Hobby Lobby founder and CEO David Green knows Halloween merchandise can bring in millions, but his Christian convictions matter more than keeping those sales.
“We used to sell Halloween, and every one of them that I can think of has cost us money in the short term,” Green said in an interview excerpt featured in Newsmax’s Oct. 15 report.
The missing Halloween decorations have left some shoppers scratching their heads. The segment includes TikTok users wondering why they can find Thanksgiving and Christmas merchandise at the arts-and-crafts chain but come up empty when they hunt for Halloween.
Newsmax correspondent Heather Myers checked a San Diego location herself.
“I went over to a Hobby Lobby store here in San Diego and confirmed that there is not one Halloween item on the shelves,” Myers said.
She reported finding pumpkins, scarecrows and leaves instead. Hobby Lobby’s shelves still make room for autumn; Green’s objection concerns the Halloween merchandise he no longer wants his company to sell.
The report features part of his conversation with The School of Hard Knockz, in which he acknowledges that faith-driven business decisions have cost money. He also credits God with blessing the company over the long term.
Related: Hobby Lobby CEO David Green Reveals Biblical Principles for Success
Green gave a more specific account of the Halloween decision in a separate Faith Driven Entrepreneur interview, whose published transcript records the sales figure now drawing attention.
“I was carrying Halloween merchandise as an example and we sold over $22 million worth of it,” he said in that separate conversation.
“And so I got out of the Halloween business and I lost the sales,” Green added, after explaining that he felt God directing him to stop.
That distinction matters: Green described merchandise sales he gave up, not $22 million in profit. He was also recounting a past decision, rather than announcing a new Halloween ban this month.
The company puts its faith commitments in writing. On its official company history page, Hobby Lobby pledges to honor the Lord through biblical business principles and to support employees and their families through its workplace policies.
Those commitments reach beyond the seasonal aisle. All Hobby Lobby stores close on Sundays, a policy the company confirms on the same page.
Its beginnings were considerably smaller than today’s nationwide operation. David and Barbara Green borrowed $600 in 1970 to make miniature picture frames at home, then opened a 300-square-foot Oklahoma City store two years later, according to the company’s history.
Now the retailer operates more than 1,000 stores. This month, Hobby Lobby announced a $21 minimum hourly wage for full-time employees, effective Oct. 5, and Green again connected company policy with life outside work.
“For decades, we have closed our stores on Sundays, and at 8:00 p.m. the rest of the week, to help employees balance their work and personal lives, and have time for rest, family, and worship,” he said in the announcement.
For Green, passing up Halloween sales belongs to that same daily work of putting faith into practice. He acknowledges the cost without treating it as a reason to reverse course.
Read Next: Hobby Lobby’s David Green on Giving: ‘God Will Bless What We’re Doing’
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