Local shoppers react to Joann announcing 10 local stores among nearly 500 nationwide set to close
The Joann Fabrics and Crafts store in Belle Vernon is one of 10 local Joann stores that will be closing its doors for good as the company closes a majority of its locations.
Channel 11 spoke with several shoppers at the Belle Vernon location, who say they’re devastated by the announcement.
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“I was shocked,” said Marianne Barnhart, who was shopping at Joann in Belle Vernon on Wednesday. “This is my go-to. It was close. Close to home.”
That’s how many shoppers at the Belle Vernon Joann Fabrics and Crafts Store were reacting to the news the location would be closing for good.
“I don’t like going to Walmart for materials,” Barnhart said. “There’s patterns, there’s more of a selection here.”
According to court filings, Joann will be closing more than 500 of its nearly 850 stores nationwide. Ten of those stores are in the Pittsburgh area.
Aside from Belle Vernon, the stores in Indiana, Bridgeville, Butler, Pleasant Hills, McKnight, Cranberry, Monroeville, Robinson, and Greensburg will all be shut down.
“Me and my cousin come down here all the time to get stuff, sewing and stuff. She does most of the sewing, but I was shocked. I just now found out,” Vincenne Cheatham told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek as she left the Belle Vernon store.
These closures come after last month’s bankruptcy filing, which was Joann’s second bankruptcy filing in less than a year.
“I’m gonna have to find somewhere else to go,” Cheatham said.
With nearly 60% of Joann stores closing nationwide, those who frequent the fabric and craft store, and those who don’t, now worry for those who work there.
“It’s pretty sad to see everything that’s closing up around here,” said Otha Curley of Monessen. “It’s bad enough there’s no jobs or nothing now, and you’re losing all the stores, it makes it even worse.”
“I used to work at Joann Fabrics about 20 years ago,” Barnhart said. “They’re like family. I really feel bad for them all.”
Right now there’s no exact date on when the individual locations will be closing.
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