Craft chain Hobby Lobby is opening a store in San Luis Obispo
The national crafts chain Hobby Lobby has confirmed it will open a store in San Luis Obispo, in the building formerly occupied by Gottschalks and Forever 21.
Hobby Lobby, a private company from Oklahoma that’s known for its religious activism, is working with the city on its planned tenant improvement at the 48,362-square-foot building between REI and Bed, Bath & Beyond.
“At this time we can confirm we have signed a lease,” media spokesperson for Hobby Lobby said. “We estimate it will open in April 2022.”
Michael Codron, SLO’s community development director, said that the business had multiple plan checks for its proposed tenant upgrades.
The latest plan check took place on Jan. 13, and the city is waiting for Hobby Lobby to re-submit its application for review by city staff, Codron said.
The space is the largest vacancy at the SLO Promenade shopping center, and the real estate firm marketing the property now shows it as leased in its marketing drawings.
“Hobby Lobby is approved and signed,“ said Justin Romain, of the real estate firm the Shopping Center Group. “They are in a pre-construction phase.”
With the Hobby Lobby coming, the largest remaining vacancy in the shopping center now is the 24,000-square-foot space once occupied by Staples next to World Market.
Hobby Lobby controversies
Hobby Lobby was founded by David and Barbara Green in 1970 and has grown into a chain of more than 900 stores built around Christian values, according to its website, where the family says it’s committed to “honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with Biblical principles.”
Over the years, Hobby Lobby has found itself at the center of multiple religious controversies.
In 2013, Hobby Lobby faced backlash after a New Jersey employee reportedly made anti-Semitic remarks to a customer who asked if the store sold decor for Jewish holidays. The worker allegedly said that Hobby Lobby “does not cater to your people,” according to Business Insider, for which the store’s founder and CEO, David Green, formally apologized.
In 2014, Hobby Lobby drew criticism when an “outcry arose over a new elective high school course in Mustang, Oklahoma, that used a textbook created by the Museum of the Bible and endorsed by the Hobby Lobby president, Steve Green,” according to Business Insider. Steve Green is the son of David Green.
“The Associated Press later obtained emails that found the school board had met privately with Green to discuss the addition of the course, in an effort ‘to get around an Oklahoma law that requires government bodies to be open to the public,’” Business Insider reported.
In June 2014, the Supreme Court rule in a 5-4 decision that Hobby Lobby had the right to withhold contraception from employees.
And in March 2020, Hobby Lobby kept its doors open amid the growing COVID-19 pandemic, claiming “it was destined to do so based on a message from God,” Business Insider noted.
An established national business
On its website, Hobby Lobby says it is the largest privately owned arts-and-crafts retailer in the world with over 43,000 employees in 47 states.
It offers framing, jewelry-making materials, fabrics, floral and wedding supplies, cards and party ware, baskets, wearable art, home accents and holiday merchandise.
The 50-year-old retailer opened a Santa Maria location last year in the 45,000-square-foot building that was formerly home to Toys R Us. And it has stores in the Central Valley and in Southern and Northern California. All Hobby Lobby stores are closed on Sunday.
In San Luis Obispo, the retailer will compete with Michael’s Arts and Craft store, which recently relocated to Madonna Plaza — next door to the SLO Promenade — moving from the other side of town to a space carved out from the old Sears building.
Hobby Lobby will fill the third of three storefronts created after Forever 21 closed its doors in January 2016.
This story was originally published February 22, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
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