Joann Fabrics closing all locations—including Illinois stores

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2025 store closures: Joann and JCPenney join Macy's, Kohl's

JCPenney and Joann will shutter stores this year. They are joining Macy’s and Kohl’s which have announced plans to close stores in recent months.

• All 800+ Joann Fabrics stores will close after the company was auctioned off to a new ownership group.
• Going-out-of-business sales are underway at all locations, but gift cards are no longer being accepted.

Weeks after announcing the closure of 500 stores, Joann Fabrics announced it will be closing all of its 800+ locations.

The shift in store operations to absolute zero comes after the fabric and craft retailer was auctioned off to a new ownership group. Retail liquidator GA Group and Joann's term lenders won the bidding for the bankrupt company on Feb. 22, when the remaining assets of the company were put up for auction.

"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," the company statement reads. "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."

More: Joann Fabrics closing hundreds of stores—including 26 in Illinois. Here's the list

The GA Group has a stretching history with Joann and helped the craft company buy competitor, House of Fabrics, in the 1990s.

The new ownership plans on "multimillion-dollar retention plan" for Joann's around 19,000 employees, including organizing job fairs and granting workers time off so they can interview for other jobs.

In collaboration with the new ownership group, the Hudson, Ohio-based retailer announced it will shut down operations at all stores after conducting going-out-of-business sales at each location.

Federal court records show the action results will be formally approved on Feb. 26 at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

When the company announced the closure of 500 locations, it included 26 Illinois locations. Originally, stores across the state, including Springfield, Rockford and Peoria, were set to remain open. Now, all of those locations will be closing.

Last week, Joann began its going-out-of-business sales at the roughly 500 stores already set to close. Now, the sales are set to be rolled out across all locations. Gift cards will no longer be available for use, however.

The auction for the final assets of the company came from a trailing downfall for Joann. The retail giant first filed for bankruptcy in March 2024. The craft company then secured around $132 million in new financing to put towards its $1 billion debt. Then, the craft giant restructured into a private company, delisting from the U.S. stock exchange. 

Less than a year first filing bankruptcy, in the first two weeks of January this year Joann closed more than eight stores across Iowa, North Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts before filing a second time for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the same month to "facilitate a sale process to maximize the value of its business."

Claire Grant writes about business, growth and development and other news topics for The State Journal-Register. She can be reached at CLGrant@gannett.com; and on X (Formerly known as Twitter): @Claire_Granted