The East Point Center in Rhinelander hasn’t been the center of attention for nearly a decade, but now is the talk of the town. Rhinelander Area Chamber of Commerce celebrated the grand opening of Hobby Lobby with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Hobby Lobby is a privately held national retail chain of craft and home décor and took over the long vacated Cirilli’s County Market last fall making for the 20th location in the state. Store Manager Chris Schmid says there’s been an overwhelming amount of support from the community.
“…very warm and welcoming; everybody has been happy with us and I actually had a customer call me and thank us for being here and the associates that did a great job. So overall it’s been very warm; I haven’t had any bad responses yet and that’s what the plan is going forward.”
Schmid says the store employs 50 full and part time associates most of which are from Rhinelander. He says the store has a classroom available to the public free of charge and offers custom framing.
Hobby Lobby is a 53,000 square foot facility located on Highway 17 and Lincoln Street next to Shopko. Store hours are Monday through Saturday 9 am to 8pm and closed on Sundays.
