Latest news with #GAJoannRetailPartnership
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
All Kansas JOANN stores are set to close, what to know
TOPEKA (KSNT) – A major crafts and fabrics retail chain has announced it will be closing all of its locations nationwide after filing for bankruptcy and pending the approval of a recent auction. JOANN announced on Sunday, Feb. 23 it will be holding 'going-out-of-business sales' at all of its locations across the nation, including those in Kansas. The company revealed that GA Joann Retail Partnership was named the winning bidder in a recent weekend auction. New Topeka Pizza Shuttle holds soft opening 27 news reached out to JOANN for comment on the situation and to find out when its Kansas locations will close. A representative of JOANN provided the following statement. 'Following a comprehensive sale process and auction, GA Group together with the PrepetitionTerm Loan Agent, has been selected as the winning bidder to acquire substantially all of JOANN's assets. In connection with this agreement, subject to Bankruptcy Court approval of the transaction, the winning bidders plan to begin winding down the Company's operations and conduct going-out-of-business sales at all store locations. JOANN leadership, our Board, advisors and legal partners made every possible effort to pursue a more favorable outcome that would keep the company in business. We are committed to working constructively with the winning bidder to ensure an orderly wind-down of operations that minimizes the impact on all our stakeholders. We deeply appreciate our dedicated Team Members, our customers and communities across the nation for their unwavering support for more than 80 years.' JOANN company statement What is delaying the opening of the KS Museum of History? JOANN filed for bankruptcy in January this year, announcing that 500 of its stores would close nationwide, including its stores in Lawrence, Salina and Wichita. The Topeka and Manhattan stores, along with a number of Kansas City-area locations, were left out of the initial closure announcement earlier this month. 27 News called the Topeka JOANN location on Feb. 24 which has an automated response discussing the situation. 'This is a very difficult time given the impact it will have on our beloved team members, customers and communities. Our stores remain open nationwide and any final store closing dates related to the bankruptcy, have not been established. Some of our locations have become liquidation sales and will remain open with unique deals over the coming months.' Topeka JOANN store automated message USDA job layoffs impact Kansas disease research lab For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Who bought Joann? New ownership group is partnership between GA Group, Joann lenders
A winner in the auction of Hudson-based Joann was announced at about 6:20 p.m. Saturday. Winning bidder GA Joann Retail Partnership is a partnership between financial services company GA Group and Joann's term lenders, an attorney for Joann said on Friday. Term loans are payments of lump upfront cash sums to borrowers who agree to specific terms, such as following a repayment schedule that includes interest payments, according to Investopedia. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has scheduled a Wednesday hearing for formal approval of the auction results. Scott Carpenter, CEO of GA Group's Retail Solutions and Wholesale & Industrial Solutions teams, said Saturday evening that most closing Joann stores will remain open until the end of May. As for Joann employees, Carpenter said new ownership will roll out a "multimillion-dollar retention plan," grant time off to employees who need to interview for other jobs and try to organize job fairs. Carpenter added, "we will help you close these stores with empathy, professionalism and efficiency." The auction bids were not simple cash offers and took into consideration the interests of multiple lenders, including first-in last-out lenders, term loan lenders and asset-based revolving loan lenders. Carpenter said the group has a history with Joann dating back decades. That work together included helping Joann buy former competitor House of Fabrics around the turn of the century, and from about 2006 to 2016, assisting in the increase of Joann store footprints. But, he said, GA Group had nothing to do with Joann's bankruptcy. The Joann auction was originally scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday and didn't begin until 4:05 p.m. that day. Multi-hour delays followed on both Friday and Saturday with GA Joann Retail Partnership and stalking horse bidder Gordon Brothers Retail Partners competing for ownership. In addition to term loan lenders, Joann has borrowed from asset-based revolving loan lenders and first-in last-out lenders. Asset-based loans are based on the values of collateralized assets such as intellectual property and branding rather than cash flow, according to Bank of America. Software company Softeon defines first-in last-out as "an inventory management technique in which the product that was most recently received is the product that is allocated for a customer order." On Jan. 15, Hudson-based Joann filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in just over 10 months. The company also sent out a news release that day stating its intention to sell. Ann Aber, Joann executive vice president, said in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice received by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) that Joann "may have no choice but to immediately close" its Hudson office if new ownership is not secured. That WARN notice included 661 potential layoffs at Joann's Hudson headquarters and was followed by a separate notice increasing that number to 662. Additional WARN letters included additional notices of possible layoffs: 359 at its Joann's Hudson distribution center and 116 at a fulfillment center in the central Ohio city of West Jefferson. On Feb. 12, the company then shared plans to close about 500 of its roughly 850 stores across the U.S., including 33 in Ohio and three in Summit County. Related: Joann closing hundreds of stores. Search lists, maps to see who is hit the hardest Going-out-of-business sales began at closing stores this past weekend. Joann has struggled in recent years as it's faced increased competition with ecommerce retailers and rising supply and shipping costs, leading to slumps in sales. Jill Soltau, who was Joann's CEO from February 2015 to October 2018, opposed tariffs imposed on Chinese imports by President Donald Trump in his first term. Soltau told Business Insider in an August 2018 interview that 42% of all goods sold at Joann stores would be subject to tariffs and that small businesses that heavily rely on the company's retail products would be especially punished. Joann remained reliant on foreign suppliers in subsequent years. The company sourced 44% of its purchases from other countries in its 2023 fiscal year, according to a court filing from its 2024 bankruptcy proceedings. Investor sentiment tanked enough by October 2023 that the Nasdaq stock exchange warned Joann that it would be delisted in April 2024 if its common stock could not sustain a closing price of at least $1 per share for 10 consecutive trading days during that period. Joann was later removed from the exchange after it emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings as a private company in April 2024. Patrick Williams covers growth and development for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at pwilliams@ or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @pwilliamsOH. This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Financial services firm, lenders purchase Joann Fabrics
