Hancock Fabrics

Hancock Fabrics started in 1952 as a single store in Batesville, Mississippi, founded by William and Dorothy Hancock to serve home sewers in small towns who had few options for fabrics and sewing supplies. The company grew steadily by offering a broad selection and focusing on communities that larger retailers often overlooked. By the late 1980s, Hancock Fabrics had become the second-largest fabric retailer in the country, with more than 500 stores across the United States. Its growth was supported by early investments in distribution, including a wholesale center opened just a few years after the first store.

For decades, Hancock Fabrics was a familiar name in both rural and urban shopping centers, drawing customers ranging from hobbyists to professional designers. The stores were typically large-format spaces, often serving as anchors that brought consistent traffic to their centers. Over time, however, the company faced mounting pressure from big-box competitors and the rise of online shopping. These challenges led to financial strain, and in February 2016, Hancock Fabrics filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. By November of that year, all remaining stores had closed, and the majority of leases and assets were acquired by Michaels Stores. As of November 2016, Hancock Fabrics no longer operates any retail locations or an online store.

While the Hancock Fabrics brand itself is no longer active, its story is a reminder of how specialty retail formats can anchor centers and serve communities for generations. The company’s evolution—from a single-store operation to a national chain, and ultimately to closure—highlights both the potential and the risks of large-format specialty retail in changing markets. For landlords and developers, Hancock Fabrics once represented a reliable, traffic-driving tenant with a proven ability to occupy sizable spaces in a variety of trade areas. Its absence today marks the end of an era for fabric retail, but the spaces it once filled continue to attract interest from other retailers looking to connect with local shoppers.