Story By Hunter Jones

On Monday, Hobby Lobby held their grand opening in Scottsboro. Though Monday marks the official grand opening, they have had their doors opened since Friday as a soft opening in order to get the new staff familiar with their roles.

“(The soft open) was nice to get them acclimated to the whole process. They were very scared, everybody in this building is pretty new except for myself and one transfer in from home décor… They were extremely nervous but (business) being slower allowed them to get a lot of practice and not feel the pressure of the grand opening and having it be crazy busy,” Store Manager Gail Jones said.

The manager role is a new one for Jones as well, who has worked at Hobby Lobby for 11 years and worked as a co-manager for seven years. Although many insisted that she should not want to get a new store, she remained adamant to try to get one. Typically, it can take around three weeks to open a new store. Thanks to the help of other nearby stores and people from corporate, they were able to open the Scottsboro location in two weeks.

“I always looked forward to one day being a store manager. I am really excited to do it… I’ve waited a long time to have my own store,” Jones said.

While many online were curious about potential Christmas décor options, Jones states that the store is opening with the spring set.

While the work day is still fairly early, steady streams of people head in and out of the new location, with employees nearby to greet each newcomer and hand them a paper with a layout of the store on one side and some of the deals they have on the other side, with the listed prices available until Saturday.