Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft

The layout of this store bothers me for some reason. I think it’s probably just too cramped feeling the instant you walk into the store. Every time I come here I can’t find what I want, and I’m not sure why. It has basically the same stock as my go-​to in Greenfield. They seem to be stocking shelves and rearranging displays at any hour of the day which means they are blocking an aisle. When i do try to find an employee they’re missing, or maybe in another cramped aisle. Hard to tell sometimes.
I really can’t even put together a decent review, and I apologize. I just can’t pinpoint why this location is so bad compared to others.

I went there to buy some fabric and they cut it wrong. The people at customer service were very ignorant. What made me very mad, was first I could just go up there and ask them to cut fabric. Within 5 minutes, I went up there and they started using numbers. Instead of being the next one up. There were 5 people in front of me. So thanks for nothing Joann :-C. There was a upside to the 1 gallon of gas I wasted, I got a very good deal and even got a coupon back! Also, they cut my fabric crooked… and really weirdly. Now, it’s a good chance that my niece will have a crooked blanket!

I went today to ask some questions about vintage sewing machine. The lady in customer service was very nice and patient. She answered my unusual question very professionally and even showed me an old sewing machine. Thanks!

Horrible customer service – even on slow days. Asked for assistance in locating a fabric that was available at this location on their computer. Was told that I should have called before coming to the store – that their computers aren’t up to date. When I then asked them to check their computer, they reluctantly did and then told me that it had come in 3 days ago but hadn’t been put out in the store yet. I then asked them to please get it for me and was told that there were 10 boxes of fabric in the back and that I’d have to come back in a few days. I left that store and won’t be back. I’m not surprised that the store was nearly empty at midday. I really wanted that fabric, so I drove to another Joann Fabrics where I was warmly greeted and where the fabric I wanted was right where it should have been.

Interesting to read Becky’s review of the class because my intro sewing class was just fine. I mean, the room is small and I can see if being an issue if you’re there when the store is busy and loud. But on a Monday night, it was fine.
Clearly they have different teachers doing the classes. Ours was a little messy and not particularly structured, but our teacher did a good job of working with people individually. This meant the whole thing was a little all over the place, but also meant we all got help, so that was nice.
I ended up remembering way more from high school home ec than I thought, so maybe I didn’t hate the class because I didn’t need as much help. I was glad I’d gotten the class for half price instead of paying the full $ 35 on it, since it turned out I didn’t really need the class.
Aside from classes, the place is almost always crawling with people. The fabric cutting counter is like 10 people deep at any given time, the prices are absurdly high so they can put things on sale constantly and not lose money.

So it is a standard Jo-​Ann… actually I take that back. Having been to a couple that are really not standard, this place puts them to shame. However, this is what I think a standard Jo-​Ann looks like. Besides parking, long lines at check out, and some aisles that always look a perpetual hot mess, I usually find everything I need. Fairly large, not as large as some that I have been in, but big enough that you can find just about anything. I will say there is never a soul around when I have a question, but, again, I attribute that to the long lines at the register. I assume that this location is super busy because out of the two Jo-​Ann stores near me, this is clearly the better of the two.

Called in to find out if they have watercolor paintbrushes, employee on the phone said yes, so I drove on in. Once I got there, I asked an employee where to find them and she sent me to the other side of the store. On the other side, I couldn’t find them, so I looked and looked for another employee. When I eventually found one, she said they don’t sell them. I was annoyed, but figured that while I was there I’d look around anyway. I found some cute cupcake papers in the clearance Easter section, and I went up to purchase them. The woman at the cash register scanned them and said, «Oh, these have been discontinued,» and then wouldn’t let me purchase them, even though it was their mistake to have them out on the shelf. She told me they had to be donated to Goodwill and I could not purchase them, and was extremely rude about it. I’ve had many experiences like this, with rude employees, mislabeled products, etc.

I am unimpressed with my experience with this Jo-Ann’s regarding their sewing classes. Recently I signed up for two of their basic sewing classes: Sewing 101 and 102. My sister-​in-​law and I took the first class together and were both disappointed. The «classroom» was just a tiny corner of the store that was partitioned off. It was way too small even for 6 students, their sewing machines, and 1 instructor. I was also unhappy with the instructor and the lack of teaching and structure of the course. Honestly the class was not taught very well, especially considering it was a class for beginners. We were kind of on our own to figure things out, and the students were helping each other more than we were being helped by the instructor. Most of the instructor’s time was spent talking to one student who had a fancy high-​tech sewing machine and was excelling with the project we were working on. I really didn’t feel like I learned much from the class.
Despite all of this, I decided to come back for the 2^nd class because I had already paid for it. Since this Jo-Ann’s is far from my house I waited to the day of class to buy my materials so I didn’t have to drive out here twice. When I arrived, I had a lot of difficulty finding the materials I needed for my class. No employee offered to help me. I looked for someone to help me but they were too busy chatting with each other. I finally approached someone to help me only to find out they were out of the materials I needed for class. I was annoyed that they didn’t have enough materials in stock for all their students. I asked an employee to refund the class for me, which fortunately they did. I won’t be back for their other sewing classes, but I’m still looking for a good place to take sewing classes in Milwaukee!