Business Insider/Jessica Tyler Hobby Lobby sells all sorts of arts-and-crafts supplies as well as tons of home decor.
- Hobby Lobby, the privately owned arts-and-crafts store chain, currently operates 800 stores across 47 states. It plans to open 60 more stores and hire 2,500 new employees in 2018.
- Hobby Lobby has been at the center of a number of controversies over the years.
- We recently visited a Hobby Lobby in Commack, New York. Here's what it's like to shop there.
Even though many stores are closing their doors right now, Hobby Lobby continues to grow.
The privately owned arts-and-crafts giant currently operates about 800 stores across 47 states. In 2017, it opened 63 new stores, which included 12 stores that had been relocated. In early 2018, Hobby Lobby announced it would be continuing to grow, opening an additional 60 stores and hiring around 2,500 new employees in 2018.
The retailer has been at the center of quite a few controversies over the years. It challenged an Obamacare mandate on the grounds that the requirement to cover contraceptives like Plan B and Ella violated the company's owners' religious liberties, since they equate use of the drugs to abortion. In 2014, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the crafts chain.
In 2017, Hobby Lobby agreed to pay $3 million and forfeit ancient artifacts that were smuggled into the United States. Just a few months later, Hobby Lobby's president, Steve Green, was a driving force behind the opening of The Museum of The Bible, which faced criticism for its decision to display the Confederate flag and pro-slavery texts in an attempt to understand the Bible's role in the Civil War.
But it's also been in the news for more lighthearted reasons. Earlier this year, Hobby Lobby stores were featured in a viral photo challenge in which teens used craft-store merchandise and displays to take artistic photos and post them on Twitter and Instagram.
We visited a Hobby Lobby in Commack, New York, to see what the craft store was like. Here's what it's like to shop there: