RIP JOANN Fabrics

JOANN Fabrics, one of the country's biggest fabric and crafting retailers, will shut down in the coming weeks. The news comes shortly after the company announced that it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and that it would close 500 stores. Now, it's gone further, saying that it will close down entirely after a company purchased its assets.

The company was founded in 1943 by a pair of German immigrants and grew from there. It became a publicly-traded company in 1969, and in 2010, went private again when it was sold to a private equity firm. The company has struggled in recent years, losing more than $500 million in 2019, but was able to sort of right the ship during the COVID-19 pandemic, only to file for bankruptcy last year and now again this year. The first time, the company didn't close down any stores, but this time, they're closing down entirely.

This is upsetting news, especially within the cosplay community, because the outlet has been an outstanding place to get materials for costumes, and because it embraced cosplayers and the cosplay community by specifically stocking specialty fabrics and materials that cosplayers used.

JOANN has been a presence in my life for as long as I can remember. I remember walking through the store as a kid as my mother shopped for fabric for quilting, sewing supplies, and for the clothes that she made us, and since joining the 501st Legion 20 years ago, it's been a a place where I can reliably find the fabric and other bits and bobs that I've used in costuming projects over the years.

The elastic bands and snaps that I use in my stormtrooper and shoretrooper armor? I know exactly where to find them. Monkscloth and heavy cotton weaves for kids costumes? The last time I stopped by was back in October, when I had to pick up some cloth that I was using for my son's Ringwraith costume for Halloween.

A friend and fellow 501st member and cosplayer Jen Markham voiced her frustrations on Instagram, noting that it was incredibly frustrating to see the chain close down (at the time of the video, the chain was just closing 500 stores, not shutting down completely), because other retailers like Michaels and Dollar General have been stocking plenty of craft materials, which suggests that there is still demand for these products. And JOANN's recognition of cosplay as a vocation and hobby was a huge help towards bringing it into the mainstream.

There are plenty of outlets where cosplayers can still find specialty fabrics, but there's something specifically useful about being able to go to a store and being able to put your hands on the fabric that you're looking to use, something that you can't do with an online storefront. 800 stores also meant that there was likely one near you, and when you might need something in the middle of a project, heading over to a store to pick up that item then and there was a huge help.

What set JOANN's apart for me from a number of the handful of craft outlets out there is that the DIY ethos – a central part of cosplay – really felt like it was front and center in everything they did. It's a store that really embodied this idea of "you can make this yourself, and here are the supplies that can help you do that." Cosplay provides you with a set of skills that really feel like they're falling out of the public's knowledge base: how to sew, how to make repairs, and how to see the world in a creative way.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted to Bluesky, noting that a "fun, knock-on effect of cosplaying [is] fixing things!" and that in a world where we're surrounded by disposable things, cosplay helped me overcome this tendency to just replace stuff when it broke. I ended up fixing my snow rake with a short work session. I recently took a pile of torn jeans home to my mother, who sewed them up and saved me a couple of hundred dollars in replacements. I've got some fabric dye (purchased at JOANNS) that I'm planning on using to bring some new life back to some pants that have faded with time.

That's the value that the store has brought to me and plenty of other cosplayers: it's more than just an outlet where I could buy fabric around Halloween or con season: it's a place that reinforces and supports our creative tendencies, and losing it means one less place that encourages this mentality. Hopefully, other places and organizations will step up and take its place. In the meantime, it's probably a good time to stock up on anything you might have needed for your next costume.