Hobby Lobby, a popular national craft store, will open in the Berlin Mall for the holiday season.
A banner announcing the latest addition to the Central Vermont mall hangs on a temporary wall in the mall hallway, while workers are renovating the space for the mall’s second ‘anchor’ store.
The store will replace the JC Penny, Olympia Sports, and other stores on the northern wing of the Berlin, VT mall. Walmart and other stores occupy the southern end, with Planet Fitness in the middle.
In 1970, David and Barbara Green took out a $600 loan to begin making miniature picture frames out of their home, according to the Hobby Lobby website. Two years later, the fledgling enterprise opened a 300-square-foot store in Oklahoma City, and Hobby Lobby was born. Today, with more than 900 stores, Hobby Lobby is the largest privately owned arts-and-crafts retailer in the world with over 43,000 employees and operating in forty-seven states.
Hobby Lobby offers over 70,000 items featuring home decor, seasonal decor, tableware, floral, art supplies, craft supplies, yarn, fabric, jewelry making, hobbies and more. Corporate headquarters include over 10 million-square-feet of manufacturing, distribution, and an office complex in Oklahoma City.