Now What?

Joann’s has closed all its stores.  But wait.  Is it JoAnn’s, Joanne’s, Jo-Ann’s?  I could never quite get it straight.  However it was spelled, it’s now gone.  And we fabric lovers are left high and dry.

I have before written about my love/hate relationship to sewing.  That doesn’t mean I don’t have bins full of material I fancied and just haven’t gotten around to using yet.  (And does my sewing machine even work?  Some day I’ll get around to trying it again.)  I loved going into JOANN Fabric and Crafts and checking out the material, especially the seasonal fabrics.  They always inspired me to think about projects I could start—and maybe never finish.

But Joann’s was so much more.  It was an emporium of everything a dabbler like myself would ever need.  Now where will I go if I need one particular button or binding?  Nowhere.

I like to think I’m like most crafters, as my enthusiasms wax and wane.  Ergo, I have boxes full of stamps and stickers, canvases that will never be painted and beads that will never be used.  But the point isn’t that I’ve over-bought. The point is that I want what I want, craft-wise, when I want it.  With the closing of Joann’s, I’m left bereft and deserted.

Oh, you might say, there’s Michael’s and Hobby Lobby.  First, have you ever walked into Michael’s and tried to find anything?  Anything at all?  Life is too short.  Also, Hobby Lobby?  Politically, it would be impossible for me to set foot in that chain.

I sigh.  Well, I still have those bins of material and boxes of all and sundry.  I can make do.  But, Joann’s, know that you’ll be missed, your staff was always helpful, your checkout lines always long, and your bathrooms always clean.  You will be missed!