Joann Filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Yes, that is correct. Here's a link to the definition:

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

I hope they can overcome their challenges. When I was a girl, my family had little money, and I loved clothes--so I bought my fabrics from Joann. I think it was called SoFro Fabrics in California. Fabric used to be my obsession back then, much like paper is now.

Joann and Michaels are my only choices for brick-and-mortar scrapbook shopping since we have no local SB stores left.

I was so surprised when I learned this was on the horizon. My local JoAnn is busy all the time.

The biggest problem is that they cannot seem to hire and/or keep enough staff. The wait for fabric cutting and checking out is long. You can’t just go in, grab something, and get out. Often times the checkout line is backed up halfway or more through the store, with only one or two cashiers. I have left stuff behind because I didn’t have time to wait in line.

Order online pick up in store is your friend @bsnyder. They even have special coupons for those orders.

Of course, unlike Michael's, you still need to find a human.

IME, it's not the size of the store that dictates the selection of items. I don't know if it's management preference or what, but the stores near me seem to "specialize" in different areas. One has the most paper, another the most stamps and inks, a third not much papercrafting at all.

Private equity is the worst. I follow someone on Instagram that talks a lot about private equity (along with all kinds of other stuff), I think she's on TikTok too. Meredith Lynch

The JoAnn near me is dimly lit and depressing. That said, I’m still grateful it’s there when I want something and they have it because I can order online for pickup with a coupon.

There’s one in a nearby city that has a variety of planner supplies and carries mostly AC scrapbook lines. I prefer going there even though it’s less convenient because I’m not struggling to see while I’m shopping.

Does anyone else NOT like to buy online and pickup in store? I will not do it even for the extra % off they sometimes have. If the item is in the store I want to pick it myself. I don't necessarily want what is on top of the pile, I don't want a smashed box, paper that everyone touiched and then picked from the bottom, I don't want anything dog-eared even if you can barely notice it. Um, NO. I want to pick my own stuff.

Online is usually a little bit different because the public in general is not touching it.

ETA: I guess somethings would not make a difference, like a hard sturdy plastic pkg, but still, I am not driving all they way down to the store for a few items like that. 

The one closest to me has no papercrafting stuff. They have some maker items like paint your birdhouse and cookie cutters. And of course they have fabric and yarn.

The next nearest is about 15 minutes further but has paper, ink, dies, etc. They carry AC paper single sheets. Also a few Hero Arts and Spellbinders dies. If they had more choices and popular products I’d go more often. Maybe they could market embellishments and paper pads under their name (or a similar name) like Hobby Lobby does.

The store in my area was originally The Piece Goods Shop. Service was poor but it has gotten better in recent years though they usually only have one or two employees working. I seldom go on the weekend so maybe they have more staff then.

I appreciate that they are there but admit that I buy very little from them. I shop at local quilt shops for my quilt fabric. The selection and definitely the quality are better.

JoAnn and Hobby Lobby are the only all purpose fabric stores left here.

Me !  I’m rather picky about my beloved paper being dented.   I line up all the bar codes, so the cashier doesn’t have to handle it too much.  
My Joann’s is 25 miles away.  It is big and well stocked.  I mainly buy pretty paper and ephemera.  

I went in recently to purchase blades for my Fiskar.  They had NO Fiskar products.  They did not even have any paper trimmers?  I thought that was odd.

I have a small JoAnn's in my neighborhood and a very big JoAnn's about ten minutes away. I rarely, if ever, go into the big JoAnn's, but I will admit that I hardly ever buy scrapbook stuff outside of adhesive and cardstock which I can find at my little JoAnn's. The scrapbook section is miniscule and the fabric section is about half the store. However, I do a lot of crafts, including quilting and crocheting. I also enjoy their little displays of decor and such. And I've recently gotten into cookie decorating so I also buy supplies there too. My store is bright and clean and I try to patronize them as much as possible because I desperately DO NOT want them to close. Luckily, my store also seems like it gets a good amount of business. And I tend to run there on morning breaks so I get there early and there are people shopping during typical business hours. My store is usually staffed by two or three people at a time and that seems like enough to keep things running smoothly. I will be very sad if my little store goes out of business. Like I said, it's not so much the scrapbook supplies that I'm on the hunt for, but other things and I turn there first for everything crafty. Michael's and Hobby Lobby are about 15 minutes away and Michael's looks like it's going through bankruptcy. I hardly ever find anything there. And I try to keep my Hobby Lobby shopping to a bare minimum but like someone mentioned above, it is the only place I can seem to find Fiskars trimmer blades. So I do run there when I need those because I never seem to notice until I sit down to work and my trimmer is cutting wonky. I should get in the habit of ordering online ahead of time, but I never think that far ahead.