Hobby Lobby facts for kids
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Hobby Lobby store in Onalaska, Wisconsin
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Formerly
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Hobby Lobby Creative Centers |
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| Private | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | August 3, 1972, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. (as Hobby Lobby Creative Centers) |
| Founder | David Green |
| Headquarters |
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
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U.S.
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Number of locations
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1,001 |
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Area served
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United States |
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Key people
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| Products | Arts and crafts supplies |
| Revenue |  $7.9 billion (2023) |
| Owner | Green family |
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Number of employees
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43,000+ (2020) |
Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. is a large American company that sells arts and crafts supplies. It used to be known as Hobby Lobby Creative Centers. This company owns a chain of stores that sell many different items for hobbies and crafts. In 2018, the company made over $5 billion in sales. Today, there are 1,001 Hobby Lobby stores across 48 states in the U.S. The Green family started Hobby Lobby. They wanted to run the business based on their Christian beliefs. The company also includes American conservative values and Christian media in its operations.
The Story of Hobby Lobby
The first Hobby Lobby store opened in 1972 in Oklahoma City. It was started by David Green. He had worked as a supervisor at a different store called TG&Y. Green decided to leave his job to open a second Hobby Lobby store in Oklahoma City in 1975. The next year, he opened another store in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
By the middle of 1982, Hobby Lobby had grown to seven stores. The first store outside of Oklahoma opened in 1984. In the early 1980s, David Green tried selling other things like furniture and fancy cookware. But this didn't work well when the economy slowed down, and the company lost money. So, he decided to focus mainly on arts and crafts again. By late 1992, the chain had grown to 50 stores in seven different U.S. states.
Hobby Lobby is a company owned by Christians. Because of this, it uses American conservative values and Christian media in its business. David Green, whose father was a preacher, says on the Hobby Lobby website that they aim to "Honor the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with Biblical principles." Just like the restaurant chain Chick-fil-A, all Hobby Lobby stores are closed on Sundays. Signs on their doors explain that this is to "allow employees time for family and worship."
Hobby Lobby has also worked to pay its employees well. On September 14, 2020, the company announced that its minimum hourly wage for full-time workers would go up to $17. This change started on October 1, 2020. Before this, the minimum wage was $15, set in 2014. They continued this trend by raising the full-time minimum hourly wage to $18.50, starting on January 1, 2022. They also increased the minimum hourly wage for part-time workers by 18% to $13. Hobby Lobby says it has raised its minimum wage twelve times in thirteen years, up to 2021.
Where You Can Find Hobby Lobby Stores
As of 2023, Hobby Lobby has 1,001 stores. These stores are located in 48 states across the U.S. The only states without a Hobby Lobby store are Alaska and Hawaii.
Hobby Lobby often looks for large buildings to rent. They prefer places that were once big supermarkets, hardware stores, or Kmart stores. These buildings are usually in suburban areas where many people live and have good incomes. By renting older, existing buildings, Hobby Lobby can save a lot of money on rent. They can save 50% to 70% compared to building a brand new store. This helps them stay competitive in the arts and crafts business. Their stores can be very large, up to 90,000 square feet (8,400 m2) (about the size of 1.5 football fields). People often travel from 10–15-mile (16–24 km) away to shop at these stores.
