The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
PANDEMIC SHUTDOWN LEADS TO SURGE FOR SEWING SHOPS
Liz Diker has only owned her store A Stitch In Time since December, but she does not need to see the 2020 sales figures for sewing supplies giant JoAnn to know that the pandemic has produced ample new interest in needlework.
Her Bethel shop is as busy as it can be, ringing up receipts and fielding inquiries on lessons.
Nor does she see it abating any time soon, as more Connecticut residents book appointments in the coming weeks and months for the vaccine needle but remain hooked on crochet and other crafts.
With sales booming during the COVID-19 pandemic at its 800 stores — including 10 locations in Connecticut — the parent company of JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts filed this week for an initial public offering of stock seeking as much as $400 million in fresh capital.
Since last March, JoAnn has hired 4,000 people nationally to help meet demand, averaging out to five extra sets of hands for each store.
“There’s definitely been a surge for needlepoint and yarn shops,” Diker said. “People are coming in saying, ‘I haven’t done this in 35 years and I am at home more.’ ... And a lot of people coming in are saying, ‘I want to learn.’ ”
JoAnn’s IPO filing put numbers to the trend, with revenue up 24 percent to $1.9 billion for its fiscal year ending last November. That does not include bolts of fabric it gave away during the pandemic to a cottage industry of people who, by JoAnn’s estimates, have crafted more than 350 million face masks to donate in their communities, as well as other protective apparel like scrubs.
Plenty more people are selling them for a profit — a search this week of the term “face mask” on the Etsy crafts e-commerce website returned more than 1.8 million hits.
“We definitely saw an uptick in fabric, supplies and sewing machine sales during the pandemic, [starting] with people needing supplies to make masks and equipment to make them,” said Paul Gattinella, whose family owns the Close to Home sewing supplies chain with locations in Glastonbury, Orange and Southington. “We sold a lot ... of fabric, interfacing, elastic, cutting tools and sewing machines during this time.
“Many vendors ran out of stuff so it has been challenging for us to get inventory,” Gattinella added. “There is still a backlog of some sewing machines and some other products. Sewing machine repairs have also been a big thing as people who have machines are pulling them out and trying to use them, or using [their] machine a lot more than they usually do.”
At Jean’s Closet on Washington Street in Norwalk, crochet lesson appointments trended down during the pandemic as many were reluctant to participate in activities outside the home, according to owner Jean Smith. But she said business has otherwise been steady, and has even better expectations with the return of warmer weather. She recently signed a lease renewal for a fourth year in SoNo.
“I do have a lot of people who come in and inquire about classes,” Smith said. “The interest is there — and sales have been pretty good.”
Diker thinks the investment in time and money will not subside with the return of other pastimes that people put on the shelf during the pandemic.
“Needlepoint is really painting with thread, which is how my daughter who is an artist puts it,” Diker said. “I learned to crochet from my mother and learned to knit from my sister . ... I’m on a bunch of Facebook groups and you’ll see, ‘My mother made this for me 45 years ago and now my grandson’s wearing it.’ It’s that kind of thing — keeping things alive, especially now.”