New Columbia Hobby Lobby set to open. Here’s when and where
One of the nation’s largest arts-and-crafts retail chains is set to open the doors at a new location in one of Columbia’s busiest retail corridors.
Hobby Lobby, which has more than 900 locations across 47 states, will have a soft opening on Feb. 4 for its new store at 254 Harbison Blvd., with a more formal opening on Feb. 7, according to an email from the company. It will be the fourth Hobby Lobby location in the Columbia/Lexington area, with other locations on Sunset Boulevard in Lexington, Augusta Road in West Columbia and on Two Notch Road in northeast Columbia.
The new Hobby Lobby will be located in a shopping center that is bustling with a number of stores and restaurants, including Outback Steakhouse, Chicken Salad Chick, Five Below, Petco, Marshall’s, Nordstrom Rack and more. The center is along the Harbison Boulevard thoroughfare that has remained one of the Midlands’ most robust shopping districts.
State Department of Transportation figures show about 27,000 cars per day pass down Harbison Boulevard in front of the shopping center where Hobby Lobby is opening.
Hobby Lobby was founded in 1970 and is based out of Oklahoma City. Its stores offer more than 70,000 items in categories including home decor, seasonal decor, tableware, floral, art supplies, craft supplies, yarn, fabric, jewelry making, hobbies and more. The company has more than 43,000 employees.
Employees were at work stocking the shelves in preparation for the Feb. 4 soft opening when a reporter from The State peeked in the window Monday morning. At least one person was knocking on the door seeking a job application, a perhaps unsurprising occurrence considering the company recently raised its full-time minimum wage to $18.50 an hour.
