Last night I took Big Girl shopping at the Joann’s in Kennesaw. It’s one of their Maker Studio concept stores. It’s a neat place and the only one of its kind in the Atlanta region. It also serves as a hub for online order fulfillment.
Chapter 11 has hit this store hard – particularly when it comes to quilting and sewing. There are obvious holes in product availability throughout the store. Large sections of aisles are bare. While there is still fabric available, sewing and quilting notions are extremely limited and your available options are few. It’s surreal. If I’d needed to buy a twin size package of Warm & Natural quilt batting, replacement blades for my rotary cutter or a pincushion, I’d have been out of luck. It was a similar situation for cross-stitch supplies and the Happy Planner section. Staff told me that they get two trucks a week. It must be all the home decor and seasonal items up front, not items that I typically buy at Joann’s.
Is inventory of certain product categories being allowed to deplete because they are planning a major reset soon? Or is it due to bankruptcy? Think Big Girl and I are going to take a trip to the Alpharetta Joann’s later today for comparison. I’ll report back. So we made the trek to the Alpharetta location. A little more inventory is available, but it’s obvious merchandise hasn’t been replenished in a while. Some empty spaces in the displays, but not as jarring as the Kennesaw location. There’s one area that’s full of boxes. Another area full of clearance stuff. Looks like a reset or a shrinkage of floor space devoted to sales is in the works. I sincerely hope Joann’s emerges from bankruptcy in a good position. We need a solid brick and mortar retailer in the sewing and crafting space.
By the way, I did buy 3 yards of a really cute white-on-white print I needed for a specific donation quilt project.
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