A former Joann fabric and craft store is getting new life, if only for a weekend: hundreds of Southern Californians are expected to flock there in search of new art, clothing, decor and an afternoon of shared crafting.
This is the mission behind Lauren Tetef Open house creative festivalwhich will take place June 27-28 from the former Joann location at the Del Amo Fashion Center mall in Torrance, California.
The event is both an artisan market and a series of workshops where guests can learn new skills directly from the makers behind what they purchase.
“As an attendee, you get a little taste of what someone does,” says Tetef, 40, a longtime event producer. “You can sit down and metaphorically break bread with them, have a conversation with them, get to know them. And in doing so, you’re much more invested in their business.”
A weekend of shopping and craftingAdmission to the Open House Creative Fest event is free to wander around and shop from about 25 vendors, each also hosting their own craft workshops. Creatives can purchase an activity passport, starting at $40, which will give them access to each booth’s activity.
For example, one participating florist plans to host sessions in which she guides visitors on how to arrange dried flowers on a greeting card that people can keep; another clothing seller plans to show people how to make a keychain by recycling old selvedge materials.
The Activity Passport will also give shoppers free access to the event’s “activity garden,” with tables filled with fabric, paper, paints and other art supplies to create their own projects.
“It’s my dream come true,” says Tetef, who attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles and was inspired by the campus’s free materials library. “I just want to go to a thing where everyone sits down and creates stuff.”
Save around $24,000 after layoffJust like the temporarily relaunched Joann space, the Tetef creative festival is a kind of comeback.
In March 2025, Tetef began working in corporate marketing, but says the import sector was affected by the Trump administration’s new tariff policy; Tetef says she was fired six months later, in August. Despite the unexpected turn of events, she said, “it was a good opportunity for me to figure something out: What should I do next?”
She started thinking about the Open House Creative Fest and sees it as an amalgamation of everything she’s done in her career.
Tetef previously worked as an events director and produced dozens of meetups, ranging from large-scale pop-up markets to intimate influencer events. About two years ago, she also started her own business, Flourish Locally, which hosts small business networking events and creative workshops like charm-making sessions.
Tetef says she and her family lived off her severance pay and her husband’s income. She took on event clients through her own business and set aside all of her income to fund the creative festival, saving around $24,000 in just a few months.
“It was such a special place for all of us”When Tetef was looking for a location, she says a leasing agent at Del Amo Fashion Center suggested the former Joann’s Fabric and Crafts store.
In February 2025, the company announced that it would close its entire operations. 800 fabric and craft stores after failing to find a buyer to stay in business.
Tetef paid $3,000 in rent, plus a $1,000 security deposit, to lease the Torrance mall space for a month and got the keys on June 1. Tetef says she spent a few thousand dollars more on expenses such as a cleaning crew, a construction crew to work on some store fixtures, decor and carpeting, vinyl to wrap the storefront, a photographer, supplies for the activity garden and more.
The event saw nearly 500 RSVPs on Eventbrite and Partiful and 70 pre-sale passport purchases, Tetef says, and she hopes weekend foot traffic to the mall might attract other visitors.
The significance of Tetef’s event in a former Joann store is not lost on him.
“It was such a special place for all of us,” Tetef says, “where you would just pick up your cart and wander the aisles and something would spark your imagination,” she says. “If [people] were in a creative obstacle, they could come here and find a solution. Everyone was touched by this space. »
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