Arts and crafts chain Hobby Lobby to open fourth LI store

Arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby is set to open its fourth Long Island store in mid-June, in a 55,000-square-foot building it is constructing from the ground up, the chain said.

Construction of the building in Riverhead is almost done, but a certificate of occupancy is still needed from the town, said Jefferson Murphree, building and planning administrator for the town of Riverhead.

The free-standing building, located at 1420 Old Country Rd., was constructed on a vacant site that had been wooded, he said. The retailer is leasing the property on a 12-acre site from a private owner, Murphree said.

The Riverhead store will employ 35 to 50 people and pay $17 an hour for full-time workers and $14 an hour for part-timers, according to Hobby Lobby Stores Inc.

"The success of our stores in New York is a good indicator that Riverhead shoppers will be pleased with the quality, selection and value we offer in the craft and home decor market," Kelly Black, Hobby Lobby’s director of advertising, said in a statement.

The chain is the third-largest arts and crafts retailer in the United States, where the company has more than 900 stores.

Hobby Lobby has 19 stores in New York.

Founded in 1972 in Oklahoma City, Hobby Lobby is known for its parent company’s conservative Christian values. It is closed on Sundays to allow employees time to worship.

It entered the Long Island market in June 2017 with a store in Commack, and then opened two more local stores – in Bay Shore and Massapequa Park – the following year.

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.