JoAnn Fabrics Deemed Non-Essential, Ordered To Close During Coronavirus Pandemic

JoAnn Fabrics stores in Michigan were ordered to close amid a stay home, stay safe, executive order requiring non-essential businesses to shut down during the coronavirus pandemic. The arts and fabrics retailer’s request to stay open was denied by the state’s attorney general.

JoAnn Fabrics argued that its on-site operations are necessary, claiming that its business ssustains and protect lives by offering hospitals and volunteers raw materials to make face masks, face shields, hospital scrubs, and hospital gowns.

The Michigan attorney general maintained that these same goods can be provided through online sales and by shipping from its stores or distribution centers, providing no reason for JoAnn Fabrics’ storefronts to remain open to the public.

According to the attorney general, JoAnn Fabrics seems to have complied with the executive order to close, modifying its business operations accordingly. The company has reduced its hours to 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in other states, noting that some locations may be closed or have further limited hours, according to its website.

“I can appreciate the desire of businesses that want to remain open and provide their customers with the same products and services they have come to expect from these retailers, but there must be common sense protections in place during this global health emergency,” Dana Nessel, attorney general for Michigan, said in a statement.

“Employees should be permitted to work from home whenever possible and businesses that are not necessary to sustaining or protecting life should comply with the order by temporarily suspending in-person operations. Reducing person-to-person contact can help slow the spread of COVID-19, and we all need to do our part.”