# Hobby Lobby A privately-held arts-and-crafts retail chain (~1,000+ stores, ~$8 billion in revenue as of mid-2020s, headquartered in Oklahoma City) that has functioned for two decades as one of the most consequential **for-profit religious-liberty vehicles** in the United States. Founded in 1972 by David Green and remaining family-owned, Hobby Lobby is operated as an explicitly Christian-conservative business — closed Sundays, Christian-radio in stores, large-print full-page Christmas-and-Easter newspaper ads with religious content — and the Green family has used the company's resources to fund a substantial network of Christian-conservative philanthropy, evangelism, and litigation. The company's signal contribution to the [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]] is the **2014 Supreme Court case** *Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc.* — argued by [[Becket Fund]], decided 5-4, holding that closely-held for-profit corporations could exercise religion under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and could therefore claim exemption from the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive-coverage mandate. *Burwell v. Hobby Lobby* was the first time the Court extended free-exercise rights to a for-profit corporation in this manner, and the decision has been the doctrinal anchor for an expanding line of cases extending religious-liberty exemptions into employment, anti-discrimination, healthcare-coverage, and tax contexts. The company's name has thus become a substantive legal-doctrinal term ("Hobby Lobby exemption," "the Hobby Lobby line of cases"). Beyond the litigation footprint, the Green family has built a substantial **religious-cultural infrastructure**: the Museum of the Bible (opened 2017, Washington D.C., $500M+ project), the early-2010s "Bible curriculum in public schools" project (paused after legal pushback; revived in modified form in the post-2024 state-legislative wave including Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana proposals), substantial donations to religious-conservative legal and policy organizations, and the family's purchase and donation of religious antiquities — some of which became controversial in the late-2010s "Hobby Lobby smuggled artifacts" investigation that resulted in federal forfeiture of thousands of looted Iraqi artifacts. For the Right Wing KB, Hobby Lobby is a **Companies-layer node** of the [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]], specifically inside the Funders sub-layer (alongside [[National Christian Foundation]], [[Bradley Foundation]], [[DonorsTrust]], and the various denominational-tied funders). The company's combination of religious-corporate-personhood litigation, museum and curriculum projects, and direct philanthropic flows makes it one of the most analytically interesting case studies in the Funders layer — showing how a privately-held retail business can function as a multi-vector vehicle for religious-conservative cultural programming. ## Founding and Early Growth (1972) **David Green** founded Hobby Lobby in **1972** in Oklahoma City, beginning with a $600 loan and a 300-square-foot retail space. Green had previously worked at TG&Y (a five-and-dime chain) and initially operated a home-based business making miniature picture frames before opening the first retail location. The company grew steadily through the 1980s and 1990s as the arts-and-crafts retail category expanded, and by the 2000s had become one of the largest privately-held retail chains in the United States. As of mid-2020s: **~1,000+ stores** across 48 states, approximately **47,000+ employees**, and estimated annual revenue of **~$8 billion**. The company is operated as an explicitly **Christian-conservative business**: all stores close on **Sundays** (forgoing an estimated $100+ million in annual revenue), play Christian music in-store, and run **full-page newspaper advertisements** on Christmas and Easter with religious messages. The minimum wage for full-time employees has been set above the federal minimum (raised to $18.50/hour in 2022), which the company frames as a Christian-values employment practice. ## Family Ownership Structure The Green family maintains **full private ownership** — no outside investors, no public stock. The principal figures: **David Green** (founder, born 1941) — controlled the company as CEO for five decades. In **2022**, Green announced that he had "given away" ownership of the company (structured through trusts and a governance framework ensuring the company remains under family-and-Christian-mission control). Green has stated publicly that "we're not owners — God is the owner." **[[Mart Green]]** — David's eldest son, current **CEO** (succeeded David in formal leadership). Previously ran Mardel (the family's Christian-bookstore chain, ~35 stores) and led the financial rescue of [[Oral Roberts University]] ($70M+, 2007–2009; Mart became ORU board chair). Also co-founded **Every Tribe Every Nation** (Bible-translation digital initiative). **[[Steve Green]]** — David's second son, president of Hobby Lobby and **chairman of the [[Museum of the Bible]]**. Steve has been the family's primary figure in antiquities acquisition, the Bible-curriculum-in-public-schools project, and the broader religious-cultural-infrastructure program. ## Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014) The landmark Supreme Court case that extended religious-exercise rights to closely-held for-profit corporations. The case arose from the Affordable Care Act's **contraceptive mandate** — the requirement that employer-provided health insurance cover all FDA-approved contraceptive methods. The Green family objected to covering four specific contraceptive methods they characterized as abortifacients (two IUDs and two emergency-contraception pills), arguing that the mandate violated their religious exercise under the **Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)**. The [[Becket Fund]] represented Hobby Lobby. The case was argued before the Supreme Court in **March 2014** and decided **June 30, 2014** — a **5-4 decision** ([[Justice Alito]] writing for the majority; Kennedy concurring; Ginsburg dissenting). The Court held that RFRA's protections extended to closely-held for-profit corporations and that the contraceptive mandate substantially burdened [[the Greens]]' religious exercise. The government could achieve its contraceptive-coverage goal through less restrictive means (the accommodation already offered to religious nonprofits). *Burwell v. Hobby Lobby* was the first time the Court extended free-exercise rights to a for-profit corporation in the RFRA context. The decision became the doctrinal anchor for subsequent cases extending religious-liberty exemptions into employment, anti-discrimination, and public-funding contexts. ## The Smuggled-Artifacts Case Beginning in **2009**, the Greens — primarily through Steve Green — spent an estimated **$200+ million** acquiring biblical and Near Eastern antiquities for the planned Museum of the Bible. In **2010**, federal authorities intercepted a shipment of roughly **5,500 artifacts** (cuneiform tablets, clay bullae, and other objects) from Iraq that had been shipped through the United Arab Emirates and Israel with falsified customs declarations (labeled as "tile samples" from Turkey or Israel, with declared values far below market). In **July 2017**, Hobby Lobby agreed to a **$3 million federal settlement** and the **forfeiture of approximately 5,500 artifacts** to the U.S. government for return to Iraq. Hobby Lobby acknowledged that its acquisition practices had been inadequate and that it had received warnings from its own cultural-property counsel about the risks of purchasing unprovenanced Iraqi material. Additional returns of **Egyptian artifacts** (including papyrus fragments of disputed provenance) followed. The case inflicted significant reputational damage on the Museum of the Bible before it even opened. ## Bible Curriculum Projects **Steve Green** launched a **"Bible curriculum for public schools"** initiative in the early 2010s, developing a four-year high-school curriculum ("The Book") that the Greens proposed for adoption in public-school elective Bible-history courses. A pilot program at **Mustang Public Schools** (Oklahoma, 2014) drew ACLU legal challenges, and the curriculum was withdrawn from public-school deployment after criticism that it was insufficiently distinct from devotional Bible study. The project was **revived in modified form** in the post-2024 state-legislative wave. **Oklahoma** (under State Superintendent [[Ryan Walters]]) mandated Bible instruction in public schools in 2024; **Louisiana** enacted a [[Ten Commandments]] classroom-display law (2024); **Texas** passed Bible-literacy curriculum legislation (2025). The Green family's curriculum materials and Museum of the Bible's educational-outreach programs are positioned to supply the content infrastructure for these state-level mandates. ## Revenue and Competitive Position As of mid-2020s, Hobby Lobby is the **dominant privately-held competitor** in the U.S. arts-and-crafts retail market. **Michaels** (the principal publicly-traded competitor) was taken private by [[Apollo Global Management]] in 2021; **Jo-Ann Stores** filed for bankruptcy in **March 2024**. Hobby Lobby's combination of private ownership (no quarterly-earnings pressure), Sunday closures (lower labor costs), and conservative-Christian brand loyalty has produced strong financial performance relative to competitors. ## KB Significance Hobby Lobby is the **corporate anchor** of the Green family's multi-vector religious-conservative infrastructure. The *Burwell v. Hobby Lobby* case established the doctrinal foundation for corporate religious exercise; the [[Museum of the Bible]] is the cultural-legitimacy project; the Bible-curriculum initiative is the educational-pipeline extension; and the smuggled-artifacts case illustrates the risks of aggressive antiquities-acquisition programs. The Green family's combined philanthropic and institutional reach — Hobby Lobby, Museum of the Bible, [[Oral Roberts University]] (Mart Green), Every Tribe Every Nation, Mardel, and substantial donations to religious-conservative organizations — makes this family-business nexus one of the most consequential nodes in the [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]]'s Funders layer. ## See Also - [[Becket Fund]] - [[Burwell v. Hobby Lobby]] - [[Museum of the Bible]] - [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]] - [[Christian Nationalism]] - [[Religious Liberty]]