Hobby Lobby Stores

Who owns Hobby Lobby?
Hobby Lobby is owned by the Green family. Founder David Green and his descendants control the company privately, and it has never sold shares publicly or taken outside institutional investment.

Is Hobby Lobby publicly traded?
No. Hobby Lobby is a private, family-owned company with no stock listing. It cannot be invested in through public markets.

When was Hobby Lobby founded?
David Green began making picture frames in his Oklahoma City garage in 1970 and opened the first Hobby Lobby store in 1972. The company now operates more than 1,000 stores.

Who founded Hobby Lobby?
David Green founded the business in 1970 and opened the first store in 1972. His children and grandchildren continue to run the company as a family-owned enterprise.

What is Hobby Lobby's market position?
Hobby Lobby is the largest arts and crafts retailer in the US by store count, with more than 1,000 locations. Alongside Michaels, it is one of two dominant national craft retailers, a position reinforced by JOANN's 2025 collapse.

Why is Hobby Lobby closed on Sundays?
All Hobby Lobby stores close on Sundays as a matter of company policy rooted in the Green family's Christian faith, prioritizing rest and family time over the sales that would be generated by Sunday trading.

David Green began the business in 1970 in Oklahoma City, producing miniature wooden picture frames in his garage with a $600 loan while working as a store manager for a local variety store chain. He opened the first Hobby Lobby retail store in 1972, and by the mid-1970s the framing and crafts business was growing steadily.

The company expanded through Oklahoma and neighboring states through the 1980s, developing its distinctive model of large-format stores carrying an enormous breadth of crafts, fabrics, and home décor. The Green family's Christian faith shaped operations from early on, most visibly in the policy of closing all stores on Sundays, a practice maintained despite the sales cost.

Growth accelerated through the 1990s and 2000s as Hobby Lobby rolled out hundreds of large stores nationally, reaching the 1,000-store milestone in the 2020s and becoming the largest arts and crafts retailer in the country by store count. The related Mardel chain, a Christian bookstore and education supply retailer, operates alongside it.

The company drew national attention through the 2014 Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Supreme Court case and through controversy over antiquities purchases for the Museum of the Bible, founded by the Green family, which led to a $3 million settlement with US authorities in 2017 over smuggled Iraqi artifacts and the repatriation of thousands of items.

Under second-generation family leadership, Hobby Lobby continued aggressive store expansion through the mid-2020s, benefiting from JOANN's 2025 collapse, which left Hobby Lobby and Michaels as the two dominant national craft retailers.

Hobby Lobby's public sustainability disclosure is minimal, consistent with its private status. The company emphasizes domestic distribution and has highlighted higher-than-average retail wages, having set starting pay well above federal minimum for years.

Its corporate ethics are inseparable from the Green family's Christian values, which shape store operations and charitable giving. The company gives a significant share of profits to ministries and charitable causes, a practice central to its stated mission.

Hobby Lobby was at the center of the landmark 2014 Supreme Court case Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, which held that closely held corporations could refuse on religious grounds to provide contraceptive coverage mandated by the Affordable Care Act. The ruling was a major precedent in corporate religious rights and remains controversial.

In 2017, the company paid a $3 million settlement after federal authorities found it had illegally imported thousands of ancient Iraqi artifacts, falsely labeled, for the Green family's Museum of the Bible. The company repatriated the artifacts and agreed to compliance reforms.

The company's political and religious positions have periodically drawn criticism and boycotts, but it has maintained consistent policies rather than adjusting under pressure.