Hobby Lobby to open new store at Columbus Park Crossing Friday morning

Arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby will open the doors of its new Columbus Park Crossing store this week, the company said today.

The plan calls for Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby to turn out the lights at its existing location on Airport Thruway at 1 p.m. Thursday, then welcome customers at the new store at 6499 Whittlesey Blvd. at 9 a.m. Friday.

A grand opening celebration will take place 9 a.m. Monday at the new location, which has been under construction since last fall. It is adjacent to the Ashley Furniture HomeStore and hhgregg electronics and appliance store.

“Our rationale for this move is twofold — to increase exposure for our store in a high traffic area, and to enhance our customers’ shopping experience by providing a wider and more abundant selection of merchandise,” said John Schumacher, Hobby Lobby’s assistant vice president of advertising, said in a statement.

Hobby Lobby has been at its existing 60,000-square-foot Airport Thruway site since April 2001, at the time renovating space previously used by a defunct Home Quarters warehouse outlet.

The new store is 55,000 square feet, but should be able to offer more arts, crafts and home items than the old one because of its layout, company officials have said. It will employ 32 people, the same as the old location, said Vince Parker, Hobby Lobby’s director of training and customer service.

“We did hire some temporary workers to help us out,” he said. “If the business dictates it, we would like to keep on a few of the temps. But it really basically depends on business.”

The retailer is shifting to a shopping area that has been a big hit with Columbus-area consumers since the opening of its first phase in the fall of 2002.

Columbus Park Crossing is situated on 380 acres of land near the intersection of U.S. Highway 80 (J.R. Allen Parkway) and Veterans Parkway. Atlanta-based real estate development firm Ben Carter Properties and Columbus-based The Jordan Company have filled more than 1.7 million square feet of space since then. That leaves roughly 600,000 square feet of potential commercial space available.

Hobby Lobby now has 475 stores in 40 states. Parker said the company’s goal this year is to open as many as 40 stores nationally.

The company said current Columbus store manager, Mark Meharg, will continue in his position.

This story was originally published May 17, 2011 at 3:45 PM with the headline "Hobby Lobby to open new store at Columbus Park Crossing Friday morning."