Hobby Lobby Turns to SAP to Help Build Its Future

Fast-Growing U.S. Retailer to Replace JD Edwards with SAP ERP; Heralds Flexible SAP Enhancement Packages for Consuming Innovation

Demonstrating ongoing leadership in providing innovative solutions to retailers worldwide, SAP America, Inc., a subsidiary of SAP AG, today announced that Hobby Lobby has selected SAP to provide a stable, predictable solution platform and a clear solution road map to help the company manage operations and continue to grow successfully. Hobby Lobby turned to SAP as its strategic and trusted software provider to help ensure that the agility of the retailer's systems will meet evolving business needs.

From its beginnings in a 300-square-foot retail location in Oklahoma City in 1972, Hobby Lobby has grown into one of the largest private retailers in North America. Today, the company has nearly 400 retail stores in 32 states, and projected sales of 1.8 billion dollars in 2008. To continue its pace as a fast-growing company, it needed a flexible, unified platform that would enable rapid response to market and customer demands, as well as help reduce total cost of ownership.

Hobby Lobby has selected SAP's flagship enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP(R) ERP, to replace its existing JD Edwards software. Hobby Lobby will have fully integrated processes to more efficiently manage its operations and to pursue growth opportunities. Hobby Lobby was particularly attracted to the application's model of incremental upgrades via enhancement packages that will provide Hobby Lobby a stable core system and the ability to add new functionality and capabilities as its needs require without traditional comprehensive system upgrades that disrupt operations.

"A flexible solution platform that allows for incremental enhancements based on business needs and a clear road map for the future is critical to the long-term success of Hobby Lobby," said Jeanne Cotter, CIO, Hobby Lobby. "Our choice to use SAP ERP as our stable business process platform allows us to take advantage of enhancement packages to adopt new business functionality and retail industry-specific features at our own pace, with minimal system disruption. Hobby Lobby sees SAP as the IT provider of choice and a trusted partner who truly understands our business, and one that will continue to support its customers in the long run."

SAP applications for financials, human capital management and payroll will help Hobby Lobby improve productivity for the core operations of its business while reducing total cost of ownership by having all systems on a common, modern platform. SAP solutions will help the company manage the complexities of its domestic operations such as adjusting to the ongoing changes of national and local laws.

"Retailers are investing in strategic platforms that provide them with data integration and transparency, so that their IT operations can grow with them, not hinder them," said Greg Buzek, founder and president of IHL Consulting Group.

"Hobby Lobby is a fine example of retailers turning to SAP as a trusted provider to support their strategic goals," said Chris Verheuvel, senior vice president and general manager, SAP Retail. "SAP's integrated retail solutions enable customers to anticipate and capitalize on the ever-changing market conditions in an industry renowned for speed, complexity and customer service."

 evan welsh