A.C. Moore closing all stores, including 4 on LI

Arts and crafts retailer A.C. Moore will close all of its 145 stores, including the four on Long Island, parent company Nicole Crafts has announced.

The Berlin, New Jersey-based company indicated on Monday that fellow craft retailer Michaels will take over up to 40 A.C. Moore locations in 2020, but did not indicate which stores would transition to that company’s banner. Michaels will also take over an East Coast distribution center, and purchase A.C. Moore’s intellectual property.

On Long Island, A.C. Moore has locations in Bethpage, Carle Place, Holbrook and Selden, according to its website. Michaels has a dozen stores on the Island, from Valley Stream to Patchogue.

In addition to announcing store closures, A.C. Moore stopped taking online orders on Monday, but said that it would fulfill orders that had already been placed.

“For over 30 years, our stores have been servicing the creative community with a vast selection of art and craft materials, with one common focus, the customer,” A.C. Moore CEO Anthony Piperno said in a release. “Unfortunately, given the headwinds facing many retailers in today’s environment, it made it very difficult for us to operate and compete on a national level.”

A timeline for closings was not announced, but will be available in coming weeks, the company said.

Michaels is the largest arts and crafts chain retailer in the nation with more than 1,200 stores in 49 states and Canada. Having some A.C. Moore stores reopen under the Michaels brand will “employ our valued team members in those locations,” Piperno said.

A.C. Moore was initially founded in 1985 in Moorestown, New Jersey, and is now based in Berlin. It currently employs more than 5,000 people.  — with Newsday staff