Joann’s old fabric and craft store is getting new life, just in time for the weekend: Hundreds of Southern Californians are expected to visit for new art, clothing, decor and an afternoon of community art.
That’s the work behind Lauren Tetef’s Open House Creative Fest, which will run June 27 and 28 from Joann’s old location at the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, California.
The event is part artisan market, part workshop series where guests can learn new skills directly from the makers behind their purchases.
“As an attendee, you feel what the person is doing,” said Tetef, 40, a longtime event organizer. “You get to sit down and figuratively break bread with them, talk to them, get to know them. And by doing that, you’re more invested in their business.”
A weekend of shopping and making
Admission to the Open House Creative Fest is free to walk around and shop from about 25 vendors, each of whom will be hosting hands-on workshops. The artistically inclined can purchase an activity passport, starting at $40, which will give them access to each booth’s work.
For example, a participating florist plans to host sessions where they will guide guests in arranging dried flowers on a greeting card for people to keep; one clothing retailer plans to show people how to make a keychain by upcycling old selvage material.
The work passport will also give buyers free space in the event’s “work garden” with tables stocked with fabric, paper, paints and other art supplies to create their projects.
“This is my dream come true,” said Tetef, who attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles and was inspired by the campus’ free library. “I want to go to something where everyone sits down and does things.”
Save about $24,000 after layoff
Like Joann’s temporarily renovated space, Tetef’s creative fest is a comeback of sorts.
In March 2025, Tetef started a marketing business but says that the import-heavy business was affected by the new tax administration policy of the Trump administration; Tetef says he was fired six months later in August. Despite the unexpected turn of events, he says, “it was a great opportunity for me to figure something out: What do I do next?”
He started talking about Open House Creative Fest and considers it a combination of everything he has done in his career.
Tetef has worked as an event director and produced a number of events, from large emerging markets to intimate influencer events. About two years ago, she also started her own business, Flourish Locally, which hosts small business networking events and workshops such as charm-making sessions.
Tetef says that she and her family are living off of her severance check and her husband’s salary. She took on event clients for her business and set aside all her money to go to a creative party, saving about $24,000 in just a few months.
‘It was a very special place for all of us’
When Tetef was looking for a place, she says a leasing agent at Del Amo Fashion Center pitched her to Joann’s vintage store and craft store.
In February 2025, the company announced that it would close all of its nearly 800 textile and handicraft stores after failing to find a buyer to stay in business.
Tetef paid $3,000 in rent, and a $1,000 security deposit, to rent the Torrance mall space for a month, and received the keys on June 1. Tetef says he spent several thousand dollars more on expenses such as a cleaning crew, a construction crew to work on some of the store’s furnishings, decorations and landscaping, vinyl work for additional landscaping, vinyl work of folding.
The event has seen about 500 RSVPs across Eventbrite and Partiful and 70 pre-sale passport purchases, Tetef said, and he hopes the weekend walk to the mall may attract more visitors.
The importance of Tetef’s event being sent to Joann’s old store is not forgotten.
“It was a very special place for all of us,” said Tetef, “where you could just find your shopping cart and wander the aisles and something would spark your imagination,” he said. “If [people] they were at an old roadblock, they would come here and find a solution to it. Everyone is affected by this space.”
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