Hobby Lobby Tips from a Former Employee

My senior year of college, I got a job off campus at Hobby Lobby and started as a cashier. 2 years later I had worked at 3 different Hobby Lobby locations and had moved up to the positions of Customer Service Manager and a Department Manager for Candles. I really loved my time at Hobby Lobby. I worked with so many great people and learned so much, and Hobby Lobby really is a great company to work for. After moving 45 minutes away from the closest Hobby Lobby, I decided it was time to move on. Now I feel like I can pass on some tips that I learned from my time there and share my love of Hobby Lobby with you!

I'm going to break these tips up into a few different broad categories: weekly sales, seasonal sales, coupons and discounts, clearance, and etiquette.

1. Weekly Sales

The majority of the entire store goes on sale at some point. I always tell my family, never buy something full price. Between the weekly sales and the coupon, you really don't have to unless you don't have the patience to buy it slowly with a coupon or you need it right away. Most of the sales are rotating. For example, the Floral and Home Accents departements rotate on a biweekly pattern. Except for a few exceptions, what isn't on sale this week will be next week. The same applies to Candles because in the ad it is part of Home Accents. You can find the best sales in these departments because their sales are always 50% off.

Other departments such as Papercrafting, Needle Art, Sewing, Fabric, Crafting, and Art Supplies do have sales and a lot of good ones, but they are not as easy to predict. Some are on a rotating schedule of every 3 weeks. Their sales also vary from 30-50%, so sometimes you save more when something's not on sale and you use the handy dandy 40% off coupon instead.

There are a couple departments where things don't go on sale. These are Cards and Party and Hobbies. Hobbies do go on sale a couple times during Christmastime, but it's only 25%, so it's better in my opinion to buy it another time with the coupon.

Here's last week's Home Accents sale:

And compare it to this week's sale:

2. Seasonal Sales

Hobby Lobby is known for their plethora of seasonal items. Christmas items start coming in as early as May to accommodate the crafters, and they always have some kind of seasonal display. First off, I should mention that the seasonal sales never include candy until after it's gone to clearance. Also, seasonal fabric has different sales according to the Fabric Department.

I'm going to divide the seasonal sales into major holidays and minor holidays (although I hate saying that because I love all of the holidays!).

The major holidays include Christmas, Fall, Easter, Spring, and Summer. These all start on sale at 40% not long after they come out and usually stay there until it gets very close to the holiday. Then it goes 50%. After the holiday is done, they go on clearance and the percentages go up quickly. It goes 66%, 80%, and then 90%. I love waiting until things go 80 or 90% off and stock up for the next year!

Minor holiday would include Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, and Valentine's Day. Their sales start at 30% and sometimes don't go any cheaper until after the holiday. I recommend getting some before they go on sale with a coupon or asking your cashier to replace one of the more expensive items' discount with the coupon to save an extra 10% on it.

One of my favorite seasonal sales is the Spring sale. This department is made up of outdoor and indoor decorations, gardnening supplies, and kitchenware. My favorite is the kitchen supplies. Especially when they go on clearance, you can get some really nice things for your kitchen at realllyyyy cheap prices! For example, I got my favorite teal wood and silicone spatula for 60 cents! Even regular prices are really good compared to places such as Bed, Bath and Beyond and are totally worth checking out! This stuff usually comes out right after Christmas and goes on clearance in the summer.

3. Coupons and Discounts

Hobby Lobby only provides one coupon. This may seem as a bummer, but I think that it's a really good coupon. It's 40% off ONE REGULAR PRICED ITEM. ONE PER PERSON PER DAY. There's always one online, and in the newspaper, so there's no reason why you should ever not use one! I emphasize the one per person per day because some people really try and use more than one by doing different transactions, leaving and coming back, and even going in a different line thinking I didn't see. Please don't do that! The coupon is a priviledge, not a right. You would be amazed by how many peple wouldn't believe that. If you have 5 kids with you, even if they are in a stroller, they will let you do a different transaction with a coupon and say that your child is buying it. The reason that they have to do it that way is for auditing purposes. The auditors will watch the camera footage and make sure that the cashiers are following the rules regarding the coupon.

You can also use your 40% off coupon IN PLACE of 30% off if your item is on sale. For example, furniture is always 30% off, but you can get 40% off instead if you ask to use your coupon. The cashier will not tell you this, but the rule when I was there was that if the customer asks for it, we can give it to them.

You can also ask for an extra discount off of things that are slightly damaged. It will most likely be an extra 10-15%, but every penny counts! Please don't go up with something that has a microscopic scratch on it though and ask for 75% off. Just don't.

4. Clearance

You can find some really good finds in the clearance sections. The clearance wall has mostly things that are discountinued and damaged. These all start at 40% and then go down the line like the seasonal sales. The best way to know if you're getting a good discount is to see how many clearance stickers are on it. They have to place the new clearance sticker so that the old one is showing, which makes it easy to see how many times it's been marked down.

My favorite clearance section is when they have the aisles of clearance usually in the corner of the store. These are from sendouts and discontinued items in the Home Accents Department and where you will find the best deals and items. They are quality items versus damaged, unwanted items. They usually start at 50 or 66% off and go down. This happens twice a year; after Christmas, and in the summer.

5. Etiquette

You may be thinking how in the world is etiquette going to help me save money at Hobby Lobby? Well, it may not save you money, but I can guarantee that it will help you have a better experience shopping there. So many times people forget that retail workers are human beings too, and if you are polite and thoughtful, you can really brighten up someone's day. Retail is hard work and the worst thing you can do is go in and expect for everyone to stop what they're doing and wait on you hand and foot. I always loved helping people find things and get good deals, but it was another story when someone acted like I was their personal shopper. So here are a couple tips on what and what not to do and say when you're at Hobby Lobby.

Please don't ask if there's something you're looking for in the back. Everything in stock is on the floorn and the back is not some magical place. That would be awesome if it were, but the stuff in the back includes very boring items such as carts, palettes, cleaning supplies, and the garbage. Maybe the Christmas trees if it's that time of year.

If you're not familiar with rainchecks, it's a piece of paper that helps you order more of what you need. They will order exactly what you need for you and at the sale price of when you came in. They're awesome! But please don't order 100 tapered candles when you only need 50. When you do that, the company loses money and they don't have enough room on the shelves for the inventory they ordered for you. Also, they cannot guarantee that your items will be on the next truck. They are at the mercy of the warehouse, so please don't get mad at the employees if you waited until the last minute to order the vases you needed for your wedding that weekend. It's happened many times and it's just not a good experience for anyone.

One of the biggest things that bugged me while I worked at Hobby Lobby was how people would come in and bash the company. You may not agree with their standards and if it really bothers you, feel free to take your business elsewhere. I would always hear people talk about how they treat their employees so badly because they wouldn't pay for their contraceptives. If this is an issue for you as well, I will try and make you feel better. Hobby Lobby employees make a lot more than your typical retail worker. Full timers make almost double minimum wage in some states and are offered good benefits. If someone wanted to buy a contraceptive, they can more than easily afford to pay for it themselves. Not many companies in retail pay their employees such competitive wages, close early for holidays, and remain closed on Sundays to allow employees to worship and spend time with their families.

Again, I really loved working at Hobby Lobby and continue to love shopping there and supporting such a wonderful company. I hope you have learned a couple of things from this post and save some money!

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