# OKCpedia > Businesses & Employers >  Hobby Lobby business practices

## metro

Some good news in a down economy..........



Hobby Lobby hikes pay rate | NewsOK.com
*Hobby Lobby hikes pay rate*
More than 6,900 full-time workers will get raises, company announced 
BY RANDY ELLIS 
Published: April 15, 2009

Starting immediately, Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. is granting pay raises to all full-time hourly employees who earn up to $13 an hour, company founder David Green said Tuesday. 

The company also has established its own $10 minimum wage for all full-time employees.

"Our employees are the backbone of our company, and we believe that giving them the opportunity to share in our success is the right thing to do, said Green, Hobby Lobbys chief executive officer. 

The raises will apply to employees of Hobby Lobby and its affiliated businesses, including Mardel and Hemispheres, he said. More than 6,900 employees throughout the corporation will receive pay increases, with some receiving nearly $600 more a month.

Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. is a privately held retail chain of more than 400 arts-and-crafts stores in 33 states. The companys revenue for 2008 was $1.8 billion.

While many retail businesses have struggled with the declining economy, Green said Hobby Lobby has continued to thrive.

"So far, by Gods grace, were doing well this year. We have approximately a 5 percent increase in same-store sales so far this year and about a 10 percent overall increase with new stores, Green said.

The company plans to add 25 Hobby Lobby Stores and five Mardel stores this year, which will require the addition of about 1,000 employees to the companys 18,000-person nationwide work force, he said.

Hobby Lobbys new $10 minimum wage is 34.5 percent higher than the federal minimum wage of $6.55 an hour.

Not the first time
"This minimum wage increase is the most exciting initiative Ive been involved with since I started the company, Green said. "We believe the success of Hobby Lobby is directly attributable to our outstanding employees and our strong corporate values, which are based on biblical principles, including integrity, service to others and giving back to those in need.
This is not the first time Hobby Lobby has given employees unexpected pay raises during trying financial times. Last year, when gasoline prices skyrocketed, Hobby Lobby gave workers permanent 25 cent per hour raises to help offset cost-of-living increases.

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## kmf563

Yes! Good news indeed.  :Woowoo:

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## OKCMallen

VERY commendable.

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## Midtowner

Good for them.

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## Jesseda

I think I might shop at hobby lobby more often now, if they are treating there employees well, I just wish other companies will look at this as an example. Most retail and sales, and warehouse employees dont get paid enough for what they do

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## circuitboard

I am not a Hobby Lobby fan, but this deserve recongniton for being a good thing. Good job Mr. Green.

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## Bunty

Well, the threats from the recent past to unionize Hobby Lobby, though without success, have done some good.

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## GWB

> Well, the threats from the recent past to unionize Hobby Lobby, though without success, have done some good.


Oh really?  Got any facts to back your fantasy up?

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## kevinpate

Some folks may not be in accord with the Green's views on their faith, but that's a family that regularly (and frequently very silently) walks their talk.

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## Pete

Hobby Lobby to Raise Minimum Wage to $13/Hour

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## WilliamTell

great, i will make a point to shop at hobby lobby more often. its just so refreshing to hear about employees being treated well instead of being under the constant threat of decreased wages, outsourced work, and offshoring (all while CEO make millions).

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## Easy180

Even though the $13 probably doesn't go out to very many since I'm sure most are part time...$9 ain't too bad for part time work starting pay

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## ThomPaine

> Some folks may not be in accord with the Green's views on their faith, but that's a family that regularly (and frequently very silently) walks their talk.


I agree.  I wish more professed "Christian" business owners would follow suit.  Mr. Green and the gentleman who owns Chick-fil-A both seem to practice what they preach, and I applaud them for doing so.

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## Larry OKC

And its the 4th year in a row they have done this, even during the recession!

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## Pete

Hobby Lobby challenges federal mandate to provide 'morning-after' pills to employees

The owners of Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday claiming that the Health and Human Services “preventive services” mandate violates their rights of religious freedom and free speech.


Read more: Hobby Lobby challenges federal mandate to provide 'morning-after' pills to employees | NewsOK.com

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## ctchandler

Pete,
To clarify this a little, Obamacare requires employers to provide birth control medications at no cost to the employee.  This means no "copay".  I don't know Mr. Greens feelings about normal healthcare providing a portion of the cost.  When my late wife was going through her problems, no meds were free but all were fairly good due to our excellent insurance and we simply paid a copay.  I think the most we ever paid was $30.  That's the way I read it in today's Oklahoman.
C. T.

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## soonerguru

We will no longer be shopping at Hobby Lobby.

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## kevinpate

> We will no longer be shopping at Hobby Lobby.


As is your choice as a consumer.  
Irrespective of how this litigation resolves, I imagine my lovely will continue to shop there and at the local Mardells.  She's rather fond of the selection in both stores.

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## MadMonk

> Pete,
> To clarify this a little, Obamacare requires employers to provide birth control medications at no cost to the employee.  This means no "copay".  I don't know Mr. Greens feelings about normal healthcare providing a portion of the cost.  When my late wife was going through her problems, no meds were free but all were fairly good due to our excellent insurance and we simply paid a copay.  I think the most we ever paid was $30.  That's the way I read it in today's Oklahoman.
> C. T.


According to the article, its the "emergency contraceptive" methods that they are opposed to being forced to provide coverage for. 



> Duncan said the Greens are not opposed to  all forms of birth control, only emergency contraception such as the  “morning-after” or “week-after” pills. The lawsuit refers to  contraception methods such as Plan B, Ella and some intrauterine devices  as “abortion-causing drugs and devices.”


"Emergency contraceptive" is a PC term for abortion-inducing.  A better term would be "panic abortion".

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## RadicalModerate

I haven't been in a Hobby Lobby or a Mardel's more than half a dozen times in the last ten years but in order to offset the negative effects of The Big Boycott (see above) I'm going by a Mardel's this afternoon to pick up a 4-DVD set of "Thou Shalt Laugh" . . . I might stop by a Hobby Lobby to pick up some 8-to-an-inch graph paper and then swing by Chik-fil-A for a sandwich.

I wonder if Mardel's might have a book with a commentary on the Constitution that shows where the Federal Government has the right to cram birth-control down a business owner's throat . . . Or demand that they open on Sundays.

I shudder to think of the effects of The Big Boycott on the pay scale of the innocent employees who are the real victims here.  Say! Do you think there is a market here for condoms with a "religious" theme?

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## foodiefan

> As is your choice as a consumer.  
> Irrespective of how this litigation resolves, I imagine my lovely will continue to shop there and at the local Mardells.  She's rather fond of the selection in both stores.


+1. . .and I'll probably go twice as often!

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## onthestrip

> According to the article, its the "emergency contraceptive" methods that they are opposed to being forced to provide coverage for. 
> 
> 
> "Emergency contraceptive" is a PC term for abortion-inducing.  A better term would be "panic abortion".


Taking the morning after pill is not even close to the same as an abortion.

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## onthestrip

> I wonder if Mardel's might have a book with a commentary on the Constitution that shows where the Federal Government has the right to cram birth-control down a business owner's throat . . . Or demand that they open on Sundays.


Its not the owners throats, its the employees that would like to have it. Just like they would like to have antibiotics or painkillers after a sickness. No different than the government "forcing down the owners throat" anti-discrimination policies or healthy workplace standards.

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## Dubya61

> Its not the owners throats, its the employees that would like to have it. Just like they would like to have antibiotics or painkillers after a sickness. No different than the government "forcing down the owners throat" anti-discrimination policies or healthy workplace standards.


There's a LOT that I don't know about the PPACA and Hobby Lobby's contention about it, but it seems that Hobby Lobby only has a problem with being required to provide coverage that includes what they view as abortions (aborted pregnancies -- if that's not the morning after pill, what is?).  It looks like Hobby Lobby only is fighting that portion (or at least that's all the paper is reporting about it).  Hobby Lobby doesn't appear to have a problem providing health care, as is evidenced by their establishment of a clinic on site at their headquarters in 2010.  I'm sure that's above and beyond the standard.  And no, it's not required to use it, if you feel they combine too much religion with medicine.  QuickTrip does this in Tulsa and is widely hailed in the media as a progressive company for it.  Again, if I read the article right, it's the completely free service void of copay that the company must absorb that Hobby Lobby is opposed to.

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## OKCTalker

There's a big difference between an employer not paying for something for an employee, and an employer prohibiting the use of something by an employee. They're doing the former, not the latter, and on grounds of religious principal. 

What ever happened to the free market, where an employer and employee reach an agreement on employment terms without government intrusion? Yes, certain labor and safety laws go far in protecting employees, but laws telling employers that they have to provide contraception for employees who aren't engaged in sex as part of their employment? If a woman was a porn star and ran the risk of pregnancy, then I can see her wanting to ask her employer to pay for contraception. Otherwise - no.

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## mugofbeer

> Aside from Hobby Lobby, what wonders?


Isn't that enough?

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## Edmond Hausfrau

> The world's oldest complete star map, lost for millennia, was found inside a medieval manuscript Codex Climaci Rescriptus as St. Catherine's Monastery in Egypt. Most of the rest of the 146 folios of the manuscript are owned by Steve Green. It is unclear whether Hobby Lobby has any smuggled artifacts, other than the 17,000 already recovered from them, that may be useful for the manuscript investigation.


Additional context here
https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/30/us/ch...rnd/index.html

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## Bunty

Hobby Lobby doesn't do much to support small town Oklahoma.  Most of their Oklahoma stores are in metro areas.

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## DowntownMan

> Hobby Lobby doesn't do much to support small town Oklahoma.  Most of their Oklahoma stores are in metro areas.


They have stores in Altus, Elk City, Enid, Stillwater, Bartlesville, Ada, Mcalister, Ardmore.  
I wouldnt call these metro locations. 
Having hobby lobby is a big deal for a lot of these towns.

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## bchandler02

> I read the CEOs opinion piece on Fox News site; it reads like a monologue from The Righteous Gemstones. 
> Chouinard  with Patagonia has spent a lifetime making the right choices for environmental concerns, climate change, and he spelled out very clearly how he plans to leave his company.
> Mr. Green says he's leaving the company to God. I have no clue what that means and his Fox essay is vague as all get out.


Man, I'd love to see The Gemstones somehow integrate this story into a future season. I can only imagine...

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