Hobby Lobby

Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

Hobby Lobby in Stow, Ohio
Type	Privately held corporation
Industry	Retail
Founded	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (August 1972 (1972-08))
Number of locations	600 stores (2015)
Key people	David Green (CEO) Jon Cargill (CFO)
Products	Arts and crafts supplies
Revenue	US$ 3.3 billion (2013)[1]
Number of employees	23,000[1]
Website	www.hobbylobby.com

Hobby Lobby is a chain of retail arts and crafts stores based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, formerly called Hobby Lobby Creative Centers. The stores are managed by direct corporate hires.^[2]

History

David Green opened the first Hobby Lobby store, in a 300-square-foot (28 m²) space in northwest Oklahoma City, in 1972.^[3] Retail sales were $3,200 from August to the end of the year.^[4] He moved to a larger 1,000 square foot space in January 1973. A second store in Oklahoma City opened in 1975, and a store opened in Tulsa, Oklahoma the next year.^[3] It grew to seven stores by mid 1982,^[4] and the first store outside Oklahoma opened in 1984.^[3]

By the start of 1989, the chain had about 15 stores. By late 1992, it had grown to 50 locations in seven states,^[5] and its growth continued to accelerate. Its 100th store opened in August 1995,^[6] and its 200th in August 1999.^[7] By March 2002, that number had grown to 281 stores in 24 states,^[8] and 310 by October 2003.^[3]

As of April 2015, the chain has 600 stores nationwide with the headquarters building in a 3,400,000-square-foot (320,000 m²) manufacturing, distribution, and office complex.^[9]

Business practices

Hobby Lobby stores and facilities are open for business every day with the exception of Sunday^[10] due to Green's Christian beliefs. He wanted his employees to have more time to spend for worship, rest, and family, even at the expense of profits.^[11] Hobby Lobby sites play a mixture of light jazz, classical, bluegrass, contemporary, and a variety of music styles such as pop and country over their speakers in stores, distributed by satellite from the Oklahoma City headquarters to each store. A large percentage of the music also incorporates old elevator music.^[12]

Rather than using a barcode system, the company uses manual pricing for product ordering and accounting. The website states they "continue to look at and review the option of scanning at the registers but do not feel it is right for [them] at this time".^[11]

Opposition to Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

David Green has taken a public stance against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, citing its inclusion of a provision mandating that companies provide access to the morning-after pill, which some consider an abortifacient.^[13]

In September 2012, Hobby Lobby filed a lawsuit against the United States over new regulations requiring health insurance provided by employers to cover emergency contraceptives, stating: "(t)he Green family's religious beliefs forbid them from participating in, providing access to, paying for, training others to engage in, or otherwise supporting abortion-causing drugs and devices".^[14][15] Hobby Lobby argued that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act serve to protect their religious beliefs, and accordingly bars the application of the contraceptive mandate to them.^[16] The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the company's application for an injunction, prompting the firm to sue the federal government.^[17][18] On July 19, 2013, US District Judge Joe Heaton granted the company a temporary exemption from the contraceptive-providing mandate.^[19]

In contrast, on January 28, 2014, the Center for Inquiry filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court^[20] arguing that were the court to grant Hobby Lobby an exclusion which permitted the company to exclude any specific healthcare service from its provision to employees on the basis of the owners' religious beliefs, the firm would violate the Establishment Clause, also part of the First Amendment. The Establishment Clause states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion".

Oral arguments in the case, then known as Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby, were heard on March 25, 2014.^[21]

On April 1, 2014, Mother Jones stated that the employee 401(k) plan, for which Hobby Lobby matches employee contributions, has more than $73 million invested in mutual funds, some of which invest in manufacturers of contraception, including some forms which are specifically named in the complaint, even though there exist several boutique mutual funds that specifically screen companies that are not in line with their client's religious beliefs.^[22]

Supreme Court decision

On June 30, 2014, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Hobby Lobby and other "closely held" stock corporations can choose to be exempt from the law based on religious preferences, based on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act but not on the First Amendment.^[23][24]

Holiday merchandise controversy

In September 2013, a shopper reported being told by a store employee, in Marlboro, New Jersey, Hobby Lobby did not carry merchandise celebrating Jewish holidays. While the store carried Christmas items, they did not carry items related to bar mitzvah, Hanukkah, or Passover. The store employee told the shopper these items were not sold due to the owner's Christian values.^[25][26] In response, Hobby Lobby apologized for the employee's comments, stating that it has carried Jewish holiday items in the past and would do so in test areas beginning in November 2013.^[27]

References

External links

• Official web site
• Voices of Oklahoma interview with David Green