Over the past five years, the arts and crafts supply retail industry has faced store closures for a variety of reasons, ranging from ownership retirements to severe financial distress.
Regional arts and crafts retailer Beverly’s Fabric & Crafts, which has operated about 40 stores in California for 48 years, has weathered the Covid-19 pandemic, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported at the time. The company closed all its stores at the end of 2020 after the chain’s owner decided to retire.
Crafts and fabrics retailer Joann filed for bankruptcy for the second time in January 2025 under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code at the beginning of the year as it suffered from declining sales and inventory challenges. The company eventually revealed that it would close all of its stores, approximately 815 in number.
Joann’s death affected arts and crafts suppliers, including IG Design Group Americas Inc., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 3, 2025, seeking a going-concern sale of its business unit and winding up its operations.
Joann’s decision to close all operations has severely impacted IG Design Group’s business, leaving the company struggling to maintain historical operating results and adapt to market conditions despite turnaround initiatives.
Economic challenges are also affecting another longtime arts and crafts retailer.
Artist & Craftsman Supply, a 40-year-old arts and crafts supply retail chain, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, facing economic headwinds and tight lending restrictions that have severely strained the company’s finances, Bondoro said.
Artstock, the parent company of the Portland, Maine-based 18-store chain, listed assets and liabilities of $10 million to $50 million in a petition filed on Dec. 21, BankruptcyObserver reported.
Bondoro reports that the debtor owes Cambridge Savings Bank about $1.5 million on a $4 million revolving credit facility. It also owes the Small Business Administration about $1.9 million in SBA loan debt and about $65,000 in claims from credit card processing sales.
Artist & Craftsman Supply was founded in 1985 as a small art supply store at a time when the arts and crafts retail industry was dominated by independent “mom and pop” stores selling art, crafts, stationery, hardware and office supplies, according to its website.
Catalog sales were the biggest competitor in the beginning because Internet-based companies and e-commerce were still about 10 years away from taking off.