Gone Shopping

From Back to School to Black Friday: where did all the stores go?

As a kid, I dreaded the end of summer — shorter days, earlier bedtimes, homework (ugh). But there was one thing I looked forward to every August: back-to-school shopping.

Not for the clothes. (Still not much of a fashion plate.) I was in it for the supplies. Fresh notebooks in my favorite colors. Crisp packs of loose-leaf paper. Pens that promised perfect loops and flourishes. All that potential, just waiting to be filled.

If I was really lucky, the day’s errands ended with a trip to the local arts and crafts store — a wonderland of possibility. Model kits, stamp-collecting books, beads, yarn, balsa wood. I could spend hours roaming those aisles, dreaming up projects I didn’t have the skill to finish but couldn’t wait to start. These were places that sold more than supplies. They sold ideas.

Fast forward to today’s “back-to-school” season, and those aisles are disappearing. The Joann Fabrics chain — one of the last major craft store holdouts — closed all 800 of its U.S. locations this summer, including 14 here in the Philadelphia area.

🏬 Our Vanishing Stores

It’s just the latest in a string of retail disappearances, from toy stores to bookstores, that used to anchor neighborhood shopping centers. Big Lots is collapsing. Party City, Rite Aid, Bed Bath & Beyond — all vanished or shrinking. What used to be reliable landmarks of everyday life have become relics of a retail system that stopped caring about the people who shopped, worked, and gathered there.

As you’ve probably guessed, there’s a common thread: private-equity buyouts. These debt-driven takeovers are designed to extract quick profit rather than foster long-term stability. When such firms move in, stores often see staff cuts, property sell-offs, and mounting debt they can’t repay. It’s great for investors who cash out early. Terrible for everyone else.

Here’s how it usually works: a private-equity firm buys a struggling retail chain using borrowed money, then makes the company itself responsible for paying back that debt. To raise cash fast, the new owners sell off buildings and real estate, cut jobs, and shrink inventory. On paper, it looks efficient — but it leaves the business hollowed out, with little chance to recover once the bills come due.

From Aisles to Algorithms 💸

With the holidays approaching, we’re seeing the effects of that shift all around us. Once upon a time, shopping felt local — neighborhood stores decorating windows, familiar clerks helping find the right gift. Now, with fewer of those stores remaining, the season plays out through screens and corporate chains, where prices and inventory are dictated by investors instead of communities.

Earlier this year, analysts estimated as many as 15,000 U.S. stores could close in 2025, nearly double last year’s count. Mid-year reports suggest we’re still on pace to reach that record. Each one represents more than a business loss — it’s another space pulled out of local hands and folded into a corporate balance sheet somewhere far away. The result is a retail landscape that feels thinner, blander, and increasingly disconnected from the communities it once served.

It’s tempting to chalk this up to “changing times.” But these shortfalls aren’t inevitable. They’re the product of decisions that prize short-term gain over the long-term health of communities. Every shuttered storefront means fewer local jobs, less tax revenue, and one less place for people to gather, learn, or simply bump into each other.

Maybe that’s why my own “supply runs” these days feel bittersweet. I still buy the pens and notebooks, still get that little thrill at the thought of a blank page. But I can’t help missing those days when the possibilities stretched as far as the aisles themselves — and the stores were still there to hold them.

🛟 “Joann Lives On — Sort Of” 🧵🪡

Joann Fabrics is technically back — but not as you remember it. After declaring bankruptcy and closing all of its stores earlier this year, Joann’s brand and product lines were purchased by Michaels, which now sells its yarns and fabrics under a new “Knit & Sew Shop” label.

For longtime crafters, it’s a bittersweet reunion: the name survives, but the community spaces it once anchored are gone. What was once a place to browse, learn, and trade ideas now exists only as a product line in a bigger chain — another example of how consolidation replaces connection.

🎄 Deck the Halls — or Pay More to Do It 🤑

Heads up, Clark Griswolds of the world! Holiday décor is looking like a poster child for the tariff squeeze:

• Artificial tree imports in August were down ~58% year over year, and September down ~70%, as many importers held back on costly stock.
• The National Tree Company has raised décor prices by about 10% across the board, citing new tariff burdens.
• At the same time, entries in the market are thinning: many decor lines are scaling back offerings or delaying product launches due to uncertainty.

Bottom line for shoppers: fewer choices, higher prices, and less flexibility. This year, don’t wait to buy that wreath, tree, ornament, lawn display, etc. if it catches your eye now.

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