Hobbycraft store to open in Belfast in July creating 16 new jobs

To celebrate this new store, Hobbycraft is also hosting a grand opening event on Saturday, July 24 at 9am, with product offers and exciting activities, including free goody bags to the first 100 customers.

In the last year, there has been a resurgence in craft, and Hobbycraft’s How We Got Hooked Report revealed that Britain rediscovered the power of making, with 95% of people stating they were crafting during lockdown* and tie dye, diamond painting and paint by number were among the most popular crafts during the first lockdown. The new Hobbycraft store will offer customers the retailers’ extensive range of crafting products catering for beginners, experts, kids, crafters and party planners alike.

Hobbycraft Belfast has created 16 new jobs in the local area and has completed recruitment for their crafting experts for these roles. These roles have offered the Belfast community the opportunity to work for the fourth Best Big Company to work for in the UK and the third Best Retail Company to work for in the UK, accolades that Hobbycraft were awarded in May 2021 by Best Companies.

Store Manager, Wendy Richardson, said: “After a tough year for many, we are really looking forward to opening the doors to our Belfast store and sharing our passion for arts and crafts with the local community. We have seen more people than ever take up crafting during the Covid-19 pandemic and we want to encourage locals to come down to their new store and shop with us safely. We look forward to providing Belfast customers with the ultimate retail experience, combined with fantastic crafting products at great prices.”

The safety and wellbeing of Hobbycraft’s colleagues, customers and communities remains the top priority and the Belfast store will open in line with government guidelines, with social distancing and extensive safety measures including:

A queue management system outside the store with social distancing markers

A dedicated colleague will be appointed as door monitor to manage entry

A limited number of customers allowed in store at any time, operating with one customer per aisle

Two metre social distancing markers throughout the store

A ‘sanitisation point’ on entry where customers are able to clean hands, baskets, and trolley handles

Checkout colleagues will be screened and appropriately spaced

Customers are recommended to make contactless card payments – and the limit has been increased to £45

All colleagues will be supplied with PPE including face visors, masks and gloves and all areas will have upweighted cleaning regimes.

The Belfast store will offer customers a wide range of crafting products and will also have a dedicated Custom Crafting area. Custom Crafting is a new inspirational crafting area that introduces the digital personalisation Cricut tool to customers. The space is designed to inspire shoppers as well as encourage them to try out products and crafting techniques. The retailer launched the areas as a trial in early 2019 and it was such a hit Hobbycraft are now installing a Custom Crafting area in all their new stores.

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