Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft

At Joann’s right now waiting in line to have fabric cut. There are 10 people in front and behind me in line. The management has 3 employees in the store on Halloween. The employees are perfectly nice and helpful, but the management is clearly lacking.

Small stire, small selection, and it’s pretty messy. I felt kind of claustrophobic. I generally love Joann fabrics, but this one left me unimpressed.

I have always had good experiences at this Joann’s. During my most recent visit almost all the items were on sale and the helpful cashier, Candace showed me how to access coupons online to save even more! This is the only local place I know that had a great selection of fabric so I visit often for my crafting and sewing needs.

Good selection, but several of the fabric I wanted just didn’t have enough left on the bolt. It gets busy, but at least they use a number system at the fabric table. I took a number and went to check out matching thread instead of standing around.
The discount fabric table didn’t seem very discounted. Boxes of stock items on hand carts in some of the back aisles. The price and selection for curtain rod hardware was bad.

I can sum up this store in one word: small. The space itself is small, and the selection in the basic categories is also small. I was thwarted looking for simple white buttons to replace on a cardigan, believe it or not.
Now, if you want something that doesn’t need a large selection (styrofoam orbs for crafting, glass cloches for décor, white thread, etc), this isn’t a bad stop. But if you want to have a reasonable amount of well-​stocked options, you will need to look elsewhere.

Considering it’s the only fabric store that I know of around Durham, Jo Ann’s is as good as it’s going to get for me if I ever want to make a blanket, a quilt or just some simple pillows.
I have gone to this location a couple times now. But each time I do, I’m reminded how mediocre the array of «fabrics and crafts» are as well as the service. Last week, I went in to get 2 yards of Thanksgiving themed fabric. I barely saw the ticket stand to grab my ticket in line (as though it was hidden on purpose). Once I did, I was terrified by the long wait to get it measured and cut.
Apparently, on this random Thursday afternoon, every grandmother off ¹⁵⁄₅₀₁ decided to buy 32 yards of fabric (no joke) and share their exciting day the supermarket and their holiday shopping bargains. Nothing against grandmothers, I know they ate excited to make pajamas and blankets for their little grand kids. But the service is what killed my patience.
There were only 2 ladies for the 8 people waiting in line to get their fabric cut. They just talked and talked away, and then! Lost track of the service numbers. I waited 20 minutes to get my 2 yards. Once I finally get to the cash registers, the cashier spent 3 minutes trying convince one of the older customers to sign up for a special rewards offer. And you can only imagine how long that took. And there were still 5 people behind me… And only one cashier. Eek!
Point of my rant, and I apologize, the service is pretty disappointing. There also aren’t that many crafts, and the store constantly seems to run at Jurassic pace. I really need to find myself another fabric store…

Initially I thought it was my mistake for going to JoAnns the day before Halloween but from what I’ve gathered from the reviews here the store is always as busy as it was last night. We waited 15 minutes to get fabric cut and then another 20 – 30 minutes in the checkout line. However, the fabric selection here was a lot better than at Hancock. For some reason I decide on projects that require fabrics that I can’t find at Hancock but I was able to get everything I needed at JoAnns. Too bad I don’t have 45 minutes to spend in line every time I want fabric.

Absolutely the worst run store in Durham. I really dislike even going in there. I went today thinking it might not be very busy and waited 15 minutes to have fabric cut and then got to the checkout to find a line of about 10 – 15 people waiting to checkout. I wish Hancock were closer!

Unfortunately I do not see this store doing its job. The manager is probably to blame. There are hardly enough employees at the cutting table. I was there yesterday and there was 11 people on line and only one person cutting. I waited nearly 40 min. Then at check out, the lines weren’t any better. It’s always like this. On weekends it’s even worse. I have had to ask them to provide another cutting person at the table. I shouldn’t have to do that. Most customers don’t speak up. They are afraid to. This shouldn’t be the case. I will speak up but it seems to no avail. I will definitely take my business somewhere else. I’ve given JoAnns Fabrics a lot of chances to do better but I leave there frustrated. It’s not worth it.

I don’t sew, but this is usually the place I find some cute things for every holiday. The store is small and usually a little messy, but I still keep going back.

I wasn’t taught to sew (sadly), so don’t know much about the fabric selection here — other than, they hooked my hubby up with some decent, affordable material for toga-​tying this weekend. Unfortunately, we discovered the fabric had a golf ball-​sized red stain on it after we brought it home. Urg.
The reason this gets a stamp of approval from me is that the crafts section is surprisingly decent, particularly the baking/​cake-​decorating aisle, and — it seems — the seasonal stuff. Though Valentine’s is still a ways off, they had their items already marked 25−50% off. Got some fun things like a HEART-​SHAPED DONUT MOLD and EDIBLE HEART GLITTER. Cannot wait to play with that in the kitchen!

Jo Ann Fabrics is always in disarray and the poor staff seem to be stretched too thin to tidy up and too stressed to be of any real assistance to their customers. I have visited this store several times – I get their e-​mails about sales and coupons – and, while I’ve never seen the store packed with customers, each time there has been a long line at the cutting table. I will say this in their favor: their white jetset poly was absolutely perfect for the Princess Leia costume I put together for Halloween 2008 and it was cheap enough that I could afford to self line. I also found some awesome brown vinyl in their scraps bin that I used to make the holster for my husband’s Han Solo costume. Overall, however, I prefer Hancock Fabrics in Durham by a country mile.

I agree with the previous poster except I don’t even find the staff friendly. This is usually because they are overworked/​understaffed, but it is not a pleasant place to shop. The fabric is not interesting or of very good quality. I go there for buttons and pattern sales. I really wish someone would open a fabric store that was more general purpose than Mulberry Silks (too expensive for my everyday stuff and kid’s clothing) and less specific than Thimble Pleasures (all about quilts).

Ugh. This is one of the very few fabric stores in the Chapel Hill area and I’m sad to say it is a dismal place. Staff is always very friendly, but their selection of home décor, apparel and cotton/​quilting fabrics is not good.