Or is it? This is what greeted me when I pulled up joann.com this morning.
So what’s next? An online company run by yet another private equity group that has zero clue what the crafting community wants and needs? No thanks.
I visited the Kroll site and checked the latest pleading count – over 1,000 documents have been filed in this case. (The last time I looked it was at 600). A large part of the business wind-down process involves rejecting, affirming or assigning store leases and other agreements.
The pleadings show that several of the Joann’s retail store location leases have been assumed by or assigned to Burlington Coat Factory. CreativeBug appears to be one of the Joann affiliated companies that will survive the bankruptcy proceedings. The majority of subscription and other agreements with various customers and vendors related to CreativeBug were affirmed in late April. My inbox has received several CreativeBug subscription offers of late. FWIW, the CreativeBug site is operational and still offering discounts for new subscribers. No thanks.
Given the amount of customer response to the bankruptcy, I’m not surprised something is being stitched together behind the scenes. Hopefully, some creatives are on the team creating the next version of Joann – not merely investment bankers.
Come Stitch With Me 