JoAnn Fabrics fans seek to stitch void left by private equity with crafts co-op

US crafters are looking to build a communal network to replace the company after it was bankrupted by private equity investors in 2025

To its dedicated fans, JoAnn Fabrics wasn’t just a fabric store. It was a vital hub for small businesses – wedding dress makers, upholsters, milliners and rug repairers. It taught generations to make, fix and craft. A visit sparked new ideas in a way that shopping online just can’t replicate.

Since it became one of hundreds of US companies bankrupted by private equity investors in 2025, it has been sorely missed.

Its rise and fall, from a Cleveland, Ohio, store founded by German immigrants in the 1940s to the 800-store chain closed by Leonard Green & Partners, has been memorialized in videos and Halloween costumes.

But what was declared dead may not be gone forever. JoAnn’s dedicated followers are trying to figure out a way to bring the essence of the store back, minus the investors who gutted the company.