USA’s largest craft retailer had planned to open Boise store by now. Here’s the latest
Shopko closed its store at West Fairview Avenue and North Milwaukee Street nearly two years ago, yet the sign on the front of the building remains.
You’d have to walk 100 feet east in the strip mall, toward Cracklin Gourmet Popcorn and Magical Foot Spa, to see what’s going on. A small sign for Hobby Lobby Construction provides a clue that the nation’s largest craft retailer is moving in.
The Oklahoma City company initially planned to open the store the middle of January. That’s been pushed back until late spring, a company spokesperson said Friday by email.
The store plans to hire 35 to 50 employees, the spokesperson said. Hiring will take place closer to the store’s opening. Jobs will be posted online.
Shopko had operated at 8105 W. Fairview Ave. since the early 1980s before filing for bankruptcy and closing the store in March 2019.
The store will be Hobby Lobby’s first in Boise. The company operates more than 900 stores across the country, including five in Idaho: one each in Meridian, Nampa, Twin Falls, Chubbock and Ammon
In Boise, Hobby Lobby is renovating 55,000 square feet of floor space and 8,235 square feet of mezzanine. Crews are creating a new sales floor with an office, restrooms, instructional area, employee lounge and freight receiving area.
The company is spending an estimated $715,000 on the improvements.
Hobby Lobby got its start in 1970 as a miniature picture-frame company, Greco. Two years later, founder David Green moved his business from the family garage to a 300-square-foot retail space and named it Hobby Lobby. It is now the nation’s largest privately owned arts and crafts retailer.
No more 40% off coupons
The company caused a stir on Wednesday, Jan. 27, when it announced it will end its longstanding 40% off promotional coupon at the end of February.
Hobby Lobby said it would work instead to discount thousands of items every day.
“This will offer a better value instead of providing a discount on only one item with the coupon,” the company said in a Facebook post.
Hobby Lobby also came under fire early in the coronavirus pandemic when it refused to close its stores despite cease-and-desist orders. It later shuttered its stores to comply with closures meant to keep the disease from spreading.
