GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — While Joann locations across West Michigan run store-closing sales, a new local yarn shop is staying busy through offering classes and a fiber arts community.

At the end of February, as it worked through bankruptcy proceedings, Joann announced it was going out of business. Stores across the country are closing, including about 10 locations in West Michigan.

Chris Hinsch, a professor of marketing at Grand Valley State University, said the biggest factor that lead to Joann’s closure is likely what has killed other brick-and-mortar shops: online shopping.

Store closing signs at a Holland-area Joann store. (March 7, 2025)

“Knowing some crafters and people who would frequent Joann’s, I would have thought that the tactile nature would have protected this from online,” Hinsch said. “For older customers that’s still mostly true, but younger customers don’t seem to care about touching and folding and feeling the fabric and yarn and whatever else that you might buy at Joann’s.”

He pointed to a consumer survey from the Craft Industry Alliance published last year. That survey found 45% of crocheters and knitters most often purchase their yarn from online stores. Twenty-six percent most often go to local yarn stores, while 18% frequent chain stores, the survey found.

The majority also preferred shopping online for patterns and accessories, it found.

The share of those who prefer online shopping will likely only go up, Hinsch said, as older crafters tend to prefer in-person shopping more than younger crafters. Inflation could also be pushing more people to look for better deals online, he said.

While the Craft Industry Allianace study found that 26% of crocheters and knitters mostly shop at local stores, those shops are still susceptible to the challenges a chain like Joann faced, Hinsch said. Still, they are able to offer something a chain cannot.

“When you talk about a locally-owned store, and you can actually go in and talk to the owner and interact with the same people year after year after year. Especially for something like a hobby, I think that has always held value for customers. That’s going to insulate the local shops a little more than a big box or a chain like Joann’s,” Hinsch said. “These local independent retailers, their value is in the connection. Their value is … ‘We’re going to help you get what you want, we’re going to cater to you, we’re going to have the relationships and events and other things that will create a real community.'”

That’s true for Unwind GR, a yarn shop that opened on Jan. 31 at 1059 Wealthy St. near Calkins Avenue in Grand Rapids. Owned by May McCalmon and Sivan Bachar, the shop offers more than yarn and supplies: It also offers community nights, classes and one-on-one lessons.

Since opening in January, all of Unwind’s classes have been full, the owners said, and they’re fully booked through April. They started out offering intro to crochet and knitting classes and will start introducing more advanced classes over time.

They’ve hosted events like a crochet heart workshop for Valentine’s Day and a Yoga for Crafters event. They’re working with Wealthy Street Theater to eventually do a craft and movie night and are also planning a workshop on unraveling thrifted knitwear to reuse the yarn. The duo is working to expand their inventory. They say they keep selling out of items.

“I think people have been really itching for the fiber arts community here in Grand Rapids,” Bachar said. “We haven’t had a yarn store in town in so long, so it’s been really nice being able to be that for people and have a community for people to be a part of.”

McCalmon said they’ve gotten a lot of questions as Joann closes — some wonder if the closure of such a big company worries them.

“I think that’s part of the problem, that they weren’t community based at all. They stopped having those classes, so you’re not teaching people any of the skills that would keep bringing them back into the store,” she said. “I think we’re doing something really different.”

They said their shop is a great place for Joann customers to transition to while also offering a chance to get even more into yarn.

Still, they cautioned that they aren’t a one-stop-shop like Joann was.

“I feel like there’s a little bit of pressure almost to be that next go-to place, but we don’t have everything. We’re working up on that, building up the inventory,” Bachar said, noting they don’t stock supplies for embroidery, felting and weaving, though they’d like to offer it eventually. “We’re not necessarily the one-stop shop for all fibers, yet.”

McCalmon said some may instead turn to online shopping, adding that that’s “totally understandable.”

“We’re always here as a resource,” she said. “We want people to come in and talk to us, even if they might not buy from us. We do want to be here and be a support, and hope that builds customer loyalty and some community.”