BCAT News

When the news broke that Joann, a popular arts and crafts store in town, was closing, the public was shocked. In some cases, even heartbroken, due to the great opportunities and resources that the store offered  

The store announced their countrywide bankruptcy back in January of 2024. The store was then sold to GA Group, a financial services company, during a bankruptcy auction. The store plans on shutting down all of its 800 stores located throughout the United States this year.

The beloved store contains many resources for artists, such as useful supplies needed for school projects, or sewing materials for sewers. This upsetting change affects many artists and crafters, but how does it affect BHS?

Ms. Jenkins, a speech-language pathologist at BHS, shares the many different ways that Joann’s is useful to her, from making masks to clothing for dogs. This shows that Joann is a store that provided different supplies for many different uses.

“I started sewing masks [and] little bags,” Ms. Jenkins said. “[I also made] clothes for dogs.”

Mrs. Chang, one of the art teachers at BHS, gives us her opinion on how this change affects her personally.

“It’s sad,” she said, “I like to sew, and [Joann is an] affordable place to get fabrics.” 

Ms. Chang, who uses Joann as a supplier for her personal projects, states that she is sad to see Joann go, due to their affordable prices on fabrics and other sewing notions, such as zippers and buttons. 

“[Joann] was a great resource during the pandemic,” Ms. Jenkins said. “[The employees] were great at giving suggestions.” 

Ms. Jenkins states that she not only will miss Joann for its many products, but also for its help. Joann is said to have helped influence the customers’ decisions, which is one of the many things that makes Joann different from other stores.

“A lot of stores specialize in many things other than sewing,” Aarushi Dayma, BHS student who enjoys sewing, said. “Other stores see sewing as a hobby rather than something professional.” [Disclosure: Aarushi is an editor for The Devil’s Advocate.]

The reason why Joann is loved by so many is because it majorly specializes in sewing and puts out supplies that see sewing as a profession, rather than a hobby, which is what other arts and crafts stores are doing. 

From the point of view of the Burlington people, it is obviously a very sad scene to see Joann go, but where will the users of Joann go to get their supplies from now on?

“[One substitute is to] buy fabrics online, but it takes longer,” Dayma said. “It’s easier at Joann because it’s in person.”

Dayma explains that one of the popular substitutes for Joann is to shop online for fabrics and other sewing materials, but it is more difficult because it takes longer and you never know for sure the type of fabric and supplies you are buying.

“[Another substitute is] secondhand fabrics [stores], but there aren’t any in Burlington,” Dayma said. 

A substitute for Joann is second hand fabric stores, which isn’t seen often in Burlington. The closest second hand fabric stores are found in towns that are nearby Burlington, such as Arlington, Cambridge, and Natick. 

“There are online companies [as substitutes], but I prefer to go in person,” Ms. Jenkins said.