Fast Five Shorts | Joann To Close All Its Stores
In the latest edition of Omni Talk’s Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Simbe, and Ocampo Capital Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga discuss: Joann Closing All Its Stores
For the full episode head here: https://youtu.be/mJ9TENRdNnE
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Transcript
Joanne is going out of business.
Speaker A:According to Retail Dive, Joanne will shut down all of its stores pending court approval, the company said in a Sunday statement.
Speaker A:The move follows a bankruptcy auction in which the winners, GA Group and the retailers lenders, said they will initiate going out of business sales at all locations.
Speaker A:And how saddened are you to learn that Joanne is shutting its doors for good?
Speaker B:You know, I was really sad when I read this.
Speaker B:I don't know why.
Speaker B:If it's nostalgia, everybody is.
Speaker B:All the memories that happened in this store as a kid.
Speaker B:I mean, I spent so much time there.
Speaker B:I mean, I was a total like, you know, stay at home nerd who just loved doing craft projects and stuff.
Speaker B:But I mean, I, I just, I also think that the other part that's really sad about this is that I think it just means the end of a retailer in an almost a retail category like they talk about in the article, that maybe this business could be taken online.
Speaker B:I just, I don't think that that's a viable option for Joanne.
Speaker B:It's not core to its base.
Speaker B:There's too much competition when you start getting Joanne's product outside of like fabrics and things, you know, you've, you've got competition with Amazon and Teemu for all the craft supply type things.
Speaker B:So there's no way that they can win in that space.
Speaker B:But I mean, I think the retailer, like several department stores that we've seen close, like this is just the end of an era.
Speaker B:They haven't evolved, the boxes are huge, rent is high and, and I would say like Joanne has done curbside pickup and things that they had to do during the pandemic.
Speaker B:But when you look at that in contrast with like a Michaels, for example, like you don't hear about Joanne trying omnichannel offerings or like doing the marketplaces or the in store events like you talked about with the Michaels representative back at Shop Talk fall, like, I think that, you know, this is a hard category to keep relevant and we just haven't seen, seen the investment from Joanne to really make some pushes into that space.
Speaker B:So I can't say I'm surprised, but I'm, I'm sad.
Speaker B:Are you?
Speaker B:I mean, do you even care?
Speaker B:I feel like this is like just a party of one here.
Speaker B:Like.
Speaker B:Oh, I'm.
Speaker A:No, no, I.
Speaker A:No, I mean, Ed, I.
Speaker A:Of, of course I care.
Speaker A:You know, like it's, it's a headline.
Speaker A:Of course I care.
Speaker A:No, you know, but I'm, I have been startingly, startlingly surprised, if that's a word, by how much people are interested in this story.
Speaker A:Like, I trended the top, or I trended, I searched the top, you know, what was trending in Google yesterday?
Speaker A:And Joanne was like, number two.
Speaker A:I was like, wow, that many people care about Joanne.
Speaker A:Joanne or Joanne Fabrics as it used to be known.
Speaker A:That's crazy.
Speaker A:So, I mean, my big takeaways, my big takeaways aren't very different than yours.
Speaker A:I think mine is.
Speaker A:My big takeaway is that nothing is ever safe in business.
Speaker A:You can never rest on your laurels.
Speaker A:You have to be constantly evolving and trying to get better.
Speaker A:And sometimes the way the cookie crumbles, the, the macro trends are just out of your control and there's just nothing you can do about it, you know, and so I, you know, like, you mentioned it, I'll just be more explicit about it.
Speaker A:Like, I wonder if the same thing isn't going to happen to Macy's here by the end of the decade.
Speaker A:You know, I think that's, I think that's, that's really what this story tells me as I step back and I look at the implications of it.
Speaker A:Or I'm going to go out on a limb here and say too, like, I'm starting to have this fear about our alma mater, Target as well, because I have legitimate concerns for them in the long run now, too.
Speaker A:And I wouldn't have dared uttered those words five, six, seven years ago, but now I think, you know, given that just how things change and how you can't rest on your laurels, you have to constantly be evolving.
Speaker A:I think, I think I put them on that list too.
Speaker A:Here, you know, over the next 10 to 20 years.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:That's crazy to think about.
Speaker B:I mean, I do have to say, like, Walmart is giving them a serious run for their money.
Speaker B:I mean, like, just, just going into, like we talked about it, like, just going into that store and the fashion categories alone, like, and hearing Denise talk about, like, we, We've never been present in there.
Speaker B:There's so much opportunity for Walmart to like, come in and make a play to grab those, those customers away from Target.
Speaker B:I guess.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's true.
Speaker B:Like, yes, I never would have thought of that until you said that.
Speaker B:But you do, you do.
Speaker B:It's like evolve or die, right?
Speaker B:What?
Speaker B:Isn't that like the, the slogan for like a T shirt?
Speaker A:Yeah, it's like the slo.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's like the slogan of Delaware, no, let's live free or die.
Speaker A:But I think.
Speaker A:But, but, yeah, no, I mean, I was writing an article.
Speaker A:I was thinking about it because I was writing an article for Placer AI this week and you know, if you look at all the beachheads Target once held, they've all been under siege.
Speaker A:Like, you've got Walmart getting the high income shopper to a really, really large degree, particularly in fashion.
Speaker A:As mentioned, you know, on your show, in your interview yesterday, the warehouse clubs are getting stronger, particularly with the younger generations.
Speaker A:You got Timu and she in, in the mix.
Speaker A:You don't know how long or to what degree, but they're going after that fast fashion space as well, you know.
Speaker A:And Wayfair, Wayfair is the go to place for online furnishings now too.
Speaker A:So like, and they're getting into stores so, you know, there's a lot of guns pointed in that direction.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah, I don't know, but it just, just goes to show you, you got to keep moving.
Speaker A:You got to keep.
Speaker B:Joanne is the canary in the coal mine for all favorite retailers.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's crazy considering all the retailers that have gone out of business recently and Joanne is the one that we're like, you know, having this major epiphany or.
Speaker B:I know, I know, but I loved it.
Speaker B:I loved all those reads that I made for people's gifts back in the day.
Speaker B:I could spend hours there on a Saturday.
Speaker B:It was great.
Speaker A:I didn't know you're a reader.
Speaker A:You make wreaths.
Speaker B:Yeah, like made these wreaths every year for Christmas where you like poke fabric into them.
Speaker B:I learned.
Speaker B:I went to the classes all the time.
Speaker B:See, it's sad.
Speaker B:There's a lot of memories that are dying.
Speaker B:Chris, thank you, audience, for sticking with us.
Speaker B:As I go through my, my childhood nostalgia.
Speaker A:I think our audience is very, very happy to know that you were, you were once a reader and I was a reader.
Speaker B:Yes.
