ClownLoach wrote: ↑December 7th, 2022, 9:18 pm
I recently visited a newly opened Joann in San Marcos, CA that took an entire former OSH location. All I can say is WOW. If they can somehow borrow enough money to make over their entire fleet into that new format they would become a retail juggernaut overnight. Product, assortment, store design is on point and on trend. They seem to have made the necessary changes to their systems and processes at this new format store to maintain operating standards too. Seasonal merchandise has never been a major focus for Joann, and that is because of the extreme financial risk it carries. Lots of money goes into getting the product into the store (labor, supply chain, warehousing etc.) and if the economy has a hiccup then it all has to be marked down drastically. Hobby Lobby is an outlier - they send back what they don't sell to the company warehouses in Oklahoma City. This is why they look like they're selling the same old stuff each year... Because they are!
I think the Jo-Ann in Citrus Heights has this new prototype you describe as well. I think Jo-Ann was forced to relocate in Citrus Heights.
Go over to Google and look at the photos of the Reno Jo Ann, this is my basis point for Jo Ann. This is an old Fabricland Store in an old Kmart Food/Warehouse Market space (was something called Delta Freight between the grocery tenant and Fabricland). Jo Ann has basically spent nothing in this store, it is set up just like Fabricland, same floors, same shelves, they did install checkout counters up front and take out Fabricland's checkstands but that is it. What is worse is this Jo Ann is not in a great area but nearby is the main mall and a long time Toys R Us at the busy intersection vacated and became a Goodwill. Also next to that Stein Mart vacated again that could have been a good relocation for Jo-Ann. Also not far away is a Good Guys building that has been empty ever since Good Guys went bust, again, that would be a great spot for a nicer Jo-Ann, but they don't bother. Another nearby spot went vacant that was a former Circuit City #1 then CompUSA then Goodwill and again that would have been a great relocation for Jo-Ann and again they did not take it. My impression is they are a chain that just... doesn't bother unless they are really pushed. They are lucky they are still in business. I can respect their reasons for not handling much seasonal merchandise, but in that case they should double down on the non-fabric basic items in the aisles on the pegs and really push for volume on those.
Down in Carson City in a dead mall is another Jo-Ann, this store is a former House of Fabrics, and similar lack of effort. There was a Jo-Ann in Sparks that closed for some reason (not sure why, should have been a good spot), it was like Carson a former HOF and zero remodel effort. Before Fabricland in Reno became Jo-Ann, there was another Jo-Ann which opened in a former Thrifty around 1994-1995. They opened up after some asbestos work was done on the building and kept the Thrifty floor, covered up pharmacy with some shelving, even kept an electric door step mat that had the Thrifty logo on it. It was such a low effort store, it felt like one of those makeshift stores like a Spirit Halloween. They had the fabric service counter and checkout in the middle of the store and aisles surrounded it sort of like pinwheels.
Hobby Lobby always goes to 90% off on seasonal items in Reno and seems to sell them down... even at 90% off I find their prices to seem a bit high.