Flashback: Hobby Lobby President Reminds Employees 'Their Family Is More Important Than This Business'
Hobby Lobby will be closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day so their 43,000 employees can enjoy quality time with their families.
This continues a longstanding policy maintained by the Christian-owned company, which was launched five decades ago.
It’s in keeping with Hobby Lobby president Steve Green’s credo that nothing is more important than family — especially during the holidays.
In 2004, Green took over the thriving business that his parents, David and Barbara, started.
Like his parents, Steve runs the business with the same Christian values the company has upheld for decades. This means all Hobby Lobby stores are closed on Sundays.
Most major retailers are eager to remain open on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas in order to maximize their earnings. But then again, Hobby Lobby isn’t most companies.
“We value family,” Steve Green told Fox Business host Neil Cavuto in November 2019. “And one of the things that we tell our co-managers as we kind of get them up to speed is that their family is more important than this business.”
Green underscored that his employees “need to be sure to take care of their family first and then Hobby Lobby second.”
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Green doesn’t worry about losing revenue by closing on Thanksgiving and Christmas, even as many retailers rely on the hectic holiday season to make their fourth-quarter sales projections.
Because Hobby Lobby is privately owned, it doesn’t answer to shareholders. Instead, Green answers to God.
“Part of our success is the fact that we do have our priorities right as best as we can,” Green said. “In your business, when you follow principles that scripture has given to us, it — I think — serves a business well.”
Green said he has always strived to “operate our business according to the principles that God has given us in his word — operating with honesty and integrity and hard work and servant leadership.
“These are all concepts that scripture gives us,” he said. “I would argue that any great leadership principle is a biblical principle.”
Hobby Lobby continues to thrive as a business.
David and Barbara Green launched the company in 1970 by making miniature picture frames from their home.
In 2019, Hobby Lobby, which is based in Oklahoma City, reported revenue of $5 billion, according to Forbes. Today, Hobby Lobby operates more than 900 crafts-and-home-decor stores in 47 states.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
