Hampshire Mall on Route 9 in Hadley.
FILE PHOTO
HADLEY — A fabric, yarn and craft supply store that has been part of the Hampshire Mall since the Route 9 shopping center opened in 1978 is likely to close as part of a corporate restructuring.
While no closing date has been set, the Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts outlet in Hadley is anticipated to be among around 500 stores in the nationwide chain that will be shuttered in advance of a planned sale of the chain.
“If the court approves the motion in tomorrow’s hearing (Friday), sales will commence Saturday, February 15, and could go on for several months,” company spokeswoman Amanda Hays wrote in an email.
Hays pointed to a website focused on the company’s restructuring efforts, with a statement that “right-sizing our store footprint is a critical part of our efforts to ensure the best path forward for Jo-Ann.”
A list of stores to be closed, provided to the company, indicates that only one Massachusetts store, in Milford, will remain open. Other stores in the region, including ones in Ludlow, Pittsfield and Leominster, will close. Already, a Jo-Ann store at 2267 Northampton St. in Holyoke closed in January.
The 367 Russell St. store, originally known as So-Fro Fabrics, moved from the neighboring Mountain Farms Mall when Hampshire Mall opened 47 years ago. In 1998, So-Fro was sold to Jo-Ann Fabrics, remained open, but was rebranded with the new name.
Jo-Ann also saw its space reconfigured a few years later, getting both a direct entrance from the parking lot, as well as from the interior mall corridor, during the demolition of the former K-Mart store in 2002 and then construction and opening of a Target store at the eastern end of the mall a year later.
In March 2024, the Hudson, Ohio-based national retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and last month Michael Prendergast, the interim chief executive officer, released a statement about the ongoing challenges since becoming a private company shortly after that.
“The last several years have presented significant and lasting challenges in the retail environment, which, coupled with our current financial position and constrained inventory levels, forced us to take this step,” Prendergast said. “After carefully reviewing all available strategic paths, we have determined that initiating a court-supervised sale process is the best course of action to maximize the value of the business.”
Hampshire Mall itself, a 435,000-square-foot property, on 46.52 acres, sold for $7 million at a foreclosure auction last June. While Jo-Ann may be closing, other anchors, including Target, JC Penney, Dick’s Sporting Goods, PetSmart, Planet Fitness and the Cinemark movie theaters remain in business.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
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