Hobby Lobby is one of the biggest retailers in the country and arguably the biggest that focuses on arts and crafts.
However, if you’re just now learning about the company, you might be interested in having all the important information, which you can discover by reading through this article!
Key Takeaways
What Is Hobby Lobby In 2022?
Hobby Lobby is an arts and crafts retail company that was formed in Oklahoma City in 1972 by David Green. Green is a conservative Christian and these values are reflected in the company’s operations. The company has over 900 stores all within the U.S. and an online retail platform as of 2022. The company headquarters are also in Oklahoma City.
Read on to learn everything you need to know about Hobby Lobby, including its store locations, salaries, hours and more!
What Does Hobby Lobby Do?
Hobby Lobby sells arts and crafts supplies from its more than 900 locations and online retail store.
Who Owns Hobby Lobby?
Hobby Lobby is owned by David Green, who is also the company’s founder and CEO, while his son, Steve Green, is the President.
Green lives in Oklahoma and is a member of the Council Road Baptist Church. He is a fundamentalist Christian who runs the company using the same values.
What Does Hobby Lobby Sell?
Hobby Lobby deals primarily with arts and crafts supplies, but also sells items in other categories such as decor, party favors, and gifts for special occasions like birthday cards.
The company website lists the following broad categories:
- Home decor and frames
- Scrapbook and paper crafts
- Crafts and hobbies
- Fabric and sewing
- Yarn and needle art
- Art supplies
- Floral and wedding
- Party and baking
- Seasonal
- Beads and jewelry
- Wearable art
What Is the Difference Between Hobby Lobby and Michaels?
One of the key differences between Hobby Lobby and Michaels is that Hobby Lobby is privately owned, while Michael’s is publicly owned.
Several people who have compared Hobby Lobby and Michaels to find out which is better have reported that it’s pretty close because they each have different strengths and weaknesses.
Where Is Hobby Lobby Located?
Hobby Lobby only has stores in the U.S., and it doesn’t provide international shipping even when you buy online.
The company has over 900 stores spread out across every state except Alaska, Vermont, DC, and Hawaii.
There are also no stores in the U.S. territories like Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam.
Hobby Lobby ships to every state except Alaska, Hawaii, and the above-mentioned territories.
Company headquarters are located at 7707 SW 44th St. Oklahoma City, OK 73179. Apart from the corporate offices, Hobby Lobby also has its distribution and manufacturing hubs at this address.
What Is Hobby Lobby’s Return Policy?
Hobby Lobby lets customers return items bought in a store if 90 days have not passed. If you bought online, you can still return the items, but they must not be opened or used.
If the return is approved, you can get a refund, exchange the item, or get store credit. Note that you don’t get the shipping and handling fees back unless the company decides that the return is due to an error it’s responsible for.
If you bought the item online and the value of the transaction where you ordered it was more than $250, then you have to ship it back to the distribution hub. Otherwise, you can return everything else to a store near you.
You can return items without a receipt if you used a credit or debit card to pay. If you used cash, it’s going to be almost impossible if you don’t have the receipt.
What Are Hobby Lobby’s Hours?
Hobby Lobby is usually open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Mondays to Saturdays, and all stores are always closed on Sundays.
During certain holidays, their stores might either be closed or operating with fewer hours, usually closing at 5:30 p.m.
What Is Hobby Lobby’s Starting Pay?
Hobby Lobby recently announced that it was going to be raising the minimum wage for full time workers to $18.50 an hour. For part time employees, the rate is about $13 an hour.
This rate is more than double the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and more than California’s $15 an hour, the highest in any state.
What Is Hobby Lobby’s Employee Discount?
Hobby Lobby provides a 15% discount for all its employees.
What Is Hobby Lobby’s Phone Number?
You can contact Hobby Lobby’s main offices at 1-800-888-0321. This line is for general queries, but if you want information from a specific location such as if it has a certain item in stock, you can find the individual store numbers using the online store finder.
What Are the Values of Hobby Lobby?
Hobby Lobby follows the conservative Christian values of its founder, which shows up in different ways when it comes to how the company is run.
For starters, Hobby Lobby sticks out among major retailers in the country by choosing to remain closed on Sundays. The official position of the company is that this gives the employees time for “worship and family.”
In 2014, an employee took them to court because they refused to pay for contraceptives under the employee medical insurance.
This case made it all the way to the supreme court where it was argued that the company’s fundamentalist Christian beliefs were enough to justify the refusal, and Hobby Lobby ultimately won.
A lot of the company’s statements also make clear references to Christianity. The official website states its core values as the following:
- Honoring God in everything and running the business in ways that follow the teachings of the Bible
- Providing a return on the (presumably Green) family’s investments, “sharing the Lord’s blessings… and investing in the community”
- Providing customers with good value and selection
- Providing services to its employees and their relatives by creating company policies and a work environment that strengthens them and builds character
Why Did Hobby Lobby Stop Selling Halloween Stuff?
In 2021, people noticed that Hobby Lobby was no longer selling items related to Halloween as it did for other holidays.
Some of those who asked at the stores were told that it’s because Halloween does not fit in with the company’s religious beliefs.
Hobby Lobby has yet to confirm this, but it is very likely the case because it fits in with what is established in the section above.
Why Did Hobby Lobby Stop Selling Mardi Gras?
Shoppers at Hobby Lobby recently noticed that the stock of items related to Mardi Gras had remained depleted for a long time, leading to speculations that the store had stopped supporting the event.
Like the Halloween issue mentioned above, the theory is that it’s down to the conservative Christian beliefs Hobby Lobby is based around. However, note that this reasoning has yet to be confirmed by the company.
Why Did Hobby Lobby Buy Stolen Items?
This question often comes up in relation to a case where Hobby Lobby was caught smuggling stolen artifacts worth $1.6 million into the country.
These artifacts were intended to go into the company owner’s collection of artifacts related to the Bible and were coming in from the United Arab Emirates.
It was discovered that they had been stolen from Iraq and were being smuggled into the U.S. without their true background or origin being stated.
According to reports revealed during the ordeal, the company was warned about the shady origin of the items but the warnings went ignored.
These artifacts were seized in transit by customs and the case began. It went on from 2011 to 2017 and Hobby Lobby lost, having to return the artifacts and pay a fine of $3 million.
Why Did Hobby Lobby Buy Gilgamesh?
This question is related to the case detailed above, as the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet was one of the stolen artifacts seized in Hobby Lobby’s possession.
It was bought with the intention of displaying it in the Museum of the Bible, which was founded by the company’s founder and CEO.
To know more, you can also see our posts on whether or not Hobby Lobby does custom framing, if Hobby Lobby sells fabric, and where is Hobby Lobby.
Conclusion
Hobby Lobby is a retail chain founded in 1972 by David Green. It focuses on arts and crafts but the store also carries other items such as party favors, decor and more.
The corporate headquarters, manufacturing and distribution hubs are all located in the same complex in Oklahoma City.