just went thru new catalog,& was so disappointed!looks like they are turning more towards paper cutting & csrap book than quilting ! has anyone else noticed this or is it just me ????????????dar

I have noticed that most of their ads are geared toward a lot of scrapbooking stuff.

However, the coupons for last week's big sale included more coupons for fabric than crafty stuff. Who knows?

Yes . . .though I think they've been on this trend for awhile. They really used to be a sewing only store . . .now it's mostly crafts, etc with fabric thrown in almost as an afterthought.

There must be some sort of consumer surveys that reflect fewer people making those types of purchases so they're moving in another direction. But really . . .I think those of us who DO sew would purchase more from them if they carried higher quality fabrics. Even when my children were young and I did much more garment sewing . . .it was next to impossible to find good quality fabrics for garments. I relied heavily on a clearing house for a local children's garment factory for most of my fabrics. There was no way I could find those types of fabrics at JoAnns.

Incidently . . .JoAnn's USED to be called ClothWorld before changing their name. There's a reason that name was changed . . .to take the emphasis off sewing supplies . . .

This is true . . .but it could just be they're liquidating the slower moving items which is why most stores price things on sale anyway :)

My Joanns had been making more room for the paper crafts but I look at this way fair is fair as long as they still sell fabric I am happy :lol:

Our new Joanns is 2/3 sewing and 1/3 all the other crafts. I think the flyers/specials go in cycles. In April and May there's a lot of quilting (Paducah, Spring Market, etc) in the flyers and then they go to kids crafts for the summer, etc. but then it comes back to us - the quilters/sewers.

I made my first stop in the Joannes last week. There was ONE employee to cut material and work the cash register. There was a line waiting for fabric to be cut. Finally after 20 plus minutes another employee appeared to check out. So the original cashier came to cut fabric. By the time I got to the cashier, the line was really long. The register didn't want to recognize the coupons some of the customers were using.

I was so disappointed. But there isn't any other fabric store close by since WalMart did away with fabric. The next closest store is 30 minutes away.

If I ever win the big money from the lottery, I'm going to quit my job and I want to open a full blown fabric store.

I think that the quality of fabric has a lot to do with sales in JoAnns and Walmart. When I go to Walmart (and sometimes at JoAnn's now) nice, good looking, quality fabric is more of a surprise than the norm. If they want me to spend my money/gas then I need some incentive. Don't get me wrong, I do go to Walmart and JoAnn's but it seems lately that my choices have narrowed.

I seem to remember the sales for quilting supplies etc were usually in the winter months. They figure its too hot to quilt in the summer. Just a thought. True though many of the catalogs are more geared to paper crafts-scrapbooking and cardmaking.

Actually, at one time there were three major store chains - Joanns, Hancocks and Cloth World. IMHO Cloth World had the better fabric. Then Joanns bought out Cloth World and Hancocks had the best fabrics. Now you can sometimes find good fabric at Joanns and Hancocks but no always.

I wish there was a fabric store that had the 'Cloth World' mentality - great quality, good price, and great helpful, knowledgable staff. I used to work at Cloth World and you HAD to be a sewer. General help was not hired for Cloth World. You had to be able to understand and actually have intelligent information for the customers.

Not anymore anywhere - sometimes not even the quilt shops. Last time I bought any fabric at Joanns (all of it was the high end stuff) the girl that was cutting was more interested in texting on her phone rather than actually doing her job. After I got home, I contacted the manager, district manager and corporate to let them know the quality of people they were hiring. They said that they were having a hard time finding qualified people - I don't think so in this economy.

Anyway - just my 2 cents worth.

Just found out from my mom that the Joann's Fabrics in Grand Junction, Colorado is going out of business. Makes me sad :cry:

When the employees at our Joann seem less than enthusiastic, I usually engage them in conversation - and before you know it, it's a much "funner" experience for both of us. Sometimes it's the customers that cause their own bad situation: Last time Pat and I went, the cutter asked one grumpy old lady what she was planning to make and the woman literally barked at her to just cut the fabric and mind her own business. HARSH! and NASTY! Old bag!

Yup! Our old store was like that - took forever. Thankfully, they opened a new store, not a super store but new, about 1 1/2 yrs ago with more employees and numbers at the cutting table. Leave some comments on their web site and tell them that you may have to drive a little farther to a store w/better service!

yes, I just got the flyer today myself and thought the very same thing. I know there are a lot of scrapbookers, but there are still a gazillion quilters/sewers too!
And the one coupon about getting $10.00 bonus credit when you buy $50. or more sounded like it was just for decorator fabric. I would be interested is using this coupon if it was for quiting cotton. I can easily find $50. worth of material at a time...

Seriously???? Wow. . .


You know . . .I think part of the problem is they're trying to compete with Hobby Lobby and Michaels for crafters, which frankly . . .is no easy task. Why not just be the best fabric store that we, as quilters, would shop at. Considering how much the top of the line sewing machines have gone up in the last 10 years, I'd think there would be a demand for such a store????

I was very disappointed in their recent sale too.

I had the exact reaction! I think they are just trying to reach other crafters and will get back to a fabric focus as I have seen them do this before. I think there are some fabric listed towards the back of the brochure. Let's hope this isn't a long term trend!

Our JA's just got remodeled, so they are having Grand opening sales. Tomarrow the first 50 people get a 5.00 gift card, and shopping bag. I am going to try, lol!

I tend to constantly smile all the time (I don't know... gas? LOL) Anyway....I almost always have a good experience everywhere I shop. In fact my kids get bugged because I end up hearing the person's life story. They are just people who have bad days too. Their feet hurt, they don't have enough money, baby kept them up all night, their last customer was that old bag!

I had one that had just found out her dad had cancer. I let her talk and she was smiling when I left.

Try it. It works. :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

I have to laugh a little bit here. When I was making all my daughters clothes and mine also, it seemed all I could find after awhile was quilting cottons! I do most of my fabric shopping at Hancocks, but now the store seems to be mostly fleese and more fleese, even in the summer! They have lots of quilting cottons, but I wasn't too impressed with the quality or variety I found last month. And now the store is full of home decorating things. Very little fabric selection for garments.

The things you've mentioned here are recurrent themes at my JoAnn's, too. I rarely visit there anymore. I just don't have 30 minutes to wait in line to have fabric cut, followed by another 20 minutes in line waiting to pay. I think they've lost a lot of loyal customers this way.

Cloth World was a seperate company that Joanne's bought out. I really miss Cloth World!!

Has anyone else noticed that their email coupons are for online purchases not in store? I use to be able to use both. Now I think since January I have had only 1 or 2 in store coupons in my email.
I don't order on line from Joann's because normally I can get cheaper prices from places like fabric.com and free shipping.

Did you all know that 2 yrs ago Joanns was bought out by Walmart hence the change in emphasis from sewing to "cfrafting" and less quality material. Also the reason for the use of less employees to do more work. Just FYI.

I am finding you really have to check to see what the width of each bolt is--see it down to 42" now so it can affect how much you need to buy for your patterns that call for 45". And yes, our new updated store is trying to get Hobby Lobby's craft business.

Joanne's is owned by WalMart??? I didn't know that.

:thumbdown:

What I know about JoAnn's.
Back in 1973 I became a store manager for a new opening store. JoAnn's was a family run store at that time.
The owner, the wifes name was Betty Zimmerman, used to sell flat goods. He progressed from one store to several, and then to JoAnn's.
It was a very much "hands on" for the owners. Customer satisfaction was there main concern.
When the Midland store opened I had 7 employees.
The lines started an hour before the store was to open. The parking lot, large, had cars circling for parking places.
My husband came in just to put fabric back in place.
We continued to stay this busy. So hectic.
Each clerk took care of the customer through the whole process, including payment. We sometimes had to stand in line for the cash register.
Main point of this story.
I answered a phone call concerning a flawed half-yard remnant a customer had purchased previously.
Well, I forgot she was holding on the phone until 2 hrs. later.
The next day I got a call from Mister Zimmerman. I was chewed up one side and down the other about customer service. This has stayed with me a lifetime and served me well. The customer is always right, even when they're wrong!

On a recent trip to Joanns I purchased the large 24 x 36 inch Fiskars self healing cutting mat for my daughter. I used my 40% off coupon and got it for about $28.00. After Joanns we went to WM and I was shocked to see the REGULAR price of the same mat was only about $28.00!
And another thing...after getting home and looking at the label on the mat (and in small print), I see a warning that states 'This product contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects and reproductive harm'. My daughter is only 31 and I was concerned about giving it to her. She took it though and said she wouldn't use it till I hear back from the email I sent to Fiskars.
Anyone else aware of this? Or am I the only one who didn't expect such a warning label (so didn't bother to look for one) on a cutting mat?

i'm fairly certain that's not true.

This just brought to mind - are there still House of Fabrics stores or So Fro Fabrics anywhere ??

We used to have So Fro stores here years ago, just wondering if any still exist today ??

Amen!!!!

The Rag Shop. Anyone remember that one?

Okay here is the scoop on Joann's. Amazing how many wrong stories crop up about things.

the full story here: http://www.fundinguniverse.com/compa...y-History.html

the company started as Fabri-Centers. And then proceeded to buy lots of competitors.

"In 1998, Fabri-Centers reached a turning point. The company purchased 250 House of Fabrics stores, its biggest purchase deal to that date, raising its total number of stores to 1,060. More than half of these stores were designated Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts, while the rest operated under six different names: Cloth World, Fabri-Centers of America, FabricKing, FabricLand, House of Fabrics, New York Fabrics, and So-Fro Fabrics. The company carried an $180 million debt load, including $106 million stemming from the House of Fabrics purchase, which raised the company's debt-to-total capital ratio to 50%. Consolidation and elimination of redundancies was clearly in order. "

hopefully this will lay the rumors to rest

i wouldn't bet the farm on that. :lol:

I have had the same thoughts about JoAnns. The last couple of times I went I left empty handed, something that is a rare miracle for me in a fabric store. I really want to support the store but the quality, diversity and prices on line are so much better that JoAnns is getting less and less of my money.

Before the current management took over at JoAnn, it was different. Now they are "retailers" looking for a quick profit. That is why there is never enough help at the smaller stores, although employees trip over each other at my local "superstore"!!

I am sure that JoAnn's corporate hqs has completely changed over the years, however, what I said was definitely not rumor.
The managers were flown in for meetings, with the theme being customer service.
The managers that did good jobs in those days were offered stock options and some pretty nice bonuses.
Mr. & Mrs. Zimmerman wanted the family touch to all the stores.
Does anyone remember the display boards up near the ceilings? The employees were required to make these.
They could make their choice with materials supplied but the displays had to stay up a certain length of time.
We have good JoAnn's in both Midland & Mt.Pleasant.
The brand new store in Mt.Pleasant was built in part of the old Sam's Club. Hmmn?

Anytime a conglomerate swallows up it's competitors . . .by definition, it eliminates it's competition and consumers suffer as a a result. Higher prices and fewer choices is always the outcome.

I wish the link you provided (thanks, by the way :) ) included more recent information as I'm still curious about whether or not it's part of Wal-Mart. I DID discover that many JoAnn's now occupy former Wal-Marts. That in its self is no easy feat. If any of you have abandoned Wal-Mart buildings in your area, you know what I mean. Before moving to Lubbock, I was an active member of my local chamber. We had an abandoned Wal-Mart in our town and many larger companies had inquired about leasing. Wal-Mart wouldn't lease to them if they sold anything that might compete with something Wal-Mart sold. Consequently . . .the abandoned Wal-Mart has sat empty since the new Super Center down the street opened 17 years ago.

I have noticed that yu sure can't use your coupons much. And yes ther is a lot to do wiwth scrapbooking. I have to go 30-45 min to get to a JoAnns. Ther prices are going up on the fabric. I will not spend $9.99 a yd there when I can get Moda at my LQS for $9.00

Just my two cents worth.