Fun fact! They've been going downhill because they were bought by a private equity firm years ago and the firm has been gutting the stores and cutting staff because all they care about is maximizing their profit! The same thing is happening with Michaels, who was bought by private equity in like 2021.
You know who is doing just fine? Fucking Hobby Lobby.
I love the idea of small craft supply stores, but here's the thing: they explicitly will never exist in large enough quantities in enough places to replace the chain stores. Also? They're damn expensive. Losing a place like Joann will not make all their customers start shopping at independent quilting stores or knitting supply Etsy shops. It will simply make things like crafting, quilting, knitting, DIY'ing your own home decor, etc, even more into things that are only available and accessible to the wealthy. And force more people into buying fast fashion because they can no longer access affordable fabrics to make their own clothing (something that is significantly more common in many immigrant communities than the US population at large.)