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Jo-Ann Stores history
Jo-Ann Stores company history timeline
Betty married Martin Rosskamm in 1948, and he quit his upper-level management position at a knitting mill to join the fabric company.
1968: The company changes its name to Fabri-Centers of America, Inc.
1969: Fabri-Centers goes public.
1984: Jo-Ann launches Cargo Express, a discount housewares chain, in an attempt to diversify.
When Alan Rosskamm succeeded his father as president and CEO of the company in 1985, Fabri-Centers' net profit margin was less than 0.5 percent.
The new president admitted to Delinda Karle of the Cleveland Plain Dealer in May 1988 that "All of a sudden, our business started shrinking and our expenses started rising."
Jo-Ann's recovery strategy focuses on developing "superstores." 1992: The company's stock is reduced to junk-bond status, and it quickly institutes changes in operations to counter the problem.
Heavy discounting and intense competition in the category forced Fabri-Centers to put the 41-store operation on the selling block in 1993.
Fabri-Centers solidified its position at the top of the retail fabric heap with the 1994 acquisition of fourth-ranking Cloth World's 343 stores from Brown Group Inc.
1994: Unable to find a buyer, Jo-Ann liquidates Cargo Express at a loss of $5.2 million.
In 1998, the company changed its name to Jo-Ann Stores, Inc.
In 1998, Fabri-Centers reached a turning point.
To handle the flood of new merchandise, a $33 million computer system that combined financial, merchandising, and retail applications into a single platform was put in place in May 2000.
Jo-Ann celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2003 as a profitable company.
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Jo-Ann Stores competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nordstrom | 1901 | $15.0B | 74,000 | 1,040 |
| Big Lots | 1967 | $4.7B | 22,900 | - |
| Kroger | 1883 | $147.1B | 465,000 | 8,514 |
| Kohl's | 1962 | $16.2B | 110,000 | 1,297 |
| Michaels Stores | 1973 | $5.3B | 45,000 | 2,297 |
| Hobby Lobby | 1972 | $5.0B | 43,000 | 894 |
| Beverly Fabrics | 1968 | $130.0M | 750 | - |
| Fabric.com | 1993 | $7.5M | 150 | 4 |
| Dillard's | 1938 | $6.6B | 40,000 | 15 |
| Five Below | 2002 | $3.9B | 14,001 | 2,087 |
Jo-Ann Stores history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Jo-Ann Stores, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Jo-Ann Stores. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Jo-Ann Stores. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Jo-Ann Stores. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Jo-Ann Stores and its employees or that of Zippia.
Jo-Ann Stores may also be known as or be related to JOANN, Jo Ann Stores, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, Jo-Ann Stores, Jo-Ann Stores Holdings Inc., Jo-Ann Stores LLC and Jo-ann Stores, Llc.