will go. But last time I wanted fabric cut I couldn't get anyone to help me. I went to Jo Ann instead, that was a while ago, back when they still had coupons, so the price ended up okay.

[ClownLoach]

I am starting to think that there is no clear leader left and Walmart, Target, and especially Amazon have taken significant chunks of this business. Every semi-professional crafter I know who makes goods for resale stopped using all of the chain stores and switched to Amazon or Temu or others for raw materials. This explains the collapse of Joann, the crash at Michaels that landed them back under PE ownership, and now the scaling down of Hobby Lobby. Worse, it is well known that both Joann and Michaels performance on e-commerce has been abysmal with many late or canceled orders based on reviews, Reddit etc. feedback which make their situations sound exponentially worse than other chain retail. Makes sense because so much of these items are tiny and SKU intensive so it is probably very difficult to find the exact correct items due to the thousands of colors of paper and paint, or thousands of different beads etc they sell. As they irritate and give bad experiences to their e-commerce customers it opens the door to Amazon and Walmart to take share. Hobby Lobby got it right in not offering e-commerce aside from a limited assortment that ships only from the Oklahoma DC. I think this is shaking out like the electronics stores as I said before, or the office supply stores, where 75% or more of the boxes close down and brands are forced to consolidate as they shrink.

Some Dollar Tree units also have a pretty nicely assorted aisle of "cheap" but selling at deep discounts vs other stores crafting items. Those who are making goods for resale definitely will buy certain items there from that assortment if they can find a store where the aisle is stocked/maintained.

I am noticing traffic at Michaels in the past couple years seems to be less and less... and as you describe staffing levels are pretty low. The stores in my area are still stocked fully and appearance wise don't really look much different than they ever have.

The fabric/crafts department at Wal Mart rarely seems to have activity and hasn't had dedicated staffing in years. But they keep the department there... so it must somehow work. Maybe it gets better traffic in the morning or something, I am never there in the morning. I think some stores have lost fabric cutting in remodels.

Fabric cutting was not removed during the remodel just completed here, and they have added additional signage in recent weeks to highlight all "service" desks around the store like fabric cutting. Interestingly, they have not reopened the paint mixing counter yet. They don't have any paint chip samples and the entire paint display has a cardboard wrap across it saying a "exciting new selection is coming soon to Walmart". I think Walmart adjusts to the local market so if there is demand for cut fabrics they leave it alone.
. One thing I no longer see at any Walmart is tropical fish, I think they were a horrible operator of that category. Seems to have been removed in every store I've been in the past few years.

[storewanderer]

Fabric cutting was not removed during the remodel just completed here, and they have added additional signage in recent weeks to highlight all "service" desks around the store like fabric cutting. Interestingly, they have not reopened the paint mixing counter yet. They don't have any paint chip samples and the entire paint display has a cardboard wrap across it saying a "exciting new selection is coming soon to Walmart". I think Walmart adjusts to the local market so if there is demand for cut fabrics they leave it alone.
. One thing I no longer see at any Walmart is tropical fish, I think they were a horrible operator of that category. Seems to have been removed in every store I've been in the past few years.

Wal Mart has exited the live fish category entirely. Meijer still has this category.

I never saw anyone buying fish at Wal Mart. I'm not sure why they kept that category as long as they did. Shopko, Kmart, Fred Meyer, did not have it... In the early 90's, Woolworth had live fish too.

[Romr123]

Meijer live fish isn't particularly hidden away, either--kind of integrated in pet food. The store I'm most familiar with has it quite near the food aisles...

[buckguy]

Fabric cutting was not removed during the remodel just completed here, and they have added additional signage in recent weeks to highlight all "service" desks around the store like fabric cutting. Interestingly, they have not reopened the paint mixing counter yet. They don't have any paint chip samples and the entire paint display has a cardboard wrap across it saying a "exciting new selection is coming soon to Walmart". I think Walmart adjusts to the local market so if there is demand for cut fabrics they leave it alone.
. One thing I no longer see at any Walmart is tropical fish, I think they were a horrible operator of that category. Seems to have been removed in every store I've been in the past few years.

Wal Mart has exited the live fish category entirely. Meijer still has this category.

I never saw anyone buying fish at Wal Mart. I'm not sure why they kept that category as long as they did. Shopko, Kmart, Fred Meyer, did not have it... In the early 90's, Woolworth had live fish too.

To the extent that discount stores evolved out of variety stores, it's not surprising they have tropical fish, fabric and lower priced crafts. They used to dominate the lower end fabric (and notions), crafts, and gift areas. Department stores used to be in the fabric business, too, sometimes selling other crafts--which explains why Target has these. I always assumed that Target and the other department store-established discount chains wound up with areas that department stores wanted to cut back or cast-off (budget store lines, cheaper housewares, hardlines, house/garden).

[storewanderer]

Fabric cutting was not removed during the remodel just completed here, and they have added additional signage in recent weeks to highlight all "service" desks around the store like fabric cutting. Interestingly, they have not reopened the paint mixing counter yet. They don't have any paint chip samples and the entire paint display has a cardboard wrap across it saying a "exciting new selection is coming soon to Walmart". I think Walmart adjusts to the local market so if there is demand for cut fabrics they leave it alone.
. One thing I no longer see at any Walmart is tropical fish, I think they were a horrible operator of that category. Seems to have been removed in every store I've been in the past few years.

Wal Mart has exited the live fish category entirely. Meijer still has this category.

I never saw anyone buying fish at Wal Mart. I'm not sure why they kept that category as long as they did. Shopko, Kmart, Fred Meyer, did not have it... In the early 90's, Woolworth had live fish too.

To the extent that discount stores evolved out of variety stores, it's not surprising they have tropical fish, fabric and lower priced crafts. They used to dominate the lower end fabric (and notions), crafts, and gift areas. Department stores used to be in the fabric business, too, sometimes selling other crafts--which explains why Target has these. I always assumed that Target and the other department store-established discount chains wound up with areas that department stores wanted to cut back or cast-off (budget store lines, cheaper housewares, hardlines, house/garden).

Target quit selling yarn quite some time ago and does not handle fabric and hasn't in the past 30 years. While they have some things in the office supply/party goods area that could qualify as "crafts" the items are minimal at and thrown into those other departments. To give Target credit for offering "crafts" you must give the same credit to Staples/Office Depot/Office Max too as they have the same general types of items (more SKUs actually) of the types of items Target broadly has in party/office that you could call "crafts."

Pretty sure Fred Meyer and Meijer both have yarn and some limited craft type items but certainly no cut fabric and no dedicated department, a dedicated portion of an aisle.

Another mix deficiency at Target to be lacking even a light version similar to what Fred Meyer/Meijer do of the yarn/craft category.

[ClownLoach]

Joann keeps chugging along... They just relocated a clunky old store in Laguna Hills, and reopened in a beautiful former Ralphs Fresh Fare in Laguna Niguel. Beautiful location that surely cost a fortune.