The arts and crafts world is finger painting in black today. A.C. Moore, a privately owned crafting retailer headquartered in Berlin, NJ, is going out of business. It’ll shutter its fleet of 145 stores and all e-commerce operations.
What happened? A.C. Moore jumped the glue gun on expansion plans.
- It bought a supplier and invested heavily in a marketplace in 2015, and it opened a digital marketplace for “makers” in August.
- But maintaining its existing business while investing in those new initiatives became too costly. “[G]iven the headwinds facing many retailers in today’s environment, it made it very difficult for us to operate and compete on a national level,” CEO Anthony Piperno said.
What’s next: Store closure dates haven’t been announced. A.C. Moore stopped accepting online orders on Monday.
Who’s left? Crafting retail has been cut down to two major players, Joann (known as Joann Fabrics pre-rebrand) and Michael’s. The latter will absorb 40 former A.C. Moore stores, bringing its store total to about 1,300.
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