DH said he heard that JoAnn's is going out of business. Oh Please, Say it isn't so! It's the closest thing to a quilt shop near me, about 1/2 hour drive. I need some 22 - 24" zippers, Michael's and AC Moore near by don't carry them so off I go to JoAnn's. I usually try to combine a trip there with other errands along the way, with the price of gas it's the thing to do. Nearest quilt shop is over 1 hr away and that's driving 70 miles per hr. on the parkway for most of that time and paying tolls. When I go to Lancaster in the Spring I stock up on fabrics that I need and if Jo's closes I'll also have to stock up on threads, zippers, and other sewing notions. Oh batting too, as Jo's no longer carrys Hobb's batting that I like. They do have rolls of Warm and Natural cotton and a Warm and Natural poly (can't think of the name right now). I think I'll double check my coupons before I leave and stock up on a few things while at Jo's this afternoon. DH will be with me and I'll have him use a coupon and buy something for me. Sometimes the cashiers will let you use multiple coupons when checking out and sometimes they won't.

May in Jersey

I've heard rumors about some of the smaller stores closing, but that the larger superstores will still be open. Where I live there's one small local store and 2 superstores east and west of it, either one's about 10 miles away from here. It'll sure make things more difficult for me...but I guess I can understand why they could close my store. The economy's awful.

It's funny you mentioned this, my DH said he saw on AOL yesterday that they were closing some stores. I tried to find the article, but didn't have any luck. Where in New Jersey are you located? I was in Bergen County for 37 years. A really nice quilt store opened in River Edge about a year before we left.

Where I am now, I have two Joann's, each about a 45 minute drive.

JoAnn's near me isn't a Super store, so it might be on the hit list to close.

Vicki, Nice to see another Jersey girl here, even though I wasn't born in Jersey and haven't been a girl for 50 years or so. I live in Monmouth County, center of Jersey along the eastern coastline - it's where The
Shore begings.

For all you non-Jersey quilters, in Jersey we don't go to the beach we go to The Shore. May in Jersey who keeps far away from The Shore from Memorial Day to Labor Day - the traffic is terrible especially Thursday nights to Monday mornings. We usually plan our weekends away from that area or to Manhattan which is pretty empty summer weekends or to visit family in Brooklyn, all the opposite way of the heavy traffic. Bugs us to no end as after Memorial Day our gas prices take a big jump and we pay higher car insurance rates during those months because we live near "The Shore". May in Jersey `

the joann's near my home closed years ago and the only other one we have is an hour away and it certainly has the air of closing down any day now.

Out here, they slowly seem to be closing and re-opening as JoAnn-Super Stores.

Do you think the online store will go out?

no i think their online is the only thing making money.

the fabric at joanns and walmart near me have nothing but cheap fabric. the thread count is so low and loosely woven.

th plaids and stripes aren't even printed straight on the fabric forget about being printed on the straight of grain.

It's funny that if you go to Investor Relations on the Joann's site it mentions nothing about stores closing or going out of business. http://www.joann.com/joann/about_joa..._investors.jsp

Our Joann's is a small one and it recently was updated and is getting in new merchandise all the time.

All of their fabric is not bad. It's like all fabric stores, you have to know what you're buying and the quality that you are looking for.

I think we should really do our due dilligence and investigate before buying into rumors. Some stores may be closing in some areas but that certainly does not mean all.