(NEXSTAR) – After more than 80 years, national fabric and craft retailer Joann is another step closer to being erased from shopping centers across the U.S. after the release of nearly 800 locations going up for sale in the coming months.
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There is no fixed auction date pending bankruptcy court approval, but Mike Matlat, senior managing director with A&G Real Estate Partners, provided Nexstar with a list of 790 retail locations and five distribution centers that could see bids by mid-April, if they aren’t sold privately before that:
The Hudson, Ohio-based company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January – the second time in a year – but said at the time it would keep stores open. In February, however, Joann confirmed that it would be closing all of its stores, located across 49 states.
The nationwide closures are a blow for generations of quilters, knitters and craft lovers.
“Originally I saw that I would have till May so I I was going to control myself and not come until April but as they say curiosity killed the cat and I was a little too late,” one person wrote on Reddit, posting a photo of a Joann store, shelves stripped bare. “My first time walking out of joanns empty handed and also probably my last time walking out of joanns. I COULD CRY ACTUAL TEARS.”
Another wrote: “I was going to go through the sewing patterns but started thinking about how I’d been going to JoAnn since I was a kid with my mom. Then the Carpenters song ‘Yesterday Once More’ started playing in my head and I internally lost it and left before I embarrassed myself.”
In late February, Joann announced that financial services company GA Group was selected as the winning bidder to acquire “substantially all of Joann’s assets.”
“Joann leadership, our board, advisors and legal partners made every possible effort to pursue a more favorable outcome that would keep the company in business,” Joann said in a statement posted on its website. “We are committed to working constructively with the winning bidder to ensure an orderly wind-down of operations that minimizes the impact on all our stakeholders.”
Joann is just the latest nationwide brand to shutter hundreds of brick and mortar locations, joining Party City, Red Lobster, Big Lots, and Advance Auto Parts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
