Mardel coming to Springfield; Hobby Lobby expands south store

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Mardel Christian & Educational Supply, a sister company of Hobby Lobby, is planning to open its first Missouri store in Springfield sometime around Feb. 1, said Kelly Black, marketing director for Mardel. |ret||ret||tab|

Mardel's new location will be at 1533 E. Battlefield in the former location of Service Merchandise Co. Inc., the Tennessee-based home products and jewelry chain that went out of business Jan. 4 after filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Mardel will be adjacent to the Hobby Lobby store in the same building.|ret||ret||tab|

A standard Mardel layout is a store-within-a-store design, separated into four corners for children's merchandise, music, books and Bibles, and gifts, Black said. |ret||ret||tab|

A central area offers education and teacher supplies, and a check-out area of eight to 10 registers processes transactions. Up to 45 employees will be hired, he added.|ret||ret||tab|

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Real estate|ret||ret||tab|

The entire 90,000 square-foot building on Battlefield is leased to Hobby Lobby under a 20-year arrangement with Fleming Companies Inc. out of Dallas, said Bill Darrow, vice president and director of real estate for Hobby Lobby. He did not disclose the lease price. |ret||ret||tab|

Hobby Lobby usually leases its stores and doesn't buy, Black said. A vacated Wal-Mart, Service Merchandise or K-Mart provides an ideal space for Mardel, he added|ret||ret||tab|

A 15,000-square-foot addition to Hobby Lobby's interior will be complete in the next 60 days, making that store 65,000 square feet. Mardel will occupy the remaining 25,000 square feet, Darrow added. The general contractor for the project is Hobby Lobby Construction; the architect is Esterly-Schneider & Associates. |ret||ret||tab|

Hobby Lobby first opened its doors in Springfield in September 1991, said Jack Lindsay, assistant store manager at the Battlefield Road location. Its newest store at 1717 W. Kearney opened in February 1994. He said about 100 full-time and part-time employees work at the Battlefield location.|ret||ret||tab|

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Family ties|ret||ret||tab|

Hobby Lobby was founded by David Green in 1972 with a single store in Oklahoma City and will close out 2002 operating 287 stores in 25 states, said Darrow. It employs nearly 11,000 and had 2001 sales in excess of $1 billion in arts and crafts supplies, furniture and season merchandise. |ret||ret||tab|

Mardel's roots go back to 1981, when it was founded by Green's son, Mart. It operates 18 stores in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Colorado and Arkansas. Its inventory consists of Christian-oriented items and educational supplies. Both Hobby Lobby and Mardel are privately held.|ret||ret||tab|

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Growth pattern|ret||ret||tab|

Mardel's upcoming Springfield store fits a pattern of company growth, Black said. While most Mardels are standalone operations, "we're always in a town with a Hobby Lobby because we share the same warehouse." |ret||ret||tab|

A 2.5 million square-foot distribution center in Oklahoma City houses offices, warehouse and roughly 150,000 square feet of manufacturing space for the two enterprises, said Darrow.|ret||ret||tab|

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