akrogirl

[quote=Nolee]Sorry, but that was not my quote, lol. However, I do agree that we have major, major problems ahead if we don't restore our manufacturing base.

New Kris

Please remember business is what drives our economy. Cotton is a comotoy that has nearly doubled in the past yr, Of course investors are looking to cash in.
I have stopped shopping at Jo ann's because of the rude and under trained staff. I hope their customer servive will improve.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

geosprouter

From the NYT:
Mr. Green left Gibbons, Green to start Leonard Green & Partners in 1989. Since then, the firm has invested in 52 companies worth some $44 billion. Its current portfolio carries a heavy dose of consumer names, including the Container Store, David’s Bridal, Neiman Marcus, Sports Authority and Whole Foods Market

C.Cal Quilt Girl

Still not thinking this is such a bad thing, the more I think it could be a good thing. If looked at from an investors point of view: Brand recognition, Boomers have more time on their hands to play, many of these are Ladies and Gents with income to spend, as mentioned before and seen here, little grumbles, and how things could improve this situation, for the customer. Thats an easy fix.
Probibly had to trim down in the last few years, sometimes for unseen reasons, have to show profitability,and the economys been a tough place, for retailers. Many times from whats noticed, many of these places expand by opening locations, could be, more jobs in the states and easier to find one to shop in.
We in the states are spoiled by low prices thus the imports, and that's been going on for a long time. These folks have eggs are in many baskets and should have some buying power.
One of the largest errors that have seen is computers, not people are running the show, LOL try explaining why a shopper would want 25 1/4 yd pieces, and the time/labor involved :)
So all we can do is wait and see hope for the best :)

weezie

Rite-Aid & Petco are in serious trouble here. The local Petco just closed or is in the process.

When my boss sold his food brokerage company (family owned & prosperous for several decades), it re-sold 2 years later and closed it's doors completely a year after that.

As regards Sears/K-Mart, many of those stores (both Sears & K-Mart) are in old, run-down buildings in old, run-down neighborhoods. As such, people won't shop in those stores, seriously jeopardizing Sears' ability to remain in business.

Although I blame Joann's for driving away 3 excellent local fabric stores, I'm now worried about the Joann's that is a 10-minute drive from my house; I either shop there or I have to shop on-line.

fabric whisperer

I have been a long-time lurker here, and this one makes me speak up! :)

I was a #2 manager at a local JAS -- I recently left because of the politics. I heard many people mention untrained staff, long lines, fabric quality, overworked staff... I am not allowed to divulge too much, but since I quit, I can finally speak up a little.

I am hoping this buyout will really rattle things in a positive way. "Corporate" mandated "making budget" everyday. They wanted us to convince customers to buy more/highercost items... BS your way in if you have to. Sorry, I had morals, and left the company. (I would not toss 5 extra skeins of yarn into that 80-y.o. lady's basket to make her buy more!)

Corporate would set a magical $ amount for our store; budget not met daily = employee hour cut to "make budget". What did this mean? Two-man coverage at smaller stores for most of the day, and we were still expected to get stock out, help customers, cut orders, run register, clean the store, setup new plan-o-grams (sectional product layouts), etc. If the standard work didn't get done during our normal shift, we managers would get written up. Nevermind that I didn't get to finish a plan-o-gram because I was busy helping customers -- my philosophy has always been "if I don't help my customer, someone else will -- without happy customers, there is no business".

Needless to say, mgmt positions are very stressful at JAS, and if nothing else, I hope this company actually will let the managers have more staff hours to that the stores can be brought back up to par. Please understand, my District Manager chewed me a new one, in front of customers, because my new floral setup didn't get completed... I didn't get it done because we were busy with customers until 5 minutes before close... Needless to say, I chose to help the customers!

I agree the fabric quality has declined, many fabrics they are now selling are from China -- thin, damaged bolts upon delivery, I have sewn for over 30 years, and I wouldn't buy them. But they do also have the better quality stuff, you just have to know where to look. They still sell RJR, Hoffman, Springs / VIP, Kona, many great names. I was the merchandising manager and took my job & store very seriously, I was constantly complimented on good selection / well stocked / clean store while I was in charge. I am a scrapbooker, painter, sewer, quilter, crocheter, musician, and 4th generation artist. My store now looks like doodoo since I left, the new merch mgr just wanted the higher paycheck, she doesn't care about aesthetics or what the customer wants.

I hope it will be a good thing. Oh, BTW the "no debt thing" -- they got out of debt by making us run medium-sized stores with only 2 employees/shift for a long time. Meanwhile, corporate was building a "workout center" across from HQ for millions... Um, we are working ourselves into heart attacks while you're spending the cash-flow on a new rec center? That just wasn't cool IMHO.

Dodie

I worked for Safeway Grocery store for years a lot of what you said sounds like my days at work needless to say the day the customer does not come first that is when the store will close everyone forgets that is where the pay check comes from Safeway are now closed so are a lot of other businesses than ran more chiefs than Indians sure hope that is not the way of JoAnns

RNUNU

A couple of weeks ago .... one of the Topics for discussion, on the QB was bringing the attention to ...... "Noticing how much JoAnns fabric prices have been "inching-inching" upwards to becoming very noticable to those who buy fabrics for what we do". Some of the responses for this topic resulted in statements indicating the prices of "cotton" due to shortage in in the product commodity. I'm not saying this may or may not be the reason for the pricing surgering ..... however I am now thinking, with this news of "JoAnns Buy-Out", this may just have a lot to do with their big rise in fabric prices ..... which would not surprise me a bit! The "Big Money Mongers" keep getting richer by the minute .... with you and I having to learn to live with it.

charmpacksplus

I should have been buying stock instead of fabric :cry:

granny6x13542

My experience with corporate buy-outs has not been positive. The new owners are only interested in quick return on their investment and frequently don't manage the company to ensure it continues as a viable business. Look for more Chinese-made merchandise as that is the fastest way to make more money.