Roman has made a strategic move with its showroom location at the Las Vegas Mart after five months of occupancy and a successful January show. The company is moving from what was a brand-new showroom in January to another new space on the ninth floor of building C.

“Roman was recently presented with an opportunity to move to a key location in the mart,” said Sally Murphy, Roman’s director of merchandising. “Our new suite, C-907, is located in a highly visible location adjacent to the escalators, allowing current and new customers to easily find Roman, Cottage Garden and Alexa’s Angels.”

Bobbi Jo (BJ) Heyboer, who has led Baker Publishing Group's academic marketing efforts for the past 14 years, will step down from her role in July. Heyboer, who has worked in religious publishing for 21 years, is leaving to pursue a master of divinity degree from the University of the South School of Theology in Sewanee, Tenn.

Bryan Dyer, who has served as an academic publicist and assistant marketing manager for Baker Academic and Brazos Press, will take over Heyboer's position, effective July 18.

Heyboer played a key role in establishing the Brazos Press division and "in formulating creative methods" for marketing Baker Academic and Brazos Press titles to academic and thoughtful readers, company officials said.

"It has been a joy to connect authors and their books with readers over the last two decades," said Heyboer, senior director of marketing at Baker Publishing Group. "I am thankful to have worked with outstanding colleagues, writers, booksellers and media contacts who have shaped my career and impacted my life."

Executive Vice President of Human Resources Daniel Baker said Heyboer "served with great distinction."

"She will be missed, and we wish her the very best as she pursues a call to vocational ministry," he said.

Jim Kinney, editorial director of Baker Academic and Brazos Press, added: "[Heyboer] played an integral role in shaping our programs to serve our authors and readers well. But Bryan is well-equipped to succeed her. We eagerly anticipate the insight and energy he'll bring in the months and years ahead."

Best-selling author and pastor Max Lucado is teaming up with Thomas Nelson, CBA and the Salvation Army to reach a million "hurting hearts" through his "Give Hope Where It Counts" campaign.

Through the campaign, Christian retailers can offer customers a special Salvation Army edition of You'll Get Through This to give to individuals in crisis. The $5 mass-market edition, exclusive to the Christian retail channel, will include an introductory letter plus a 16-page insert featuring stories of people who have made it through difficult times with the help of the Salvation Army.

Lucado also will be the keynote speaker at the Worship Him service Sunday, June 23 at the International Christian Retail Show in St. Louis, and his newest book, You'll Get Through This, will be released by Thomas Nelson on Sept. 10.

"It seems these days hope is in short supply," Lucado said. "But with every helping hand and warm meal, the Salvation Army provides a tangible expression of God's love."

David Moberg, Thomas Nelson's senior vice president and group publisher, agreed.

"Max has written a special message of hope and healing," he said. "We knew we wanted to create a ministry movement to help 1 million broken hearts find hope. The Salvation Army and CBA are powerful partners to reach that goal."

CBA President Curtis Riskey added: "Christian retailers are on the frontlines, seeing how their customers want to minister to others in need. "We value the work that the Salvation Army does as a Christian first-responder and we want to support their hands-on, ground-level work with those in need."

Commissioner Barry C. Swanson, a Salvation Army officer, noted that the campaign "can raise awareness and, more importantly, raise hope in the salvation and comfort that only God gives."

Lucado will present the message of his book Sept. 11 as the featured speaker of a Salvation Army commemoration of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Sandy and other tragedies. Billed as You'll Get Through This: A Night of Hope and Remembrance, the event will be held at the Centennial Memorial Temple in New York City.

Expected to draw more than 1,500 attendees, the event will be simulcast live online via in:cast to churches and small groups throughout the country and through the Salvation Army network to its many corps.

Visit www.incastevents.com for more information on the simulcast. Visit www.christianretailshow.com for more information on ICRS.

Retail sales grew in May as an improving job and housing market led to consumer confidence reaching five-year highs.

A preliminary tally of 13 retailers found that revenue at stores opened at least a year—an indicator of a store's health—increased 3.4% in May compared with the same month a year ago, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), Associated Press (AP) reported. The figure rose 3% in April.

"It's good, not great," said Michael Niemira, ICSC's chief economist. "Some underlying improvement in the U.S. economy along with an improving 'wealth effect' from rising stock and home prices is helping to lift the sales pace."

Niemira expects the gradual increase to continue, predicting revenue to rise 3% to 3.5% in June.

Big chains such as Wal-Mart, Target and Macy's don't report monthly revenue. The retailers that do report monthly data represent about 6% of the $2.4 trillion in U.S. retail sales, AP reported.

Accenture Managing Director Chris Donnelley said the May numbers, combined with previous months' figures were encouraging.

"Overall, it's a positive sales trend," he said, noting that the numbers were consistent across all sectors, including discount stores, specialty apparel and teen stores. "Everybody seems to produce good numbers, but nobody had a breakthrough for May."

The U.S. Labor Department said that the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell 11,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 346,000, a level consistent with steady job growth, AP reported. Housing prices rose 11% in March, the sharpest 12-month increase in seven years.

Christian retail stores are offering giveaways on products tied to Father's Day—Sunday, June 16.

LifeWay Christian Stores' Father's Day Giveaway features a grand prize, featuring books and CDs to be given to a random winner. The prize includes Charles F. Stanley's Man of God (David C Cook); Curtis Eichelberger's Men of Sunday (Thomas Nelson); The Afters' Life Is Beautiful (INO Records/Provident Distribution); and Building 429's We Won't Be Shaken (Essential Records/Provident).

"For your chance to win this bundle, leave your name in the comments section of today's post," LifeWay employee Rachel McRae said in a blog post. "Just for fun, tell us the name of your dad or another man who has greatly influenced your life."

Berean Christian Stores posted its Win a Gift for Dad giveaway on its Facebook page"

"To enter, simply comment, like or share the photo."

Prizes include Joel C. Rosenberg's Damascus Countdown (Tyndale House Publishers); 31 Days With God for Fathers (Barbour Publishing); JJ Weeks Band's All Over the World (Inpop Records/Capitol Christian Distribution).

Meanwhile, Mardel Christian & Education recently completed its Happy, Happy, Happy Father's Day Giveaway tied to A&E TV's popular reality show Duck Dynasty.

The grand prize included Phil Robertson's Happy, Happy, Happy and Willie and Korie Robertson's The Duck Commander Family (both Howard Books), as well as Duck Commander products distributed by New Day Christian Distributors and Duck Dynasty DVDs from Thomas Nelson

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New Leaf Publishing Group has launched a new and improved website, where customers can find the company's catalogs and other resources.

The website, nlpg.com, will allow customers to shop by imprint (Attic Books, Master Books and New Leaf Press); by topic (apologetics, biography, Christian living, church resources, classics, references, creation science education and other subjects); by type (DVD, audio packages, study guides, lesson planners and digital downloads); and by audience (ages 5-7, 8-10, 11-13, 14-16 and 17-18).

"Over the next few months, we'll be continuing to refine it and add new features, including e-books and better ways to find related materials for our products," New Leaf officials said. "We do regret that we were unable to migrate customers from our old website. So if you had an account set up there, you'll need to create a new one here. We've streamlined the process, so it shouldn't take too long, and we apologize for any inconvenience."

A free resource page includes catalogs, study guides, downloadables such as worksheets and coloring pages.

Visit www.nlpg.com for more information on ICRS.

The International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) will spotlight a St. Louis-based ministry that helps families as this year's ICRS Ministry in Action project. CBA's marquee summer event will be held June 23-26 at the America's Center Convention Complex in St. Louis.

Retailers, suppliers and other industry participants will assemble 100 welcome baskets to help Humanitri, which will also benefit from an offering at ICRS, CBA officials said. The result of a merger of three Lutheran ministries, Humanitri assists families impacted by homelessness, incarceration, single motherhood and poverty.

"A broad base of programs, services, ministries and partnerships gives us the ability, with God's help, to assist them in moving toward self-sufficiency, regardless of a family's situation," said Humanitri CEO Robert Otrembiak. "Our greatest successes come when those who we have helped help others."

Since 2006, Humanitri has served more than 7,500 clients, helping them secure housing, employment and essential items.

Humanitri's ministry goes hand in hand with the ICRS theme: "Your Show. One Mission—to go into all the world."

"ICRS is not just about surviving in tough times—it's about thriving," CBA officials said. "Because a time of unprecedented challenges is also a time of unprecedented opportunities. ... In a challenging economy, we can't be doing things the way we've always done them. It's time for 'new wineskins'—new ways of thinking. That's why we've recrafted every aspect of the show."

Visit www.christianretailshow.com for more information on ICRS.