The arts and crafts supply retail sector has faced store closings over the past five years for a variety of reasons, from ownership retirements to severe financial distress.
Emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, regional crafts retailer Beverly’s Fabric & Crafts, which has operated about 40 stores in California for 48 years, closed all of its stores in late 2020 when the chain’s owners decided to retire, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported.
Craft and clothing retailer Joanne filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time this year in January 2025, struggling with declining sales and inventory challenges. It eventually revealed that it would be closing all of its stores, about 815 in number.
IG Design Group Americas Inc. is saddened by Joan’s passing. including craft suppliers, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 3, 2025, seeking to go-concern for the sale of its business divisions and cease its operations.
Joanne’s decision to close all operations severely impacted IG Design Group’s business, making it difficult for the company to maintain historical operating results and adapt to market conditions despite turnaround initiatives.
Economic challenges are also affecting another longtime arts and crafts retailer.
40-year-old arts and crafts supply retail chain Artists & Craftsmen Supplies has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize, facing economic headwinds and tighter lending restrictions that have severely strained the company’s finances, according to Bondoro.
ArtStock, parent of the 18-store, Portland, Maine-based chain, listed $10 million to $50 million in assets and liabilities in a petition filed Dec. 21, BankruptcyObserver reported.
The debtor owes Cambridge Savings Bank about $1.5 million on a $4 million revolving line of credit, Bondoro reported. It owed about $1.9 million in SBA loans to the Small Business Administration and about $65,000 in claims on credit card processing sales.
Artists and Craftsmen Supplies, which was founded in 1985, was founded as a small art supply store when the arts and crafts retail industry was dominated by independent “mom and pop” storefronts selling a combination of arts, crafts, stationery, hardware, and office supplies, according to its website.
Catalog sales were top competitors at first, as Internet-based companies and e-commerce were still 10 years away from taking off.
