The familiar scent of bolts of cotton and the rhythmic click of the cutting counter are gone. If you’ve driven down Penfield Road lately, you’ve probably noticed the quiet. For decades, the Joann Fabrics Penfield New York location at 2157 Penfield Road was the undisputed headquarters for Monroe County quilters, cosplayers, and frantic parents finishing school projects at 9:00 PM on a Sunday.
It wasn't just a store; it was a community hub. Honestly, seeing those windows dark is a bit of a gut punch for the local creative crowd. After a tumultuous few years of financial restructuring and bankruptcy filings, the national chain finally pulled the plug on its brick-and-mortar operations in 2025.
By the time May 31, 2025, rolled around, the liquidators had picked the shelves clean. Now, in 2026, the Penfield crafting community is finding itself in a strange new reality. We’re all basically wandering through a post-Joann landscape, trying to figure out where to get our zippers and batting without driving forty minutes.
What actually happened to Joann Fabrics Penfield New York?
It’s easy to blame the internet, but the story is more complicated than "everyone started shopping on Amazon." The Penfield store was actually one of the more resilient spots in the region. Unlike some of the smaller "express" versions of the chain, this location carried a massive variety of upholstery foam, jewelry kits, and those specific seasonal wreaths everyone obsessed over.
The downfall was a classic corporate squeeze. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy twice in a very short window—first in early 2024 and then again in January 2025. While they initially hoped to keep the doors open by going private, the debt load was just too heavy. Rising shipping costs from overseas and a sharp dip in "pandemic-era" crafting meant the numbers just didn't add up anymore.
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When the liquidation sales hit Penfield, it was a frenzy. Items were marked down 70% to 90%. I remember seeing people walk out with entire bolts of fleece. It felt less like a sale and more like a wake. By mid-2025, the 15,000-square-foot space was empty, leaving a massive hole in the Penfield Plaza.
Where Penfield crafters are going now
With the loss of Joann Fabrics Penfield New York, we've had to get creative. You can't just run out for a single spool of Gutermann thread anymore. Most locals have split their loyalty between a few different spots, depending on what they're making.
- Michaels in Webster: This is the closest big-box alternative. Located at 913 Holt Road, it’s about a ten-minute hop from the old Joann’s. Interestingly, Michaels actually bought some of Joann’s private labels after the closure. If you’re looking for those specific brands, you might find them here, though the fabric selection is nowhere near what we had in Penfield.
- Hobby Lobby in Webster: Also on Holt Road. They have a decent fabric department, though their inventory is famously stagnant compared to the weekly rotations we were used to at Joann.
- The Quilting Community: For the serious sewists, local independent shops like Warm N Cozy have seen a bit of a resurgence. There’s a certain irony in it—the big giant fell, and now we’re all going back to the boutique shops where people actually know your name.
The impact on the Rochester craft economy
The closure wasn't just about losing a place to buy yarn. It hit the local gig economy hard. Think about the "Etsy moms" in Penfield and Perinton who relied on that store for last-minute supplies.
When you’re running a small business out of your basement, you can't always wait three days for shipping. Joann Fabrics Penfield New York served as a de facto warehouse for hundreds of local creators. Now, those same creators have to factor in higher shipping costs or longer drives to Syracuse or Buffalo to find specialized materials, which cuts directly into their already thin margins.
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There’s also the "service" aspect. Remember the sewing machine repair desk? Or the classes? Those are gone too. You can’t learn to use a serger from a PDF nearly as well as you can from a person standing over your shoulder in a classroom.
Future of the 2157 Penfield Road site
There’s been plenty of gossip at the Penfield town board meetings about what fills that 15,875-square-foot footprint. Large retail spaces are tough to fill in this economy. Some residents are hoping for a Trader Joe's (as they always do), while others are betting on another medical outpatient center or a discount gym.
As of early 2026, the space remains a "for lease" sign in a window. It’s a stark reminder of how quickly the retail environment can shift. One year you're the anchor of a plaza, and the next, you're a footnote in a bankruptcy filing.
How to navigate the "Post-Joann" world in Penfield
If you're still sitting on a pile of unfinished projects and don't know where to turn, here is the reality of crafting in the Rochester suburbs today.
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First, join the local Facebook groups. There is a very active "Rochester NY Craft Swap" scene where people are literally giving away the hoards they bought during the Joann liquidation. It’s the best way to find specific notions without paying retail prices.
Second, embrace the "Pre-Order" lifestyle. Since we no longer have a massive local inventory of high-end fabrics, you have to plan your projects weeks in advance. If you're looking for specialized apparel fabric (the stuff Joann was actually great for), you’re pretty much forced to look at online retailers like Mood or https://www.google.com/search?q=Fabric.com (which is now under the Amazon umbrella).
Lastly, support the remaining local gems. If you need your sewing machine serviced, check out the independent dealers in Henrietta or Greece. They are the last line of defense for the local sewing community.
The loss of Joann Fabrics Penfield New York was the end of an era, but the "Penfield spirit" of making things by hand hasn't died. It’s just moved into living rooms, community centers, and smaller, more intentional local shops.
Your Next Steps
Check the current inventory at the Webster Michaels if you are looking for former Joann-exclusive brands, or visit the Rochester Public Library’s "Maker Spaces" if you need access to high-end sewing equipment that you can no longer test-drive in-store. For specific upholstery needs, reach out to local independent shops in the Finger Lakes region rather than waiting on backordered shipping from national retailers.