Jomar

JOMAR is a store that has serious bargains if you are the type of shopper that doesn’t mind spending half a day browsing through racks upon racks of clothes and tables full of home goods and drugstore closeouts.
Some of the space in each JOMAR is devoted to fabric of all kinds, and always has a good variety of well priced closeouts.
If you don’t mind spending the time and effort, you can find some excellent bargains on designer clothes!
If you’re the type of shopper who wants an organized store, do not come here. You will be sifting through racks and racks, and on your feet for hours. On the other hand, you may just be lucky enough to find the perfect jacket/​shirt/​jeans/​shapewear of your dreams!
I have NEVER left empty handed!

Went here to buy headliner for my volvo 850 close to the same color as the original but not the original fabric put on still holding up but i guess its way better because the dealer did not sell the fabric they wanted to charge 500 for the headliner and the cardboard ceiling what a ripoff from the dealer and no chance you were going to find a clean used one from the junkyard.

This place is so strange. Stumbled upon it the other day after work when I was headed down to Marshall’s and Target for some girl-​on-​a-​budget retail therapy.
At first, I drove right past it, but for some reason I could not resist figuring out what this place was. I pulled over, checked Unilocal reviews to see if this place was even worth it and after reading that it was somewhere between a warehouse, flea market, thrift store, and discount retailer, I knew I had to go in.
Upon entering this dimly lit place and looking through the racks of clothing on the first floor, I learned that this place is certainly unique. I looked through some of the little appliances and other items on the tables as well, and it is definitely hit or miss. From headphones, to water guns, to litter boxes, to things that you can’t figure out what they heck they are, this place has the widest variety of items you can imagine.
The real gem for DIY-​ers is the upstairs. They have tons of fabric at cheap prices so it is great if you are a novice sewer like myself and don’t want to spend an arm and a leg on nice fabric.

Well it is safe to say I didn’t know this place existed until last week. Needing fabric for Unilocal’s Winter Break Toga Party, I was in a last minute crunch to get my outfit together.
I didn’t have a chance to explore anything besides the fabric room or should I say fabric floor, but what a selection! If I didn’t have an idea of what I was looking for, I could have easily spent hours perusing the selection. The prices were also fantastic! Given I’m not too knowledgeable on the prices in the fabric market, but I’d call $ 1 or $ 2 per yard a good deal.
The selection is what gives my review a 4. Otherwise the experience was a 3. Jomar was located on only a dimly lit street in South Philly. When I arrived I saw a man just hanging out on the other side of the building and then came towards my car. I ended up doing a loop around the block until I felt comfortable enough to go back and get out of the car and scurry in. The building itself was pretty old. The stairs leading up to the fabric room were steep and didn’t seem like standard sized steps. Both fabrics I bought also had a weird smell to them.
All in all, I got what I needed at a price I was happy with. I’d go back if I ever was in the need of more fabric, perhaps just during the daytime.

A true gem. I try on everything before buying because it could be ripped or sewed with errors that I might miss. But I love trying things on and then taking pics hahaha… kind of fun. the dressing room selfie. I come sometimes when they got nothing and times where they are loaded with new items. I got an elegant sleeveless black dress in my size for 15 and a dark green one for 10. The fabric is sooooo gorgeous. I dont need to shop in department stores because of places like this. Things last too here. Jomar is kind of something between a thrift shop and a Marshalls or Ross. Not bad prices are still good and those incredible rare finds are implanted here and there in the store. It is just a fun place to browse as well. I was making this canopy and need sheets and I got the sale rack and found some gorgeous fabrics. Sometimes they are more overstock than other times. I love it in here. But try not to come too often… sometimes you cant stop buying things because prices are ridiculously cheap in my opinion.

What a strange place! In all the years I’ve lived in South Philly, I never knew this place (or the street it’s located on) existed. The inside felt like a mix between a warehouse and a flea market. Lots of random tables and racks of lots of random stuff. But I was on a mission. And that mission was fabric…
And let me tell you, this is a great place to get some crazy cheap fabric. Just a word of warning, this ain’t no Joann’s! Fabric is all over the place, the floor looks like it’s never been swept, and the cashier/​fabric cutter is rather surly (not like the chipper middle aged suburban women you see at Joann). But if you making a project on the cheap and want to get some decent fabric, definitely check out Jomar!

This is an interesting store. Its a place seemingly built from salvage of other.places.
Its surprisingly reliable at finding durable medical equipment. Not sure if a truck went off road and so there is a bunch of it, but there it is. Also a huge floor of fabric, and just about every recalled toy you can think of.
Unreasonably inexpensive.

Great staff! A million fabrics and cheap bang around clothes. Very cool place to shop. Very affordable!

Nothing glamorous about Jomar and not the most easy-​to-​find place but it is what it is.
The first time I came with a friend, I had heard about Jomar’s cheap fabric selection. The things I do for fashion.
Thank goodness I came with HIM because if it was a HER I would’ve been terrified. It’s sort of dark and scary with terrible lighting. The fabric is located upstairs and there is a crazy assortment. It’s really a hit or miss. Sometimes they have beautiful fabrics for insane prices (in comparison to Fabric Row) but other times, you just laugh and understand that’s why it ended up at Jomar. The cutters are extremely nice but since there’s only one cutter, the lines can get very long if you go at prime time (whenever that is). Definitely worth checking out if you can spare the time to browse but if you need something more specific, Fabric Row/​Garment District (NY) would be a safer bet.

this place is dark, dingy, and smelly. it’s in a shady location. some if the clientele are «odd”-looking, to say it best. all the more reason to LOVE THIS STORE. the bargains downstairs are pretty great– $ 40 for the identical twin of a coat i’d already bought at zara for $ 150? (fail) wow! but upstairs is where the money’s at. if you are crafty, or just learning how to be crafty (like me), there are yards and yards of inexpensive fabric for you to play with. a good variety fabrics with a few other items you might need. they don’t sell patterns (booo) but there are plenty of ribbons, buttons, lace, lining, etc. a great find — thanks, Unilocal for putting me on to this one!

Jomar is actually a REALLY amazing place with local flavor and rare gems. A giant warehouse with ridiculous clothing and weird housewares on the first floor — none of which I’ve ever payed any attention to. The whole top floor is filled with fabric. cheap fabric, expensive fabric. I’ve been visiting this place for 4 years, really only in october when I aim to sew myself amazing costumes for under 10 dollars. You can find some amazing deals here and usually get a pretty good ‘show’ from the local clientele. Jomar is kind of shady though a little unorganized and the service isn’t the best… but its totally the only place I’ll ever go while living in this city to buy fabric… it really doesn’t get much better than this… but sadly it has a couple strikes against it, if you’re willing to deal with them (you’d be stupid not to) you totally need to go, at least if just once.

i used to own a million (rather expensive) power suits… true story.
somewhere over the course of 8 years, business casual set in… then straight-​up flip flop casual. so i gave away the collection years ago.
…not knowing that i’d be laid off days before thanksgiving in 2008.
so, all of a sudden i need interview-​appropriate attire, of which i have none, at a time where cash is definitely running short. and this is where jo-​mar comes in. they’re not designer, but there are blazers aplenty… and i picked up 3 lovely ones for $ 5 apiece. totally professional, well-​fitting blazers made of decent enough material to look nice. i went back a second time for shirts to wear under the blazer, which is how i’d recommend tackling jo-​mar. you cannot put together an entire nice outfit in one trip. no one has a level of patience that high. between the customers cursing at register employees because they thought an item should be cheaper, while letting their godawful kids run amok to throw open the curtain to your fitting room, to the dismal fluorescent lighting, to the emotionally exhausting experience of finding the perfect item just to discover an unrepairable rip, to checking tag after tag after tag (if they have tags — many are ripped out and you have to eyeball) because the sizes are never exactly where they’re supposed to be… it is a draining experience. yet for all that turmoil i only deduct one star. if you go with a specific mission, you’re much more likely to succeed. i wore a close-​fitting shirt and went in with the intent of blazers only. i tried on blazers as i went along — they are scattered throughout the store/​warehouse. if you let yourself become sidetracked by the $ 3 pants rack, you’ll lose focus. then i went back for shirts a different day. i saw more blazers, but i passed them by. i only tried on shirts. 2 were successful. i spent $ 4 on one and $ 9 on the other.
jo-​mar almost makes me want to learn how to sew — the upstairs is the most ridiculous collection of cheap fabrics i’ve ever seen.

OMG. Jomar, I just died in your arms tonight…
I seriously almost died here. Of delight. This is one of those places that you just get lost in and come up a few hours later thinking, «What the heck just happened to me.» I went here looking for fabric and that’s not all I found! So let’s review:
1. A skintight, fire engine red beautiful dress for $ 15 with a coat and shoes to match for my friend.
2. A dress fit for a mermaid. (A wealthy, beautiful mermaid…)
3. 500 million amazing dirt cheap fabrics
I could have stayed here all night. Next time I just might.

Jomar is one of those places that you can find rare treasures if you look really, really hard. I found a cool pair of trampy, silver 3 inch heels that I still have. Most of the stuff is not worth the materials of which it is composed, though, so this is definitely not something one should expect on entering this sweatshop overstock joint.
But you can find fabric of funky textures. I found this whole mess of furry yellow fabric that I used for sculpture. In fact, if you are a soft-​sculptor (someone who sculpts with fabric) this is a pretty great place to go. There’s all kinds of haberdash (zippers, buttons, velcro, etc.) which is good for fashion designers and jewelers. In all, it’s not a place you go for ready-​mades, but for supplies.

Like the Salvation Army on Market Street, Jomar is one big human rights violation.
Just kidding. It only makes me cry a little.
Jomar is a gigantic warehouse full of clothes, shoes, and accessories that are either overstock from other places or damaged. Their prices really vary depending on what you’re looking at. Their designer dress collection, for example, has some pricing in there that’s like regular retail. Jomar, are you kidding? You should pay ME for coming into this dungeon and breathing in the foul air. Even if it’s nighttime, I swear Jomar is always darker inside than the environment outside.
My mother has dragged me here many a time to look for bargains. Sometimes you’ll find an item that’s cheap and easily repairable. More often you’ll find items that aren’t damaged, but are simply nothing special. The only time Jomar is definitely worth your time is when you have a project requiring yards of fabric. They have tons of it ranging in quality from icky to fabulous. You can buy it all by the yard.