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Who owns Hobby Lobby stores? The company's troubled smuggling history, lawsuits and the latest Trump scandal

Hobby Lobby is the largest privately-owned arts and crafts retailer in the world with over 43,000 employees

The famous arts and craft retail chain 'Hobby Lobby' has once again made news after several people posted pictures of the store with a sign that read "USA VOTE TRUMP." And in no time, the Internet roared to cancel the store. This isn't the first time when the store has landed up in controversy, for its 'strong' beliefs.

David Green opened the store back in 1972 in northwest Oklahoma City and in no time the store rose in the success chart and Green inaugurated the second store in the very next year. By 1992, the chain had 50 stores across seven states. And now, in 2020, the chain has more than 900 locations nationwide. Back in the '70s, the Greens took a $600 loan to begin making miniature picture frames out of their home, before renting their first store. Hobby Lobby is the largest privately-owned arts-and-crafts retailer in the world with over 43,000 employees and operating in 46 states. The official website of the store has mentioned certain commitments that the store sticks to, which includes, "honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with Biblical principles," and "providing a return on the family’s investment, sharing the Lord’s blessings with our employees, and investing in our community."

Here are some of the past controversies of the store:

September 2012: Hobby Lobby opposed the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act

Owner of the chain David Green took a public stance against the Patient Protection and Affordable Act. According to Beckers Hospital, "The PPACA requires employers to include a set of preventive services in their employees' healthcare plans if they offer healthcare benefits. The Obama administration included FDA-approved contraceptives in the list of mandatory preventive services, and the government has argued that requiring effective contraception in health plans is justified as a matter of gender equality." In September 2012, the store filed a suit against the United States of America over the new regulation. Green was not in favor to provide health insurance to employees to cover emergency 'contraceptives'. The company released the following statement: "The Green family's religious beliefs forbid them from participating in, providing access to, paying for, training others to engage in, or otherwise supporting abortion-causing drugs and devices."

“People are saying that we’re taking the rights from somebody, there’s no way we are taking anybody’s rights away — it’s our rights that are being infringed upon by requiring us to do something that’s against our conscience,” Green said in a video produced by Hobby Lobby ahead of the case. In June 2014, the US Supreme Court said that Hobby Lobby and other 'closely held' corporations can choose to exempt from the law, based on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. 

2009: Hobby Lobby's smuggling controversy

The scandal started in 2009 when Hobby Lobby's representatives received a large number of tablets and clay bulla, which were were probably looted from Iraq. The artifacts received were intended for the Museum of the Bible and was funded by the Greens. In 2017, the US Court for the Eastern District of New York directed the store to return the artifacts, and also pay a fine of $3M. In May 2018, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement returned 3,800 items seized from the store. In March 2020, the president of the store, Steve Green, agreed to return 11,500 items to Egypt and Iraq. A case was filed against the store, under the name, 'The United States of America v. Approximately Four Hundred Fifty Ancient Cuneiform Tablets and Approximately Three Thousand Ancient Clay Bullae.'

2019: Owners religious beliefs sparked controversy among the LGBTQ+ community

David Green regards himself as a Christian. In 2019, reports came in, claiming that he is funding the National Christian Foundation, which funnels huge amounts of money to anti-LGBTQ groups such as Alliance Defending Freedom and Family Research Council.

April 2020: Hobby Lobby furloughed employees during pandemic

Hobby Lobby temporarily closed all the stores in response to the Covid-19 pandemic on April 3, 2020. The store furloughed nearly all employees without pay "in order to allow our furloughed employees to take full advantage of the Pandemic Unemployment Compensation and Recovery Rebates provided to eligible employees by the federal government... with the requirements outlined in the CARES Act (subject to State law requirements)."

September 2020: 'USA VOTE TRUMP'

On September 6, 2020, the store was once again in controversy after several people posted a picture of the store, where a sign was seen saying, 'USA VOTE TRUMP'. Several Democrats slammed the store for the sign and in no time, 'Boycott Hobby Lobby,' started trending on Twitter.