City leaders discuss hopes for Hobby Lobby

ALAMOGORDO — With the news of Hobby Lobby opening in Alamogordo, city leaders and those instrumental in getting the popular arts and crafts retailer to the community, got together on Tuesday to discuss the hopes and future the store can bring to Alamogordo.

Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. announced on Monday that they were to open a location at White Sands Mall and was expected to open in January 2018.

Mayor Richard Boss said the road to getting Hobby Lobby to come to Alamogordo has been an extensive but smooth process and ultimately successful.

“About five months ago I got a call from the mall manager (Maria Johnson) and she said there was a gentleman there that was interested in buying the mall. I knew the mall had been in trouble so I met with Fred Griffith and we talked for five minutes and I realized what we had and I immediately called Maggie,” Boss said. “Maggie Paluch (Acting City Manager) took the bull by the horns and called in Stella Rael (Planning and Zoning Administrator) who has been very instrumental in this. There were a lot of other staff and departments that came in to help as well.”

Boss said Hobby Lobby’s presence will bring economic benefits to Alamogordo and could possibly lead to other business ventures.

RELATED: White Sands Mall manager addresses closure rumors

“The economic benefits are going to be dramatic from this, people are going to be shopping at the mall at Hobby Lobby instead of going to Las Cruces, we’re going to get the gross receipt tax,” he said. “We’re going to get what Las Cruces and El Paso did before and have that come to our city. Other things are going to happen out there with the result of Hobby Lobby. Certain businesses will follow I think and it’s also a quality of life thing.”

Boss said having Hobby Lobby in town will also benefit residents who won’t have to drive for hours to go shopping.

“Instead of getting your family together on a Sunday morning and go to Las Cruces or El Paso, spending two hours driving back and forth, now you can go to the mall and do exactly the same thing and do something else in the afternoon plus be in the community,” he said. “I want to thank everyone and Fred wants to thank everyone as well who has been involved in this to benefit the city. Fred is a dynamic person, he is an entrepreneur businessman, this is not his first rodeo. He has done this many times, he knows what he’s doing.”

Griffith, White Sands Mall owner, is a mall developer who has renovated several malls in distress to much success. His recent re-development was Rio West Mall in Gallup, New Mexico.

“He personally purchased the Gallup mall and re-developed it and will use the same business plan for Alamogordo,” Paluch said. “Fred is really going to be a part of the community, he’s going to be hands on.”

Hobby Lobby to open in Alamogordo in 2018

The Alamogordo Hobby Lobby will be housed in a 55,000 square foot building south of J.C. Penney and will be a stand-alone store according to Boss.

Alamogordo based construction company, National Construction, will be responsible for prepping the site before construction.

“Hobby Lobby recently had it surveyed and we’re in phase I of doing an Environmental Assessment (EA) researching for no hazards prior to doing earthwork for the building. That will be done in a couple weeks,” National Construction President Harris Blankenship said.

According to Boss, the new Hobby Lobby will create 72 jobs and possibly part-time positions making up for the loss of jobs at Conduent, formerly known as Xerox. Conduent closed their doors leaving 80 residents without a job.

Boss thanked Griffith for his work in bringing Hobby Lobby as well as Paluch, Rael, Public Works Director Brian Cesar, Alamogordo Fire Department Chief Jim LeClair, Alamogordo Deputy Police Chief Roger Schoolcraft, Otero County Economic Development Council CEO Mike Espiritu, First National Bank President Steve Muell, First National Bank Senior Vice-President Deborah Romero and National Construction President Harris Blankenship.

There are currently nine Hobby Lobby locations in New Mexico.

According to their website, Hobby Lobby also recently announced that it will continue to increase its retail footprint across the U.S. Plans are underway to open 60 new locations and hire 1,700 to 2,500 new employees in 2017. Hobby Lobby currently has more than 700 stores across the nation.

Hobby Lobby opened 56 new stores, including eight relocated stores in 2016, According to their website.