Sewing up a strong rebound; Success of Jo-Ann superstores leads to turnaround.

Crain's Cleveland Business, August, 2004 by GOMEZ, HENRY

Byline: HENRY GOMEZ Reaching a benchmark it uses to measure the success of its turnaround from a two-year sales slump, fabric and crafts retailer Jo-Ann Stores Inc. of Hudson opened its 100th superstore last week in Seattle. Jo-Ann, which began 61 years ago with a lone yarn store in East Cleveland and now has 868 stores nationwide, gradually is replacing its traditional, 14,500-square-foot stores with 35,000-square-foot superstores.

The retailer had been toying with the superstore concept since 1995, when it opened a test model next door to its Darrow Road corporate headquarters. But by 2001, with depressed sales and swollen inventory, Jo-Ann made superstore development a higher priority and began closing older, smaller, underachieving stores. Today,...

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