In the wake of two bankruptcy filings, crafts and sewing chain Joann now plans to liquidate and close all its 800 stores, becoming the latest U.S. retailer to go out of business.
Hudson, Ohio-based Joann, in operation for 82 years, is being sold to GA Group and its lenders as part of a Chapter 11 auction, subject to court approval later this week. GA Group, a liquidator, is backed by Oaktree Capital Management.
"The winning bidders plan to begin winding down the company's operations and conduct going-out-of-business sales at all store locations," a Joann spokeswoman said in an email to CoStar News on Monday. "Joann leadership, our board, advisers and legal partners made every possible effort to pursue a more favorable outcome that would keep the company in business."
Joann previously said it would only close just over 500 stores.
U.S. retailers have so far announced 3,228 store closings this year, already 44% of the total 7,309 closings in 2024, according to Coresight Research. And the analytics firm's data is from last Friday, so it doesn't include all the Joann closings. Coresight has tracked 1,637 store openings for 2025 so far, compared with 5,870 store openings all of last year.
There will be a record number of store closing this year, roughly 15,000, surpassing the peak of the pandemic, according to Coresight, and the data seems to be pacing that way as retailers reel from higher costs due to inflation and high interest rates and consumers cutting back on spending.
Second time around
The group of companies that have either filed for Chapter 11 in 2025 or are closing stores this year is growing and includes Liberated Brands, Party City, Macy's and Kohl's. Earlier this month, Nashville, Tennessee-area discount chain Bargain Hunt said it would liquidate and close all its 92 stores after seeking bankruptcy protection.
Joann filed for Chapter 11 in January in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, the second time it had sought such protection. In the most recent bankruptcy, Joann said it planned to shut more than half of its roughly 800-store fleet. Now, all those stores will go dark. Joann first sought bankruptcy protection in March last year. A month later, a judge approved Joann's prepackaged reorganization plan, and the retailer emerged from Chapter 11 as a private company with its store fleet intact.
"With a mountain of debt and a brand that has become increasingly broken, the pathways for survival have closed for Joann," Neil Saunders, a retail analyst and managing director at GlobalData, said in an email to CoStar News. "This is not really the type of environment in which companies, including other retailers, want to take a risk by trying to turnaround the company. As such, it is not surprising that liquidation has become the eventual destination."
Possible IP interest
An online seller might be interested in the brand, according to Saunders.
"It is possible that someone might want to buy the brand or intellectual property — but few will want to pay a premium for it," he said. "What may happen is that an e-commerce group buys the brand and tries to run it as an online-only operation. Even so, that means that Joann as most people have known it will come to an end."
Joann didn't respond to an email from CoStar News seeking comment on Saunders' remarks.
When Joann filed for Chapter 11 in January, it said that Boston-based Gordon Brothers Retail Partners was the stalking-horse bidder for the chain, looking to acquire the troubled company's assets as it recently did with bankrupt Big Lots. But Gordon didn't have the winning bid.
GA Group's offer will cover Joann's combined debt of about $462.3 million as well as an additional $105 million credit bid, according to court documents. Oaktree acquired a majority stake in GA Group, or Great American Holdings, from B. Riley Financial last year.
GA Group didn't immediately respond to an email from CoStar News seeking comment.
In its statement, Joann said it is "committed to working constructively with the winning bidder to ensure an orderly wind-down of operations that minimizes the impact on all our stakeholders."