Hobby Lobby Stores, a privately held national retail chain of arts and crafts stores, opened its new store in DeWitt with a grand opening celebration on Monday, Aug. 29. Kevin Lazeski is store manager of the 54,000 square-foot retail facility located at East Genesee Street next to Wegmans.

“I want to thank everybody for their hard work helping to open this store; I know we’ve put in some long hours,” Lazeski said to about 30 employees gathered at the celebration. Lazeski said he and his staff are excited to open the store in the high-traffic area of DeWitt.

“We do like to think that we are affordable, cost-effective,” Lazeski said. “We do manufacture a lot of our own goods, which keeps the price point down.”

Chris Gordon, with the Centerstate Chamber of Commerce, congratulated Laseski and his employees and Hobby Lobby district manager Troy Moore, and welcomed them to the area.

Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., headquartered in Oklahoma City, O.K., started as an outgrowth of Greco Products, a miniature picture frame company founded in a garage by David Green in 1970. Today, Hobby Lobby has 490 stores across the nation. Departments include floral, fabric, needlework, picture framing, baskets, home accents, arts and crafts, wearable art, jewelry and scrapbooking supplies.