The company has said it pays full-time employees at the store $15 an hour and part-time employees $10 an hour. The new 55,000-square-foot store is in the former Stein Mart location at 6111 Newberry Road, east of The Oaks Mall. Departments include floral, fabric, needle art, custom framing, baskets, home accents, wearable art, arts and crafts, jewelry making, scrapbooking and paper crafting supplies. Hobby Lobby Stores, based in Oklahoma City, offers more than 70,000 crafting and home decor products at 581 stores nationwide. Let it be a light for your gospel in this community.”Ībout 15 protesters then turned their backs to the proceedings.Īnd then Donato cut the blue ribbon with oversized scissors and welcomed shoppers into the store. We ask that you would bless all the employees and every single customer that’s going to walk through the doors of this store. “This morning, we just pray that you would bless this store and bless this community that it’s a part of, God. “We’re thankful for a company that stands for Christian values, God,” he said as part of his prayer. Jesse Grandstaff provides chaplain services to store managers and was there to open the store with a prayer in accordance with owner David Green’s wishes. “On behalf of our 1,200 members, businesses in this community, I want to say congratulations on a great job. They’re so friendly and willing to help with anything.”ĭeborah Bowie, a vice president with the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber was there to conduct the ribbon cutting to welcome the new business.
“And they have just such a great selection at really low prices, and customer service is top-notch. “There’s been so much negative media surrounding it that’s not all necessarily true that I think that a lot of Christians really want to rally around this business and show people what it’s really about and support it,” she said. Augustine just to shop at Hobby Lobby stores and has been counting down the days for the new store with an app on her smartphone.įor the Gainesville woman - who enjoys painting and scrapbooking - Hobby Lobby offers all of the amenities of a big-box store that serves her hobbies and a chance to support the Christian values of its owners, especially in light of the recent Supreme Court controversy.
Maddie Ward lined up early Monday morning for the official grand opening of the Gainesville Hobby Lobby, already her fifth visit since the store’s soft opening late last week.