Is Hobby Lobby going out of business or just a rumor? Hobby Lobby is an American company that owns art supplies stores throughout the country. It is a retail company and had a turnover of 5 billion in 2018. The brand worked on the principles of Christianity and often celebrated Christian views through its products and advertisements. Its founder is David Green, who founded the company in 1972 in Oklahoma, United States of America.
His idea behind the products was to make Art and craft intriguing for students of all ages. All the products sold by the company could be used by children and adults as well as older adults. The company has had over 43000 employees working with them for a very long period.
This signifies that the organization was significant and had worked profitably since its establishment. It was one of the pioneering stores to bring the idea of commercializing Art and craft and doing a business out of it. They currently have over 969 stores in the whole United States of America. The brand has new stores outside the country, although they export their stuff.
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History of the Hobby Lobby brand
The founder of the brand, David Green, was initially working as a supervisor and some stores before he came up with the idea of the brand. After opening the first store in Oklahoma City, he came up with the second one in Tulsa.
Green successfully managed to open seven stores by the middle of 1982. The four stores opened outside the state of Oklahoma were established in 1984. Then Green had the idea to expand his business to a greater extent by introducing his own line of Furniture and cookware in the business.
But this could have been more successful among the public and caused a lot of losses in the business. As a result, the brand had to withdraw the production of Furniture and cookware and resort to Arts and crafts. By 1992 they had opened above 50 stores in the United States of America, which was an outstanding achievement. Within 20 years of the brand establishment, it was already a profitable venture that had seen its fair share of failures.
Who influence about Hobby Lobby?
The brand has always influenced Christianity and has actively shared Christian values with its customers. One can quickly tell that it has always been a part of the Christian media. David Green’s father was a preacher, which is why he had a significant influence on religion on himself. In his own words, he has said his brand is just devoted to good and honors him by working on his given principles and showing the path. All the stores are closed on Sundays, so families can spend their time praying together in churches.
The company has also always been very generous with the villages that they offered to their employees. Since 2014 their minimum wage rate has been $15 an hour. In 2020 they announced that they would increase their minimum wage rate to $17 an hour. As of January, the minimum wage rate at Hobby Lobby is $18.5 an hour. The company claims to have increased its minimum wage rate by 13 times by 2021.
Is Hobby Lobby out of business?
Of late, there have been rumors that Hobby Lobby has gone out of business. The brand has decided to shut off its stores, and all the products by this company will no longer be available in the market. This brand has been subjected to many controversies in the past but still has managed to maintain a space for itself in the market. Over the years, it has grown as a business, but now with the rumors that the brand is shutting off are hard to comprehend.
But as per the CEO of Hobby Lobby, the company has not gone out of business, and he is merely giving it away. As per sources, the whole rumor was started on Facebook, after which it gained popularity among users. It was then shared a lot of times which led to this entire misconception.
Many posts on Facebook have claimed that all Hobby Lobby stores will be shut down by the end of this year. But contrary to that, the hobby lobby has been growing as a business, and there are no reasons why the company would be shut down.
The company has been doing very well in profit-making and has introduced a lot of new lines into its brand. Also, we can assess that despite its huge success, the company has yet to expand internationally. This means that they are complacent with the money they are making in the United States of America and do not want to earn even more as they don’t feel the need to.
David Green is giving away the company
On October 21, 2022, David Green announced that he would give away his company in trust. Advocating religion as the driving force behind his company’s success, he is sad that God has been the sole reason for the wealth he has made.
He said that although he had been advised by all his attorneys and legal advisors to pass down the company to his son and grandsons, he felt it was unfair. According to him, wealth is a course, and he doesn’t want to give the responsibility of such a big company to somebody who is stillborn. This is why he has transferred hundred percent shares of Hobby Lobby to a trust.
His intricate details of all the legal process had yet to be revealed. It has been assumed that they will still have a significant role in the company’s operation but will get a fixed salary. The profit-making and profit will go to the trust and other philanthropic organizations.
He said he has made a conscious effort to ensure he doesn’t enjoy the company’s profit anymore.
Controversies related Hobby Lobby
This brand has been accused of many controversial acts throughout its operation. Since it’s a Christian-conscious brand, it has made a lot of offensive statements about things against Christianity.
The brand was accused of being homophobic and making antisemitic statements. It has offended people of the LGBTQ community and has also been discriminating among employees based on their religion. This caused a considerable market uproar, and many people decided to boycott the brand.
The founder of the company David Green who is a stern believer in Christianity is against abortions which is why he stood up against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He is against the belief that walking organizations should provide employees with contraceptive pills as he couldn’t support abortion-causing medicines and devices.
Hobby Lobby has also been accused of being anti-Jewish and not selling Jewish merchandise.
The brand had literally no merchandise that celebrated any Jewish holidays, which was termed very discriminatory by the Jewish people. Later, David Green extended an open apology to all the Jewish people and promised to relaunch the Jewish merchandise. This issue was re-examined in 2017 by Snopes, and they came to the conclusion that the brand still needs to start selling Jewish merchandise.
Some Facts About Hobby lobby
In 2009, Hobby lobby was involved in the purchase of smuggled items. They were initially warned and asked to stop this trade as everything they were purchasing was looted from Iraq for the Museum of Bible. The Museum of the Bible was sponsored by the hobby lobby, and they were helping them in building up the museum with precious and essential things related to history.
In 2018 they were directed by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York to return all the items. They also had to pay a fine of US$3 million. They had to return 5500 articles, of which 4300 were tablets from the lost city of Irisagrig. All of these items were delivered to Hobby Lobby as samples, which was illegal.
Later on, the centerpiece of the Museum of the Bible was also declared fake. They also had to return over 11,000 items to Egypt as they were their real owners. The idea of the Museum of Bible became very controversial for Hobby Lobby and caused them a vast deal of embarrassment and debt. They had to get out of so much legal trouble and pay many fines.
Pandemic effects on Hobby Lobby
During the coronavirus pandemic in March, when the whole world was shut down, Hobby Lobby decided and declared to remain open. They said themselves as essential services because they manufactured and sold school supplies. On top of it, they also sold fabrics, so according to them, both were critical needs, which is why they decided to keep all their stores open even when everything shut off.
But in April, when the conditions worsened, they decided to shut down their stores. They also did not pay anything to their employees during the lockdown period and declined any paid vacation. This caused considerable distress among the employees as they had to sustain themselves without any financial help.
What will happen next for Hobby Lobby?
The future of Hobby lobby is currently unclear as David Green has yet to reveal who will take the driver’s seat of the company. He has just announced that he will no longer be the operational head and decision-maker of the company. Hobby lobby Wo sound in 1972 after David and his wife took a loan of $600 from the bank. According to Forbes, David has a net worth of $14 billion.
He has made a lot of profit from this company throughout the years and has yet to make more money. The brand has continuously been operated under the principles of Christianity and the influence of Jesus, as per David Green. he has just announced that a hundred percent of the company’s voting stock has been transferred to a trust. Now people need clarification about the future prospects of this company. It has always been a very profitable venture that has stood the test of time. Although it has been subjected to many controversies, it still finds a way to bounce back. We can expect David Green to release some more insights into what he is planning and how he will execute it. In fact, the decision of this stock transfer was also very unexpected. The next thing to be announced from David Green’s side will also be surprising.
Conclusion
The news of Hobby Lobby being out of business is totally untrue. It was a consequence of a rumor spread by a group of people on social media that gained a lot of momentum because the news was intriguing. Later, the information was disrupted and cleared by the founder of Hobby Lobby, David Green.
He surprised the public by announcing that he would be transferring the hundred percent stock voting rights to a trust. This is a conscious decision he has made to help the people of the world and distance himself from the insatiable lust for money. How this company will function is a question that everybody is trying to find an answer to.
The detailed plan for this transition has yet to be released by anyone from the company. All we know right now is that David will no longer be the company’s backbone. In a way, he has announced his retirement.
The employees of Hobby Lobby need clarification about their future. The brand has constantly been subjected to many controversies due to its founder’s very stiff Christian principles. Now that the founder has decided to distance himself from the brand, we may see some new policies. The whole criteria of functioning of this brand might change because of new leaders and decision-makers. We can assume right now as we do not have concrete information. Let’s hope the brand gets better with time and remains in the market for the coming years.