Hobby Lobby: We Raised Our Minimum Wage Way Before It Was Cool

Full-time employees at Hobby Lobby can look forward to a bigger paycheck in 2022, as the arts-and-crafts chain is hiking its minimum wage to $18.50 an hour starting Jan. 1.

That figure is $1.50 an hour higher than the last pay raise issued by the retailer in October of 2020.

But Hobby Lobby says it isn’t responding to the sociopolitical pressures of the moment. In a release, the company noted how it raised its full-time minimum hourly wage to $15 in 2014, “well before it became a trend with other retailers.”

“We have a long track record of taking care of our employees,” says David Green, Hobby Lobby Founder and CEO. “We’ve also worked hard over the years to provide the best pay and benefits in retail, which has allowed us to attract and retain an outstanding group of associates to serve our devoted customers.”