What Joann Fabrics Bankruptcy Means For 21 MA Locations

Joann Fabric and Crafts is holding on by a thread. There's some good news and bad news to report for fans of the store.

While one of Massachusetts' most popular and longstanding fabric stores is filing for bankruptcy, it may not be the end of the road. According to a press release Monday morning, the fabric store chain has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection but also only expects to be in bankruptcy for about a month or two.

Joann hopes to become a privately owned company that will no longer offer shares of stock. There are 21 Joann locations in Massachusetts, including in Dartmouth, Seekonk, Raynham and North Attleboro. Warwick, Rhode Island, also has a location.

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According to the filing, vendors, landlords and other companies that do business with the fabric stores should also not have any issues being paid, pointing to a deal it had struck with most of its shareholders for financial support.

Joann may emerge from bankruptcy stronger because the company will have more cash on hand. Joann said it had received about $132 million in new financing and expected to reduce its debt by roughly $505 million.

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Hopefully, Joann will figure out how to survive through its financial restructuring.  The company has been around since World War II. However, if things don't work out with Joann Fabric, there are still a number of local alternatives for avid SouthCoast sewers including Bedford Fabrics in Fall River, Apple Annie Fabrics in Swansea and Homestead Quilting and Fabrics in Lakeville, to name a few.

The 21 Massachusetts Joann Fabric and Crafts locations are:

• Billerica
• East Walpole
• Hanover
• Hyannis
• Ludlow
• Middleton
• Natick
• North Dartmouth
• Raynham
• Seekonk
• Westford
• Burlington
• Hadley
• Holyoke
• Leominster
• Methuen
• North Attleboro
• Pittsfield
• Saugus
• Shrewsbury