HOOKSETT, NH – The Joanne fabric and crafts store in Hooksett was the only one in New Hampshire that escaped the chopping block earlier this month when it was announced the other seven in the state would close, but the reprieve was short.
The company’s new owners announced this week that all 850 stores in the nationwide chain will close as the 82-year-old business shuts down after two bankruptcy filings in less than 12 months.
Earlier this month, Joann announced that 500 locations across the U.S., including seven in New Hampshire, would close, but the Hooksett store would remain open. The other seven stores had already started liquidation sales when this week’s news came.
The Hooksett Joann is at 1328 Hooksett Road, in the Hooksett Village Shops mall.
The other New Hampshire Joann stores are in Belmont, Concord, Nashua, Newington, Rochester, Seabrook and West Lebanon.
Joann has been a go-to shop for fabric, sewing and knitting materials and crafting supplies for everyone from serious seamstresses and knitters down to casual shoppers. In recent years it has marketed with an aim to draw in more crafters and a wider customer base, including with a YouTube channel.
The company first announced financial struggles in 2022, citing dwindling sales, partly related to the COVID pandemic. Last year, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced stores would close.
The company filed Chapter 11 again in January and a judge approved an auction for the business. Joann’s owners hoped the winning bidder would keep the stores open. In early February, Joann announced 500 stores would be liquidated, including all of New Hampshire’s except the one in Hooksett. The liquidation was part of the Chapter 11 reorganization in order to make the chain more appeal to buyers.
Sunday it announced it would close all of its stores after buyer GA Group, the highest bidder in the Feb. 21 auction, said it plans to close all of the chain’s stores. Officials said it could take weeks to months for all of the stores to close. The sale was approved Wednesday at the company’s bankruptcy hearing.
Judge Craig T. Goldblatt said, in approving the sale, “I share the view that what everyone hopes for is the preservation of going concern value, jobs and the role of a business in its community, but that’s not always possible.”
Closing dates for the stores have yet to be established, the new buyers said.
“We have been proud to serve as a destination for creativity for more than 80 years and thank your dedicated team members, customers and communities across the nation for their decades of support,” store officials said when the closings were announced.
Joann began as Cleveland Fabric Shop in 1943, opened by a quarter of German immigrants with the aim to sell low-cost fabric to community residents. The name was changed to Jo-Ann Fabrics in 1963, combining the names of the daughters of the founders. It’s legal name is JOANN.
At joannrestructuring.com, the company says, “We are committed to working constructively with the winning bidder to ensure an orderly wind-down of operations that minimizes the negative impact on all JOANN Team Members, vendors, customers and communities. Subject to court approval of the sale transaction, we expect to begin, or in some cases continue, going-out-of-business sales at all locations immediately.”
It also encourages customers to take advantage of “the opportunity to purchase our assortment at special prices during the going-out-of-business sales,” and notes they can continue to shop at Joann stores, Joann.com, or on the Joann mobile app.