Vicky Hartzler: “Tonight I would like to share the tale of two garages: the American Dream and the threat to that American Dream. The…”

“Tonight I would like to share the tale of two garages: the American Dream and the threat to that American Dream. The first garage is down in Oklahoma, and it is owned by David and his wife Barbara. In 1972, David and Barbara borrowed $600, and they began making picture frames in their garage. They had a dream. They said, you know: People might want to buy premade frames. There are pictures all the time that people take, and we could do that. So they enlisted their two sons, Steve and Mart, and they began building those picture frames. And then they opened up a retail location--actually, it was 300 square feet in size--and they started selling those picture frames, and it was very, very successful. And now, their dream has just blossomed into 556 stores in 41 States, and 70 more are scheduled to open this year. They have now what started out in the garage with just David and Barbara and their two sons, they have 16,000 full-time employees. And we all know that store. I am sure many of us have been there. It is called Hobby Lobby. We love it. It has expanded now not just to picture frames, but all kinds of art and decorating supplies. And their headquarters is actually located just down the street from that garage in Oklahoma City. The other garage is over in Pennsylvania, and it is owned by Norman and Elizabeth Hahn. They have three sons: Norman, Anthony, and Kevin.…”