Joann, the crafting retailer, is filing for bankruptcy for the second time in under a year, seeking to sell most of its assets.

Washington: Joann is back in the news, and not for good reasons. The crafting retailer is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy again, just months after its last one.
On January 15, they announced plans to seek court approval in Delaware to sell most of their assets. But don’t worry, all 800 of their U.S. stores will stay open during this process, and their website will continue running too.
Employees will keep getting paid and receiving benefits, which is a relief. Michael Prendergast, the interim CEO, mentioned that they’ve been trying to manage costs and improve value since going private last April. But the retail world has been tough lately, and they just couldn’t keep up.
Prendergast is hopeful that this bankruptcy will help Joann keep its doors open. This is the second time they’ve declared bankruptcy in less than a year. Last April, they went through a restructuring that took them off the U.S. stock exchange and made them a private company.
When they first filed, they had over $2.44 billion in debt and about $2.26 billion in assets. It’s not clear if they’ve paid down any of that debt, but they’re looking for court approval to use cash collateral to keep things running smoothly.
Joann has been around since 1943 and went private back in 2011 when an equity firm bought them for about $1.6 billion. They went public again in 2021, but it seems like they’re struggling to stay afloat.