Joanns was not 'bought out' a few years ago. It is still headquartered in Hudson Ohio where the family started the business. What has happened, as with any business, is that they have tried to modernize and keep up with changes in the creative community. This requires bringing in more and newer products and with the limits of size, it means closing out some items. To attempt to balance this, they have tried to have the smaller (traditional) stores with one superstore per district. This superstore has the framing dept, the educational dept and usually a viking sewing center. They have also developed a very comprehensive online store to help with the limited space of the 'brick and mortar' stores. When working in the store, you quickly learn that the new layout of the departments is actually a lot better than the 'olden' days. It is just that it takes folks awhile to adjust if they aren't there daily. Aisles may be a bit narrower but that is because they are trying to get as much product in there for the customers.