Crafting a New Future: Michael’s Buys Joann Brands
When MULO (multi-location) fabric and crafts store JOANN declared bankruptcy and closed stores, crafters were up in arms. They took to social media, fretting about where they would buy their favorite handcraft supplies.
Michael’s just purchased the failed brand’s 600 products across multiple categories, including fabric, quilting and sewing supplies, sewing machines, and yarn. Those crafters are now rejoicing.
Joann had an 80-year lifespan. Opened in 1943 in Cleveland, it expanded to 49 states and close to 800 locations. They filed for bankruptcy in January 2025 and began closing stores in March of this year.
Michael’s is considered to be the largest MULO source of arts, crafts, custom framing, floral, wall décor, and seasonal merchandise in North America. With more than 1,300 stores, they also have a robust online presence and are a source of a wide range of products for the average consumer (who may need school art supplies and birthday gifts), hobbyists, scrapbookers, and just regular folk looking to festoon their homes.
The MULO brand has also made significant investments in technology to enable consumer personalization, better manage inventory, and expedite online fulfillment. These steps are critical to survival and growth today, as shoppers are deeply engrossed in the phygital ecosystem (the combination of physical locations and digital enhancements).
The crafts market is vast and growing. Not just an offshoot of the pandemic, the movement toward creating one’s own artistic and practical works is here to stay. The category was worth about $740B in 2024 and expected to reach $1.2B in 2025 and $2.3B in 2032.
New generations are entering the world of crafts. These activities enable a high degree of personalization and creativity. Ambitious crafters can sell their works on platforms like Etsy, now valued at $6.7B. Rather than killing the handcraft market, technology is facilitating it by inspiring project ideas, enabling consumers to buy a wide range of supplies, and giving them a simple marketplace to sell what they make.
The future of Michael’s is likely to be a colorful patchwork of physical products and next-generation retail technology solutions. Although consumers bid a sad farewell to JOANN’s, a whole new future is now on the maker table.
