Hobby Lobby nears opening date

PERKINS TWP. — The Sandusky Mall's newest tenant, Hobby Lobby, is nearing its opening every day. The Oklahoma City-based craft store chain announced it plans to open its Sandusky location sometime in late March. "We're tremendously excited about becoming a part of the Sandusky community," said Kelly Black, the company's advertising director. What is Hobby Lobby? David Green founded the company in 1970 as a small picture frame business out of his garage. In 50 years, his company has become the largest privately owned arts and crafts retailer. It operates more than 900 stores nationwide selling everything from home decor, art supplies, scrapbooking and everything else one might need for a DIY art project. "Once you visit Hobby Lobby, you will see that we're very unique offering the widest variety of merchandise in the craft and home decor market under one roof," Black said. The Sandusky Mall's owner, Cafaro Co., confirmed in June that it reached an agreement with Hobby Lobby to bring the store to the mall. Contractors with Hobby Lobby and Cafaro Co. spent months renovating 50,000 square feet of the former Sears location to turn it into the new arts and craft store. Hobby Lobby will bring about 35-50 new jobs into the community, with employees receiving well above minimum wage. Cafaro Co. plans to redevelop the remaining 30,000 square feet of the old Sears as part of its revitalization strategy for the mall. Joe Bell, a spokesman for Cafaro, said they're in discussions with several possible new tenants for the Sandusky Mall. Reach reporter Michael Harrington at michaelharrington@sanduskyregister.com, follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegister