Arts and crafts giant Hobby Lobby is slowly shutting down stores across the country amid intense criticism about a letter claiming the company boss’s wife had a vision from God telling the chain to stay open.
Calls to stores around the country show some are open, some are closing while others just don’t know what is going on.
The company did not respond to a request for comment.
The confusion follows a letter sent to stores last week by chief executive David Green, who said his wife Barbara had had a heavenly vision about the coronavirus.
Many store employees took that as a message that the store should stay open because God would protect them from illness.
‘In her quiet prayer time this past week, the Lord put on Barbara’s heart three profound words to remind us that He’s in control. Guide, Guard and Groom,’ wrote Green.
‘We serve a God who will Guide us through this storm, who will Guard us as we travel to places never seen before, and who, as a result of this experience, will Groom us to be better than we could have ever thought possible before now.’
Green called his 76-year-old wife his family’s ‘prayer warrior’ in the letter.
‘While we do not know for certain what the future holds, or how long this disruption will last, we can all rest in knowing that God is in control,’ Green wrote.
‘The Company’s leaders are doing all they can to balance the need to keep the Company strong and the needs of employees.
‘To help ensure our Company remains strong and prepared to prosper once again when this passes we may all have to “tighten our belts” over the near future,’ he added.
He said: ‘God has blessed this company with so much. His blessings and the fruits of all of your hard work, have made it possible for the company to not only operate without significant amounts of debt, but for the past decade to maintain wages that have far exceeded most retailers.
‘Many retailers are not as fortunate and are instead saddled with what may be overwhelming debt.’
Stores in states such as New York that have closed down all non-essential businesses have shuttered.
A notice posted on the door of the store in upstate Queensbury said: ‘Based on guidance from public health officials, we are closed effective 3/22/2020 due to the COVID-19 coronavirus.’
Source: Daily Mail
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