We’re having a bit of a crisis in the art glass industry. Bullseye Glass has had to suspend most of their production due to a cease and desist order by the governor of the state of Portland regarding the usage of heavy minerals in their production. Uroboros has also suspended some of their production. They are both in Portland, OR. Part of the fallout of this is that Spectrum Glass, based in Washington State will be ending production and going out of business later this year. Uroboros produces a lot of glass for Spectrum. They have been manufacturing art glass for decades but now the local government is up in arms regarding soil, and air tests around the areas of their factories. Bullseye has been very active in equipping their factory with the necessary filters that will be required. You can check out the players in this nightmare us glass artists are witnessing by going to Bullseye’s web site as well as Uroboros and Spectrum. Also, this link can lead you to what you can do to let the government know that you stand by the art glass industry. The trickle down effect on this will be catastrophic if we don’t all band together in support of the affected companies. Thank you.
Have you read?
Craft Retailer Joann Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
In an expected move, craft store chain Joann has filed for bankruptcy to help the company deal with debt problems.
According a news release issued by the company, Joann has “received commitments for approximately $132 million in new financing and related financial accommodations and expects to reduce funded debt on its balance sheet by approximately $505 million.”
“This agreement is a significant step forward in addressing JOANN’s capital structure needs, and it will provide us with the financial resources and flexibility necessary to continue to deliver best-in-class product assortments and enhance the customer experience wherever they are shopping with us,” chief financial officer Scott Sekella said in the release.
According to a story in The Washington Post (link is free to read), Joann will become a private company after the bankruptcy proceedings, which could be complete as early as next month. The company says it currently has no plans to close stores or make any changes to its website. The release says the company, which was founded in 1943, has 829 stores in 49 states and “95 percent of which are cash flow positive.” And I literally got an email from them while I was writing this post.
(As an aside, the headline on that Post story suggests Joann’s problem is they have lost sales as people “pull back on essentials,” but if they’d ever met a crafter they would know craft supplies are always essential, we just might be buying them from different places, or buying less that we used to.)
Joann has set up a website, Joann Forward, with more details on their restructuring, including FAQs for customers, suppliers, landlords and team members. According to those pages, “this agreement is a significant step forward in addressing JOANN’s capital structure needs. It will provide us with the financial resources and flexibility necessary to deliver best-in-class product assortments and enhance the customer experience wherever they are shopping with us.”
You can also find case filings and information for claimants here.
As someone who does most of her in-person craft shopping at Joann, I’m certainly wishing them well and will update as needed with more information on the Joann bankruptcy filing.