PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — When the Joann Fabric store in Port Charlotte shut down after the company filed for bankruptcy, one former employee decided to stitch together a new beginning, and opened her own shop just down the road.
Watch Fox 4's Alex Orenczuk report on Kirby's Fabric Korner:
Vicki Kirby has a passion for sewing, and she’s been doing it for nearly 60 years.
“I just love to do it, something just drew me to sewing,” said Kirby.
She said when she landed a job at the Joann fabric store in Port Charlotte, it was like her dream job. She worked there for six years before the company filed for bankruptcy and closed the store in late 2024.
“I was upset,” she said. “I was losing a part-time job, and most importantly, I was losing my discount.”
Kirby said when the regular customers at Joann heard the store would be closing, she knew there was going to be a hole that needed to be patched, and one of her coworkers, Stanka Petrovich, gave her the idea to start her own fabric store.
“Everybody that was coming in was crying and lamenting because there’s nowhere else to go for fabric,” said Kirby. “My partner [Petrovich] said ‘this is your golden opportunity if you want to open a fabric store.’ So we started tinkering with the idea.”
That idea came to fruition in March, when the pair opened Kirby’s Fabric Korner, just south of the former Joann location.
“Everybody thinks I’m crazy for starting it now,” she said. “But I’m healthy, and it’s something I can give back to the community, because we don’t have anywhere else to go.”
The store located at 4549 Tamiami Trail in Port Charlotte, is stocked with everything a sewist might need, from rolls of specialty fabric, to yarn and thread.
Kirby said long term, she hopes the crafting community can use the shop not only for supplies, but to host workshops and classes there as well.
The store hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
