Nation’s largest craft retailer begins hiring for new Boise store at former Shopko
Hobby Lobby is now accepting applications from Treasure Valley residents interested in working at the craft chain’s store at 8105 W. Fairview Ave.
A hiring fair is taking place Tuesday and Wednesday, March 16 and 17, and on Friday, March 19, at the Candlewood Suites Boise Towne Square, 700 N. Cole Road. Applications will be accepted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
Hobby Lobby plans to hire an undisclosed number of people to help set up the store at the former Shopko store at West Fairview and North Milwaukee Street. A company spokesperson previously said the company planned to hire 35 to 50 people.
“Positions start out as temporary with the opportunity for full and part-time positions,” Hobby Lobby said in a Facebook post about the hiring fair.
The company is hiring for the following positions: cashiers, shelf stockers, freight receivers, bookkeepers and department managers. Hobby Lobby’s departments include floral, crafts, art, custom frames, hobbies and fabrics.
Previous experience in the craft or hobby field is preferred but not required.
Face masks will be provided to all applicants and are required. The company asks that people practice social distancing of 6 feet apart and to use hand sanitizer that is available.
Applicants who are unable to attend the hiring fair can apply online.
The Oklahoma City company initially planned to open the Boise store the middle of January. That’s been pushed back until late spring. A company spokesperson Tuesday did not say whether an opening date has been set.
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 worked to create 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.
