[pclmulqdq]

Nobody in this comment chain was saying it was good for the customers. The GP was saying that they clear out room for new businesses, and if brick-and-mortar-fabric-superstore were still a viable model someone would be doing it.

[Jill_the_Pill]

I am looking for fabric right now and am terribly frustrated not to have anywhere but limited quilting shops available. Online is not an answer, because you can't handle the fabric for weight, exact color, and stretchiness.

JoAnn drove all the medium-sized fabric stores out and left us with nothing.

[phil21]

The lack of customer density over time drove out all the fabric stores - medium sized or not.

At-home sewing has been declining since I've been alive, and it was just barely hanging on when I was a kid. The demographics simply cannot support these stores in most locations outside of hyper-dense cities.

Not to mention the folks who shop for fabric tend to be some of the most cost-conscious consumers around. They are more or less the prototype of a customer who will go to a B&M store and then price match on-line,.

I'm honestly surprised even Jo-anne survived as long as it did.

[VerifiedReports]

The "clear out room for new business" argument is as absurd as it gets. If you think the landscape is packed to capacity with brick-&-mortar stores to the point that it needs "room for new business," you don't live in the USA.

[andrew_lettuce]

How the hell does consolidation, monopolization, externalizing costs and extreme leverage "clear the room for new businesses"?

Even on HN playing the role of PE apologist is not going to fly ...

[massysett]

Consolidation frees up real estate, allowing new businesses to open. Where I live, old supermarkets are now farmers’ markets, trampoline parks, and health clubs, and an old car dealership is a church.

[VerifiedReports]

Fantasyland in the house!