Problems in the housing market mean there are "less new walls out there" on which to hang art, but people are still redecorating existing homes, observed Robert Spooner, director of marketing for Robert Spooner Galerie. Still, "rather than $1,000 or $2,000 items, they will buy $100 or $200 items," he added.

The document from Koorong--which has 18 stores across the country--has been welcomed as a "great first step" by leaders of the Just Holy Hardware campaign launched by the Justice and International Mission Unit of the Uniting Church in Australia.

"Pastor Chuck has made great progress and is being released this week from rehabilitation," an update on the church's Web site said this week. "He is hoping to resume his old schedule as soon as possible."

Released in October, the follow-up to The Word of Promise New Testament Audio Bible includes the full text of the Bible with dramatic performances by well-known Hollywood actors such as Richard Dreyfuss, Gary Sinise, Jason Alexander and Jon Voight.

The MarCom Awards is an international competition for marketing and communication professionals involved in the concept, writing and design of marketing and communication programs of print, visual and audio materials. Each year there are 5,000-plus entries received from around the world.

"It is an extreme honor to have the project honored by the creative industry," said JoBe Cerny, who served as director for The Word of Promise Audio Bible. "What's the most exciting thing for me personally is that with this audio Bible, we have found a new and exciting way to introduce people to the Bible, and an award of this nature helps draw attention to the Word."

Approved by the board of trustees of Augsburg Fortress on Dec. 18, the move affects 500 participants--retirees, former employees not yet retired and current employees, company officials said. Not affected by the decision is the company's current retirement plan--a defined contribution plan--in which Augsburg Fortress' current employees can participate. Approximately 150 current employees are enrolled in that plan.

"We believe this step will lead to a more accurate processing of returns and speed up the time that is required to issue credits to our customers," Standard Publishing President Larry Carpenter said. "Our customers are already creating paperwork for their return, so the only additional step is running that list by us in advance and getting a returns authorization number. We will be able to let the customer know in advance if something is not returnable so they can process that product differently."

Suppliers of Christian products can now enter their best releases of the year in Christian Retailing's 2010 Retailers Choice Awards--and take advantage of the Early Bird discount if entering by Friday, Jan. 15.

Celebrating 10 years in 2010, the Retailers Choice Awards have been increasingly acknowledged as an important way of recognizing some of the most significant new life-changing products in the Christian retail industry.

Suppliers who nominate their products by Jan. 15 can save on entry fees by using the Early Bird option (buy five, get one free; buy 10, get two free, and so on). The entry fee remains just $50 per item. 
Products may be nominated until Jan. 29, 2010, with retailer voting beginning in February in 36 categories of gifts, books, Bibles, music and more.

The 2010 Retailers Choice Awards winners will be announced at Christian Retailing's The Gathering 2010 event, to be held April 21-23 at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Ky.

Click here for the listing of categories and official rules of the Retailers Choice Awards, or e-mail Managing Editor Christine Johnson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..