A.C. Moore Shutting Down Stores, Including In Orange

ORANGE, CT — The national arts and crafts retailer A.C. Moore announced Monday that it will close all of its stores, which includes one in Christmas Tree Plaza in Orange. The chain, owned by Nicole Crafts, said it has decided to "exit its retail operations" by closing all A.C. Moore stores "as part of a broader strategic plan."

In addition to the Orange location, the company operates three other stores in Connecticut in Plainville, New London and Manchester.

In all, the chain had several dozen stores, mostly in the Northeast, and under the transition, as many as 40 A.C. Moore stores will become Michaels, according to officials. The locations to become Michaels have not yet been named.

Over the past year, several national retailers with locations in Connecticut have, or plan to, shut down operations, including Olympia Sports (8 CT locations), Forever 21 (4 CT locations) and Avenue (5 CT locations), among others.

At the same time, a new mall recently opened in Norwalk called The SoNo Collection, which is expected to house at least 70 retailers. Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom, H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch, White House Black Market and UNTUCKit are among the stores to open at The SoNo Collection.

Besides shuttering its stores, A.C. Moore also ceased online orders as of Monday. Previously placed orders will ship, the company said.

The closures are due to "headwinds facing many retailers," said Anthony Piperno, A.C. Moore CEO. The first A.C. Moore store opened in 1985.

"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," Piperno said. "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."

Closing plans for specific A.C. Moore locations will be released in the upcoming weeks.

"We are looking forward to re-opening these stores under the Michaels name in 2020 and welcoming new team members," said Michaels CEO Mark Cosby.

— Kara Seymour, Patch Staff contributed to this report.