"Meanwhile, the JA's where I live have much more in the quilting area, tools, and such ... and are really friendly and definitely don't cop an attitude with shoppers"....
I don't know if you realize that there are two categories for JoAnn's....The craft/fabric and the "upholstry/curtains".
In Lancaster, we had both. The craft store usually had everything I needed. The other very small seclection for "us quilters"