Hobby Lobby signs lease for part of former Sears home at Castleton Square Mall

Arts and crafts chain store Hobby Lobby has signed a lease to move into Castleton Square Mall .

Veritas Realty, a local real estate brokerage, confirmed to IndyStar in an email that Hobby Lobby signed a lease for a portion of the space left vacant when Sears pulled out of the northside shopping center in 2018.

Veritas advertises a 143,000-square-foot, two-floor unit of the mall adjacent to the future Hobby Lobby as available for lease, according to its website.

The redevelopment would overhaul the east end of the Simon mall, which previously housed the massive 2-story Sears department store. Sears Holdings closed its sole Indianapolis location in 2018, alongside 62 other stores nationwide, as the company struggled to make profits off its retail stores. The mall remains home to behemoth department stores Von Maur, JCPenney and Macy's.

A spokesperson for Hobby Lobby did not respond to a request for comment from IndyStar. Simon could not be reached for comment.

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The location would be Hobby Lobby's 29th store in Indiana. The company has two other Indianapolis locations on the south and east sides of the city.

Castleton Square Mall is the largest shopping center in Indiana, according to Simon, with more than 130 retailers.

Alysa Guffey covers commercial real estate, growth and development for the Indianapolis Star. Contact her at amguffey@gannett.com or on Twitter/X: @AlysaGuffeyNews.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Hobby Lobby signs lease for part of former Sears home at Castleton Square Mall