The letter from Paulsen to JoAnn legal counsel James Weikamp disputes the company’s assertions that the fabric retailer is considered an “essential business” under Evers’ order and that it has been providing personal protective equipment, or PPE, to health care facilities.

“Your own website states that the masks that are being made by JoAnn or using JoAnn materials are NOT PPE, but are made for health care workers for use they deem appropriate,” Paulsen wrote. “Your website states that these masks do not protect against the Coronavirus. Your website also lists facilities that have requested masks from JoAnn, and there is not a single hospital/clinic-type healthcare facility on that list from Wisconsin.”

Paulsen writes that Madison police have reported that the company’s Far East Side store, located at 2021 Zeier Road, was lighted and “leaving merchandise outside the doors for customers to pick up,” and she asks the company to stop the practice and keep its two stores “100% closed.” The company’s other store is on the West Side at 6741 Odana Road.

In an email, Amanda Hayes of JoAnn Fabric corporate communications said all of the company’s stores in Wisconsin are now closed but that in other states it’s been deemed an “essential business” and provides the health care supply chain with fabric.