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Joann fabrics, the beloved fabrics, arts, and crafts retailer, is finally shutting its doors for good after a long, slow goodbye. While many of its 800 stores have already been shuttered since the company filed for bankruptcy (yet again) in January, the last 444 Joann stores (yes, you read that right) will finally shut their doors on Friday, May 30, according to Joann’s website. What happened? As Fast Company previously reported, the popular fabrics and crafts supplier announced earlier this year that it would close all its U.S. locations after it filed for bankruptcy in January 2025, marking the second time Joann declared bankruptcy in less than a year. It also laid off all 19,000 workers, including more than 15,000 part-time store associates. Like many brick-and-mortar retailers that have filed for bankruptcy, including Party City and Forever 21, Joann faced declining sales and foot traffic since the COVID-19 pandemic, as more Americans shop online and curb spending due to higher prices, the soaring cost of living, inflation, and President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff wars. Customers take to social media to lament the store’s demise From TikTok and Reddit to Instagram and Facebook, customers have been taking to social media, posting tearfully and nostalgically about time they spent in the store. Some even shared last haul videos of what they bought in the store’s final days. On Reddit, nostalgic customers and workers posted multiple threads saying “goodbye” to individual stores. Some featured photos of the shuttered front door, like this one, which read, “RIP Joann 1943-2025: Died due to private equity and corporate greed,” lamenting the end of 80 years in business. (More on the private equity aspect below.) Meanwhile, on TikTok, one woman with tears in her eyes posted, “Y’all I really can’t believe but I just really had a moment, Joann is fing closing . . . It’s so unfortunate.” Joann’s final years By the 1990s, Joann became the largest fabric and crafts retail superstore in the U.S., and was taken private in 2011 by Leonard Green & Partners, a private equity firm, for around $1.6 billion. Then, a decade later, it went public again as the COVID-19 pandemic fueled an uptick in crafting, Fast Company previously reported. However, like for many brick-and-mortar retailers, profits began to decline after the pandemic, leaving the company with $616 million in reported debt obligations when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January. Some critics and customers blame Joann’s demise on private equity, which has increasingly been at the helm of large-scale business restructurings and closings, and been accused of stripping companies for parts instead of bringing them back to profitability. However, many experts have said it’s not that simple, and Joann’s failure is based on a mix of factors that go into the current economics of U.S. retail conditions. A look at the numbers shows Joann fabrics’ last reported revenue of $539.80 million for its third quarter of fiscal year 2024 ending October 28, 2023, which was a decrease of 4.09%. That brought revenue in the last twelve months up to that date to $2.16 billion, down 4.20% year-over-year. In the fiscal year ending January 28, 2023, Joann had an annual revenue of $2.22 billion. Its last reported market cap was $3.20 million.
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E-Commerce
The Walt Disney Company said yesterday that it is rolling out a new perks program for subscribers of its Disney Plus streaming service. The program features 11 benefits that Disney Plus users can take advantage of, so long as they remain a paying subscriber. But it’s likely that Disney isnt offering these benefits out of the goodness of their little mouse heart. Instead, the perks are likely an effort to reduce one of the biggest threats that Disney Plus and all other streaming services face: “churn.” That’s the industry term for when subscribers cancel a service during a specific period. What did Disney announce? The Walt Disney Company launched the new perks program yesterday, which is now available to all Disney Plus subscribers in the United States. Disney says the new perks program will be rolling out to other geographic regions later this year. Upon its launch, the program features 11 perks that subscribers can take advantage of. However, it remains to be seen how compelling the perks will be to the average subscriber, as they appear to be a mixed bag of random free trials, discounts, and contests. For example, two of the 11 perks are for contests. One, if you win, will let you attend the Freakier Friday world premiere in August, while the other gives you a chance to win a free Disney cruise. In other words, these perks wont be available to every Disney Plus subscribermerely the chance to win them will be. The perks are also full of free trials or limited memberships, including a three-month free trial of Clear+, the airport security membership program; a two-month Super Duolingo free trial; and a six-month free DashPass membershipbut only if youve never been a DashPass subscriber before. Random discounts are also available, including 20% off at adidas.com, and 15% off at Funko.com and Loungefly.com. Subscribers can also get lower rates at select Disney resorts. And then there are digital perks, including free emoji, early access to the digital pin collectable experience, Disney Pinnacle; and free in-game tokens for the Monopoly Go! and Star Wars TIE Fighter games. The perks are available to all Disney Plus subscribers in the United States, and there is no extra charge for accessing them. An effort to reduce churn Though Disney did not specifically state that its new “always-on” perks program was an effort to reduce churn, thats likely what it is designed for. Churn is the industry term that describes subscribers who cancel their streaming subscriptions, often when theyve watched all the content they want to see, such as a specific movie or series. Instead of continuing to be an active subscriber to the service, they will cancel it to save money and then only resubscribe when the service has new content they want to watch. Churn stops Disney and other streaming services from receiving monthly recurring revenue from individuals. Instead of subscribing for the whole year, a subscriber who churns may cancel the service in February and not resubscribe until September, when new content of interest to them becomes available. This cycle of canceling and resubscribing is very familiar to streaming customers who juggle a lot of services and aim to keep their monthly entertainment costs down. In fact, you might say that easy cancellation was the original “perk” of the streaming revolutionoffering a contrast to the long-term contracts that were so prevalent during the traditional cable TV era. Disney is apparently hoping that by adding always-on perks, it will reduce subscriber churn, as when the subscription stops, so do the additional perks. But that carrot-style approach will only work if the subscribers find value in the perks to begin with. Not the first time Disney Plus has offered perks Disney announced its new perks program as an always-on one. It went with this branding because this isnt the first time that Disney has offered perks to Disney Plus subscribers. In the past, it has offered time-limited perks, like reduced fares on select Disney Cruise products. But given that most of the always-on perks are still limitedsuch as the free trials and contestsit’s hard to imagine that most Disney Plus subscribers who are churners will stick around just for the perks, unless they do a lot of shopping at Funko and Addidas and really want those 15% and 20% discounts. However, it should be noted that Disney says new Perks will drop regularly. The company is also rolling out perks to Hulu subscribers starting in June, which include more contests and nondescript exclusive perks from LG, Microsoft, and Pure Green. Streaming is more important than ever to Disney Disney Plus is a significant focus for the Walt Disney Company, as the service is a potentially massive source of recurring income. Therefore, its no wonder that Disney wants to make it as appealing as possible to retain subscribers and reduce churn. Recently, signs point to Disney being aware of a possible slowdown in Disney Plus growth. When it reported results for its second-quarter fiscal 2025 in March, Disney said it had 126 million Disney Plus subscribers during the period, up by 1.4 million from the quarter before. However, the company gave a lukewarm forecast for Disney Plus in the current Q3. Disney said it expects to see only a modest increase in Disney+ subscribers compared to the service’s Q2 fiscal 2025 numbers.
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E-Commerce
It’s become commonplace to message someone a photo, text them an address, and switch to a video chat all in the middle of a phone call. But 911 systems, largely designed for the era of landlines, don’t typically allow for those luxuries, even when callers are trying to communicate address information from a noisy environment or share a photo of an ongoing emergency. A startup called Prepared is working to change that, helping emergency call takers communicate more efficiently with people in situations where every second matters by enabling text, photo, and video communication and providing AI tools to transcribe and even translate conversations in real time. Cofounder and CEO Michael Chime says he had initially focused on providing an app to help schools during emergencies, having grown up near to a school shooting. During the COVID pandemic, when schools were closed, he communicated with school districts about additional features they might want, and several mentioned difficulty sharing detailed data with 911 centers during an emergency. The company then began to focus on technology allowing livestreaming video to 911 centers and has since expanded to add additional AI-powered features like transcription and live translation. Already, the technology is being used by more than 1,000 emergency call centersknown as public-safety access points, or PSAPsaround the country, including those serving Las Vegas, Nashville, and Baltimore. And the company just announced a new $80 million Series C funding round, led by General Catalyst with participation from Andreessen Horowitz and First Round Capital, bringing their total funding to $125 million. “Our mission is to make sure every emergency gets the best possible response,” Chime says. One challenge facing the agencies that handle emergency calls is that while call volume continues to grow in many locations, staffing often doesn’t rise to match it. Prepared’s technology is designed to help call takers handle calls faster and more accurately, getting correct data to dispatchers who in turn send firefighters, police, EMTs, or other responders to emergencies. [Image: Courtesy of Prepared] “It takes a tremendous amount of multitasking,” Chime says. “They have to listen, give thoughtful responses, make sure you feel good and safe, while also collecting all the key details.” Prepared generates automated summaries, which can be visible to both call takers and dispatchers, automatically highlighting key information like addresses and descriptions of people or vehicles involved in an incident. And transcripts can also help call takers verify they heard everything correctlyeven on a noisy lineand let them quickly ensure that they’ve gathered all required information before ending the call. Prepared’s technology is easy to integrate into existing workflows, letting call takers see the platform’s information alongside their existing software tools. And call centers can easily have their phone systems duplicate calls to Prepared’s system for processing without disturbing their existing routing configurations. “I actually think it’s helping with our retention too,” says Kari Morrissey, director, emergency communications for Anoka County, Minnesota. “Because there’s a lot to learn as a new telecommunicator.” The AI can also help prompt call takers to make sure to ask specific questions and otherwise follow specified protocols even in stressful situations. If call centers desire, the AI can also help in quality assurance reviews after the fact, highlighting correct protocol and any areas for improvement. [Image: Courtesy of Prepared] Prepared’s software can also transcribe emergency radio communications, helpful to dispatchers who are often required to monitor multiple radio channels at once. And automatic translation can dramatically cut response times for callers speaking a language not known to call center workers. Instead of trying to identify the language and conference in an appropriate interpreter, call takers can see an automated translation of what they’re hearing and often type in a response, which will be translated back to be read aloud or texted to the caller. That also makes it easy for call takers to simply copy-and-paste typical questions to be translated, though Prepared is working on direct speech translation as well. [Image: Courtesy of Prepared] A call that could take 15 minutes, including connecting with an interpreter, can be processed in just three or four minutes with Prepared’s translation in place, says Anthony Mignogna, chief of communications and 911 coordinator for the Delaware County Department of Emergency Services in Pennsylvania. “It really covers that hurdlethat gapthat we have with the legacy system,” e says. The system also helps gather health data from callers’ phones if they have the opt-in Medical ID feature on their smartphones, which can automatically route health data to 911 call centers, enabled. And it cleanly highlights caller locations on a map for call takers to see, helping to ease a traditional hurdle of getting accurate location information from callers, Mignogna says. “We get a lot of supplemental data just by somebody dialing 911, which you wouldn’t get on that traditional 911 phone call,” he says. Prepared also enables emergency call centers to receive textshelpful in situations where people can’t speak for safety or medical reasonsand to send texts to callers, requesting more information or including links that let callers send photos or stream video of their surroundings to help emergency responders understand the situation.Prepared’s technology can even potentially handle some calls to nonemergency lines on its own, with the AI system collecting information and generating a transcript that can be quickly reviewed by human staff. One human can review multiple calls at once, jumping in if there’s an issue, and the AI can automatically reroute calls describing a potential emergency like chest pain to 911. But Chime says the company has no plans to replace human call takers altogether, instead using AI to enhance their ability to handle emergency calls. “Humans have limitations, like I haven’t met anybody who speaks 30 languages,” Chime says. “But the technology can empower them to do that.”
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E-Commerce
Two compressor stations along Transcos natural gas pipeline in North Carolina would emit more than 935,000 tons of planet-warming greenhouse gases each year, state records show. The expansion would also contaminate nearby communities with harmful air pollutants up to 350% over current levels. Transco, a division of the Houston-based group Williams, plans to increase the horsepower at the existing compressor stations in Lexington, in Davidson County, and in Mooresville, in Iredell County. The stations would accommodate the companys Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SSEP), a pipeline expansion that traverses five states: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. A view of Station 155, one of Transcos several compressor stations along the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project pipeline route, in a residential neighborhood of Lexington, N.C. [Photo: Lisa Sorg/Inside Climate News] Compressor stations use high pressure to force gas through a pipeline; they are located every 50 to 60 miles along a route. They routinely leak methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, and other pollutants through valves, flanges and other connectors. The gas is also sometimes intentionally released directly into the atmosphere, a practice called venting, and sometimes the gas is flared, or burned off, during maintenance, shutdowns and startups. Venting is worse for the climate, while flaring produces more harmful air pollution. Each compressor station would be powered by natural gas, according to Transcos recent air permit applications to the N.C. Division of Air Quality. Division officials are reviewing the applications and will accept public comment after the evaluations are complete. Meanwhile, environmental advocates are asking local government officials to oppose Transcos entire natural gas expansion. Transco did not respond to an email requesting comment on the air permit applications. With increased horsepower comes increased pollution. At the Lexington station, concentrations of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, sulfur dioxide and hazardous air pollutants, such as cancer-causing formaldehyde, would increase over current levels, by between 175% and 350%, state records show. Residents in Lexington and Mooresville are already burdened by decades of air pollution from existing Transco infrastructure and deserve to breathe clean air, said Juhi Modi, North Carolina field coordinator at Appalachian Voices. NCDEQ has the power to defend against Transcos proposal to emit more health-compromising pollution into our communities. EPA data show Davidson County is already afflicted by six types of air pollutants regulated under National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Davidson County is in compliance with the air quality standards, according to state officials, but they apply to large areas, like a county, and arent necessarily going to be reflective of the reality on the ground for the people who live around these compressor stations, said Deirdre Dlugoleski, a former associate attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, now with Defenders of Wildlife. Compliance with the NAAQS isnt enough to ensure that environmental justice communities close to these sites wont be harmed. [Image: Inside Climate News] Neighborhoods within a mile radius of the Lexington compressor station rank among the highest in the state in terms of exposure to very fine particulate matter (known as PM 2.5), ozone, and toxic releases to the air, according to the EPAs EJ Screen. Nearly half of the 800 residents in the affected area are low-income. The potential risks to public safety and the environment prompted the Midway Town Council, by a 4-1 vote, to formally oppose SSEP and the compressor station in Lexington, about 10 miles south of Midway. Davidson County already has 176 miles of natural gas and liquid petroleum pipelines within its boundaries. Midway officials cited the negative impacts on air and water quality, residents health and property values, in their May 5 resolution, filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC. Town officials asked FERC to consider a no-build option and, in the event the pipeline is expanded, to require the compressor stations to use the best available control technology to reduce emissions. At the Mooresville station, Transcos air permit application shows the increases would range from 20% to 37% over current emissions levels, depending on the pollutant. Like their Lexington counterparts, people living within a mile of the station are exposed to some of the highest levels of PM 2.5, ozone, toxic air releases and diesel pollution. These neighborhoods also flank Interstate 77, one of the main arteries into Charlotte. [Image: Paul Horn/Inside Climate News] Both stations would emit toxic air pollutants acrolein, benzene, and formaldehyde at high rates. In Lexington, benzene exceeds federal hourly emission rates by 100 times; in Mooresville, the figure is 61 times. Thee rates trigger a requirement for the company to conduct air dispersion modeling to measure contaminant levels, if they move off site and how far. This proposed massive methane gas project would add more pollution and health risks to North Carolina communities already struggling with poor air quality, compared to the rest of the state, said Caroline Hansley, campaign organizing strategist at Sierra Club. NCDEQ must exercise its authority to protect North Carolinians and deny the permit for this unneeded, dirty, and dangerous project. More Demand From Data Centers In North Carolina, the SSEP includes the Eden Loop, 4.4 miles in Rockingham County, where the pipeline enters the state from Virginia. The Salem Loop, also part of SSEP, is longer, running roughly 24 miles through Guilford, Forsyth, and Davidson counties. The SSEP is one of three major pipeline projects in North Carolina. MVP Southgate is proposed for Rockingham County, where it would tie into the T-15, a pipeline which would run east to Duke Energys new natural gas plants in Person County. All of these projects are estimated to begin operating within the next three to five years, although they often run behind schedule because of permitting issues, litigation or construction delays. There is still a vacancy on the FERC commission, which could also cause backlogs. Transco officials say the project is necessary to accommodate increased energy demand from data centers. Some energy analysts, like Tyler Norris of Duke University, though, counter that load flexibility could preclude the need for more generation and transmission. Environmental advocates argue that energy companies are financially incentivized to build pipelines. From 2018 to 2023, Transcos average return on equityearningswas 17%, according to the National Gas Supply Association. Earlier this spring, Transco updated its project filings with FERC, which reflected minor adjustments to the proposed route. Maps show hundreds of homes and businesses, schools, day cares, even parks and recreational centers within the pipelines 1,114-foot high consequence area. Also known as the blast zone, these areas are where the force of an explosion could kill or injure people, as well as damage or destroy property. The zone is based on the diameter of the pipelineSSEP is 42 inchesand its maximum allowable pressure. Within these areas, there are different classifications of risk, depending on population density and the number of vulnerable people who couldnt quickly evacuate. Some homes lie as close as 20 feet from the center of the pipeline, according to Transcos filings with FERC. The pipeline skirts churches; the Oak Ridge Weekday School; a child care center in Guilford County; the VA Medical Center in Kernersville; and U.S. Highway 52, a major thoroughfare. It would burrow under three acres of Triad Park, a 6,000-acre recreational area that straddles Guilford and Forsyth counties. Farther south in Davidson County, Wallburg Elementary School enrolls more than 720 students in pre-K through Grade 5. It is less than a quarter mile from the pipeline and within the blast zone, as is the Wallburg Recreational Center across the street. In a recent presentation to Guilford County Commissioners, Transco officials emphasized that safety is the highest priority. The company continuously monitors its pipelines and frequently inspects them, officials said, and uses pressure and temperature sensors to warn of potential problems. Previous studies of pipeline accidents in Kentucky, Virginia, and New Mexico have shown that blast zones extend farther than originally calculated, according to the Pipeline Safety Trust, a nonprofit based in Washington state. The trust raised safety concerns about the SSEP in its recent comments to FERC. The SSEP route already contains up to four other pipelines of different types, and FERC should calculate the blast to reflect those co-locations, wrote Erin Sutherland, the trusts policy and program director, and attorney. This is a serious environmental and public health danger that FERC should consider. Even routine construction will affect communities along the route. Theres a huge gap that is going to fall on local municipalities, Hansley said. Peoples wells could be blasted and impacted in Oak Ridge and other places. The roads could see massive traffic increases from heavy loads, get damaged and then who would end up paying for it? Lisa Sorg, Inside Climate News This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News. It is republished with permission. Sign up for its newsletter here.
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E-Commerce
John Hoke, a 33-year Nike veteran who served as the company’s chief innovation officer, is retiring. The news comes during a difficult time for the company. While its still the largest sportswear manufacturer with $51 billion in revenue a year, it has lost street cred and running market share under former CEO John Donahoe. Wall Street believes it’s not growing fast enough. Beloved Nike veteran Elliott Hill replaced Donahoe as CEO last year, who rightly warned the turnaround would not happen overnight. Hill informed the Nike staff that Hoke was leaving in a memo sent around the company this week. Ive spoken to Hoke several times over the years, most recently in 2024 for our profile on the companys Olympic strategy under John Donahoe. Hokes enthusiasm was that of a kid in a candy store, as he was eager to show off the companys new partnership with Hyperice and its use of AI tools to make some of the wildest Nikes Ive ever seen. Hoke believed deeply in the technological innovations behind sport, which made him a good fit for shifting to the job of chief innovation officer in 2022 from his role as chief design officer for 15 years. And while some of the products launched in his timelike self-tying Adapt BB sneakerswere never articulated enough to scale, his long-view vision of Nike was always inspiring. He imagined our clothing becoming empathetic, symbiotic, and even biologicalliterally feeling our pain to be ever-changing to our needs moment to moment. Hoke has long viewed his own time at Nike as destiny. At age 12, he imagined the performance benefits of sticking his inflatable pool raft to the bottom of a shoe. That led him to discover Phil Knight and write him a letter. Knight responded, inviting him to come work at the company when he was older. After graduating from studies in industrial design and architecture and giving a presentation where he discussed Nike Town, Hoke was invited to Nike for a job interview. I brought that letter in the back of my portfolio. I pulled the letter out, and I said, I’m here to redeem the coupon you sent me in the late ’70s, Hoke recalled. The person he said that to? Mark Parker, who ended up taking over the company as its most beloved designer-CEO. I pinch myself, like I’ve been . . . loving this brand, and thinking about sneakers, and how to make sneakers perform better, and how to make sneakers more magnetic more powerful, for most of my life. Phil McCartney, EVP and chief innovation, design & product officer at Nike, will be taking over Hoke’s duties. Meanwhile, Hoke will be at Nike through October wrapping up projects. He did not immediately respond for comment.
Category:
E-Commerce
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