Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft

I’ll echo the chorus of «rude employees»! Oh my goodness, I can’t believe that these people actually got hired anywhere. What does the hiring manager do, look for the surliest people that they can find? There was one person, out of the five that we dealt with, who had any sense of customer service and a nice attitude. Every single one of the others was lethargic, miserable, rude, slow moving people who could not have cared less if I bought something or not — they just wanted to be left alone. The worst part: one of them was actually a manager at the store! If you have ever gone there and wondered why everyone acts this way, there’s your reason… the trickle down effect.
Also, they had a big renovation a short while back. The store was filthy and in a disarray before they spiffed it up and it looked much better afterwards. I don’t think that it’s been much more than a year or so since they finished up and the store is already filthy and in a shambles. The place is run by a bunch of slobs and the top person there should be replaced before they put the place out of business.
I did end up buying a huge amount of fabric for a large quilt that I’m making — to the tune of almost $ 200. If it hadn’t been something that I’d promised my shopping companion that we’d buy the fabric for that day, I would have left everything right in the cart after the second rude encounter and would have walked out.
I am a super crafter and have loads of supplies. My fabric stash and my yarn stash are larger than what’s on the shelves at most specialty shops. Obviously, I love to shop at craft, fabric, and yarn stores but this is absolutely the last time that I will ever go to this Joann’s to buy anything at all. In fact, I plan to avoid this chain altogether if I can help it. I don’t care if I have to put a project on hold to wait for something to come in the mail, I’ll do my shopping anywhere else but here.
To sum it all up — I hate this place.

This is a pretty dreadful store. It isn’t any worse than any others, but I absolutely dread going here. And, in fact, I almost never come here. They have tons of empty shelves, a slim selection of products, horrible fluorescent lighting, and bored, uncaring sales associates. The atmosphere also creates rude customers who talk loudly, block aisles, push people and things out of the way, and overall make a bad situation even worse. Plus, the prices here are so high — everything is significantly more expensive than the michaels down the turnpike. Yes, they have sales and coupons, but that still leaves prices higher than comparable stores, and that’s not even mentioning Amazon. I came today to look for needle felting supplies, but as I always do at this store, I left empty-​handed. I’m not sure why I haven’t learned yet, but I don’t think I’ll be back again. It’s a waste of gas and it is not fun.

Rude staff! Went in looking for a few specific items for a project. Could not find one item (rubber bands) and searched for about 10 minutes for a staff member to ask for help. Since all staff were busy I waited patiently (another 10 minutes) in a line at the fabric counter in order to simply ask where I could find what I needed. I made it to the front of the line and asked if they sold rubber bands. The woman behind the counter stated — loudly– «you want rubber bands?! Go to Staples!» Another customer behind me was kind enough to tell me where I could find them.
I have seen this particular employee at this store react this way to other customers before. The woman is just plain rude and seems to have forgotten that her job is to help customers.
I will not be back!

Love the renovation of this store, the set– up is a lot better and things are easier to find now. The store is a lot brighter and better organized than it used to be.
Still a lot of things are very expensive ($ 30 for a wire basket???)so make sure you have a coupon or the item you want is on sale and then you can get some good deals.
Customer service can leave some thing to be desired sometimes so bring some patience too and your shopping trip should go well.

I have a love/​hate relationship with this store. I love the large selection of yarn & fabric. I hate dealing with their miserable, grouchy, unhelpful employees who would rather roll their eyes at you than actually lift a finger to help. In todays market where every store is fighting for business, you would think that Joann’s would teach their employees how NOT to alienate their customers.

I frequent many Jo-Ann’s around here, but this is the biggest one with the widest selection of fabric– there is no doubt that they always have what I need, but I highly suggest you avoid talking to the employees if you don’t want a headache. Much of the staff, as the others have said, are less than friendly and much prefer to sit around doing nothing.
My cashier was friendly, as well as the lady who cut my fabric, but that was about as far as it went. When I happened to ask one employee for the location of an item, she, in all seriousness, rolled her eyes before leading me to where it was with a sigh, finger thrusting at the object before marching off to her designated «do not disturb» spot by the sewing machines.
«It’s right there,» She had claimed with an aggravated tone, as though I should have known better in a store with countless aisles lacking labels for all of their appropriate products.
I have to say, the supplies are great– always be armed with a coupon, but also you should be wary of asking anyone for help, since they find it an annoyance to do their own job. The atmosphere between the coworkers is like sandpaper, grating against the edges of everyone’s nerves. Your experience will be much better without involving yourself with the negative attitudes of these employees.

Awful! I really don’t like coming here but it’s the closest fabric store by my house. Let me just start off by saying I like the selection of fabric, and craft supplies. It’s just that every time I go, it’s just so glum in there and «dead». The employees need like a spark or something. The majority of them just seem like they don’t want to be there. When I go it seems like they don’t really want to help me, and they never really are helpful. Employees rarely smile there and are rarely nice. The store needs a serious makeover as well as the staff. Don’t come here unless you really need to.

I won’t be going back to this Jo-​Ann Fabric store ever again!
I walked in one afternoon in search for material to make my slipcovers and pillows. I stood at the fabric counter and stood some more. When my turn finally arrived the girl standing at the counter looked at me blankly and pointed me over to the fabric selection. Goodness I can’t stand when people don’t want to do their job. If I knew exactly which area of the store to look I wouldn’t be standing in line waiting for help. She told me to go to the home décor selection. Well guess what? There’s tons and tons of fabric. When I told her I didn’t know where to look she told me to feel for a lightweight one. I’m new to all of this so I can’t even tell if something is light or heavy. I asked her to take me there and she simply gave me directions!!!
I couldn’t believe my experience. I should have checked Unilocal prior to making my hike to this Jo-​Ann Fabrics. I bought a sewing machine and I need to desperately start using it :(

So not only is JoAnn’s a crappy store to begin with, with low quality products as Gloria had mentioned but this location sucks even more. I never liked this location to begin with and now I won’t go back.
So nothing since my last review has changed, and certainly nothing since Gloria’s review either. One of the ladies at the fabric counter was nice once I finally kind of forced them into the fact that I needed help, not that they really helped me with a decision but okay. Sorry you have to come all the way back to the area with the batting because nothing is properly labeled so I have no idea what anything costs or what size it is.
At checkout I had some snotty lady at the customer service desk ring me out and refused to let me use a michaels coupon on fabric for 40% off. Sure thats your policy but why are you the only location that has ever said a damn thing to me? So instead I had to spend a minute pulling up an online coupon and then she purposely took as long as possible with a transaction and wouldn’t let me go to a different register to finish checking out.
The only reason I ever go to JoAnn’s is because I need fabric, and that’s rare because I don’t sew and it really makes sense now why.

I have mixed feelings about Jo-​Ann. For starters, they have largely ruined the home sewing market. Gone are the days when there were small fabric shops and fabric departments within department stores. These places could not compete when Jo-​Ann swept in and undercut their prices with identical-​looking goods. I say «identical-​looking,» because though they looked the same, they were not. Jo-Ann’s fabric was printed on inferior quality material. The thread count was lower, and this meant that the fabric would not survive the washing process as well as the more pricey stuff. But I have to hand it to Jo-Ann’s for realizing that pricing was key. Most people won’t shop there without one of their coupons in hand. The Notions Wall is probably the best thing they offer, and it’s a bargain with one of the 40% off coupons. However, the staff knows little to nothing about sewing, so don’t bother asking them anything. Ditto for the sewing machine department. On a recent visit, I wanted to buy a replaceable part for one of my sewing machines. The two women in that department were busy chatting with a third woman (friend? another employee?) while using the embroidery feature on one of the machines. I could barely get their attention, and when they found out what I wanted, quickly lost interest. You see, they only want to sell new machines, not parts for older machines. This strategy is similar to the business initiative that has them selling craft and seasonal items. It’s all cheap stuff made overseas. None of it is meant to last. It’s just to fill a temporary need. Jo-​Ann has given the masses what they want. Think of them as a kind of Walmart, if you will. But they’re not a threat to the few stores that still care about high quality fabrics, or the sewing machine repair shops that are glad to service or sell parts for those older, all metal machines that are coveted by serious sewers.