Joann Crafts

The oldest and one of the largest of the major craft store chains in America is Joann Crafts, also known by its longer title of Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores. Joann has been around since 1943 and has more than 830 stores nationwide.

Joann Crafts History

What is now Joann Crafts began its life as the Cleveland Fabric Shop, founded in 1943 by Hilda and Berthold Reich and Sigmund and Mathilda Rohrbach, all immigrants from Nazi Germany.

By 1969 the company had 169 stores in 28 states and was publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange as Fabri-Centers of America. It joined the New York Stock Exchange in 1976 and changed its corporate name to Jo-Ann Stores, Inc., in 1999.

In the 1970s and 1980s, many Joann Crafts stores could be found in shopping malls, but by the late 1980s and 1990s the trend went to stand-alone stores and strip malls. To make things more interesting some stores had floral and craft departments in addition to selling fabric.

In 1994, what was then Fabri-Centers acquired Clothworld, a southern company with more than 300 stores. At the time, Fabri-Centers itself had more than 600 stores, but most were in the northern U.S. This marked the beginning of Joann Crafts' expansion into the rest of the country.

In 1995 the company opened a 46,000-square-foot store near its headquarters in Cleveland stocked with everything imaginable to inspire creativity. It was a huge success and became a model for the Joann Crafts superstores that would follow.

The company acquired House of Fabrics in 1998 and changed its name and all of its store names to Jo-Ann Stores. Today the company owns and operates 684 traditional Joann Crafts and fabric stores and 154 superstores. They are found in most of the continental U.S. and Alaska, though the vast majority are still in the northeast.

Joann Crafts Stores

The superstore Joann Crafts stores are much like stepping into a Hobby Lobby or a Michaels Crafts. These large stores try to carry supplies for just about any craft you might want to take part in, from fabric to floral, scrapbooking to sewing.

Admittedly the Joann Crafts stores, both large and small, have more of a focus on sewing than the other superstores. This is the only major crafts store chain where you can buy sewing machines, for example. The supplies for quilting and sewing are unmatched, but these stores have a good selection of other crafts as well.

Weekly flyers alert you to sales and the superstores have "Creative University" classes that help you learn crafting skills.

Joann Crafts Online

The crowning glory of the Joann Crafts enterprise, however, is the company's website. Hobby Lobby provides only a limited catalog online and Michaels Crafts only sells gift cards online, but Joann Crafts has a wonderful website where you can probably find an even better selection than is in your local store (if you don't live near a superstore).

Joann Crafts has been online since 1997, so it has had a lot of time to pull ahead of the pack. By far Jo-Ann is my favorite major craft retailer to shop from online, because of the great selection and the amazing web-only coupons.

Almost every time you visit the website a new deal will pop up. It's usually something like free shipping over a certain amount or 40 or 50 percent off an item in your order. These limited-time offers are difficult to resist, and with more than 50,000 items to browse you'll always find something you can't live without.

This site is very well organized, with lots of different categories, from cake decorating to lighting, yarn to software. If you can't find what you're looking for here, you'll probably need a specialty store, but Joann Crafts is great for all sorts of general crafting needs.

In addition to the great shopping, Joann's website has tons of great project ideas and tips. A bulletin board is also part of the site, but it doesn't seem to be used. The site also has a link to Jo-Ann Designs, a site where independent designers sell their embroidery and craft designs.

The Final Word on Joann Crafts

I don't live anywhere near a Joann Crafts store, but I love the website and buy things from them regularly. Delivery charges are a little steep (starting at $5.95), but when you need something that you can't find where you live, it is certainly worth it. You can always keep an eye out for one of those free-shipping coupons!