[MarkusWandel]

Fabrics? I'm old enough to remember my mom making clothes from scratch, because buying fabric by the yard and sewing from patterns was cheaper than buying ready made clothes. That no longer being the case, how many people less than 50 years old do you know that can even operate a sewing machine? Totally different product category than tech gadgets.

[onlypassingthru]

Crafters, cosplayers, artists, designers, decorators, parents working on their child's 'school project', etc., all used JoAnns. And the ladies who worked there (it was mostly women) were usually very helpful in helping you figure out how much material you needed for a project. It was as useful as Home Depot is to DIY home improvement projects.

[sitkack]

Joann Fabrics had decent foot traffic and the margins were good. My kid and I averaged probably 3 trips a month.

They sold a whole lot more than fabric.