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Many Hobby Lobby stores opened for business as usual Wednesday, with reminders for customers to maintain a 6-foot distance due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

The corporate headquarters and sprawling distribution warehouse in southwest Oklahoma City remained surrounded by hundreds of vehicles indicating a shutdown has yet to occur even though several other prominent Oklahoma City-based large employers, including Paycom, shifted most employees to remote recently due to the threat of COVID-19.

Several employees told The Oklahoman the privately owned company, led by founder David Green, was resisting any shift to work-at-home status for its more than 5,000 employees.

Hobby Lobby representatives did not respond to requests for comment by The Oklahoman by the time this article was prepared for publication.