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For San Antonio residents who remember shopping for fabric and craft supplies at JOANN on Bandera Road, the familiar storefront at Bandera Pointe has entered a new chapter — and the retailer taking its place is doing more than simply filling the shelves.

Michaels celebrated the grand opening of its new store at 11655 Bandera Road in San Antonio on Friday, Sept. 11, welcoming families, makers and shoppers into a roughly 25,000-square-foot space formerly occupied by JOANN Fabrics.

The location is especially notable because it introduces shoppers to Michaels’ emerging experiential, next-generation store format, a concept designed to make a visit to the craft store more interactive, social and customizable than the traditional supply-shopping trip.

A New Kind of Michaels Comes to Northwest San Antonio

Michaels has been developing a new generation of stores that blends traditional arts-and-crafts retail with spaces where customers can create, personalize, learn and celebrate.

The company debuted the format in Easton, Ohio, before expanding it to Irving, Texas, and Rogers, Arkansas. Michaels has described those stores as testing grounds for features it may eventually introduce more broadly across its North American store network.

The Bandera Pointe store brings many of those ideas to San Antonio.

Inside, shoppers can find inspirational displays designed around projects and celebrations, along with expanded services, customization stations, flexible classroom areas and upgraded space for parties and events.

That means the store is intended to function as more than a place to pick up paint, yarn or floral supplies. Michaels' broader strategy is increasingly focused on giving customers reasons to spend time in stores — whether they are learning a craft, personalizing a project, planning a birthday party or looking for inspiration before deciding what to make.

The company's newer concept stores feature distinct shopping areas for categories such as Knit & Sew, Fine Arts, Floral & Greenery and celebrations, as well as expanded personalization services. Some locations also feature interactive candy, favor, charm, patch and marker stations and trend-driven inspiration areas.

Former JOANN Store Finds a Familiar Creative Successor

The choice of location carries particular significance for local crafters.

The Bandera Pointe space previously housed JOANN Fabrics, which closed along with the rest of the retailer's stores after JOANN entered bankruptcy proceedings and wound down its retail operations in 2025.

Michaels later acquired JOANN's intellectual property and private-label brands, including the popular Big Twist yarn brand, while substantially expanding its own fabric, sewing and yarn offerings.

That relationship makes the transition on Bandera Road unusual: a former JOANN store is now occupied by the retailer that has incorporated pieces of JOANN's former merchandise identity into its own stores.

Michaels subsequently launched The Knit & Sew Shop at Michaels, combining the JOANN and Michaels names in a dedicated store-within-a-store concept offering yarn, thread, sewing notions and fabric at many locations. Michaels said in 2025 that it had expanded fabric into more than 840 stores and planned additional growth.

For former JOANN customers searching for fabric stores in San Antonio, sewing supplies near Bandera Road, yarn shops or quilting supplies, the new Michaels could therefore fill at least part of the gap left by the previous tenant.

$700,000 Renovation Transforms 25,000-Square-Foot Space

Public project information for the new Michaels identified the work as a redevelopment of approximately 25,017 square feet inside the Bandera Pointe Shopping Center.

The renovation carried an estimated construction cost of $700,000 and included mechanical, electrical and plumbing work as well as the installation of a dedicated fire riser.

Construction was scheduled to begin May 1, with a listed project completion date of Sept. 15.

The redevelopment allowed Michaels to reuse a sizable existing retail space rather than construct a new building — bringing another major tenant into an established shopping center along one of northwest San Antonio's busiest retail corridors.

Earlier reporting on the project also identified the Bandera Pointe location as a former JOANN store being converted into Michaels.

Grand Opening Brings Crafts, Local Food and Family Activities

Michaels marked the San Antonio store opening with a free community celebration Friday, beginning with a 9 a.m. ribbon cutting.

The five-hour event included a Local Makers Market craft fair, armadillo racing, a mechanical bull, dunk tank, flamenco dancers, children's games, pet adoptions and live demonstrations.

Several San Antonio-area businesses and organizations were invited to take part, including The Chill Stop, The Jiggly Wiggly, Kar's Shaved Ice, Team Birria Taco Truck, Blooming Bean Coffee, Rustico Coffee, Texas Roadhouse, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Best Friends Animal Society and the 100 Club of San Antonio.

That mix of local vendors, nonprofit organizations, entertainment and hands-on activities also reflected the broader philosophy behind the company's evolving store design: turning a retail visit into something closer to a community experience.

Michaels Is Betting on Experiences, Not Just Merchandise

The changes happening inside Michaels stores come as the company expands beyond its traditional reputation as primarily an arts-and-crafts supply retailer.

Its party business has become an increasingly important part of that strategy. Michaels announced this year that it was expanding its dedicated party assortment by 60%, adding nearly 600 products and introducing interactive customization areas including Favor, Candy and DIY Banner bars.

Michaels also offers in-store birthday parties, private gatherings and craft events. Current offerings include guided children's birthday parties, private events for teens and adults and classroom rentals, along with recurring hands-on craft programs.

The concept reflects a broader attempt to give customers experiences that cannot be replicated as easily through online shopping: touching materials, trying products, making something with other people and receiving help with customization in person.

For northwest San Antonio families, crafters, teachers, DIY enthusiasts and event planners, that could make the Bandera Road Michaels as much a destination for things to do in San Antonio as a place to purchase supplies.

What San Antonio Shoppers Can Expect Next

Michaels has said its next-generation stores are helping the company determine which features resonate most with shoppers before expanding successful ideas to additional locations. The company plans to continue opening concept stores and bringing selected enhancements into existing Michaels locations.

That makes the Bandera Pointe opening worth watching beyond the arrival of another retailer.

For a shopping center that lost JOANN, the new Michaels preserves a connection to the site's longtime crafting community while introducing a considerably different approach to what an arts-and-crafts store can be.

Instead of simply replacing one craft retailer with another, the transition brings San Antonio shoppers a glimpse of where Michaels believes physical retail is headed: somewhere to shop, certainly, but also somewhere to make, learn, personalize and spend time together.

Stay tuned to My Neighborhood News for more San Antonio business openings, new restaurants, retail developments and community updates.

By Tiffany Krenek, My Neighborhood News 

Tiffany Krenek has been on the My Neighborhood News team since August 2021. She is passionate about curating and sharing content that enriches the lives of our readers in a personal, meaningful way. A loving mother and wife, Tiffany and her family live in the West Houston/Cypress region.

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