External appearance: The store is on a congested street, so the large store sign towering at the top of other stores on the strip marquee was helpful. In front, four parking slots were "reserved for (store) customers" with signage. Customers must walk down several steps from the parking lot to reach the store or use a ramp.

Window display: Three sections of windows faced the parking lot. Other windows also faced the busy street. Shelves with books on wire stands were visible.

Entrance: The store name plus "Resources for the Christian Journey" was on a blue strip with white letters across the storefront. The store name along with "books and Bibles, church supplies, gifts, music and cards" was on the door. A stack of gray baskets sat to the right.

External appearance: Store name on strip marquee adjacent to busy street and in large green and white letters above the wide storefront.

Window display: Through 15 full-length windows across the front, to the left the light-colored work area behind the register was easily seen, with Bible covers hanging on adjacent slatwall.   In the many windows to the right of the double doors, 16 rounders stood all in a row in front of the windows with Mass cards, crosses, sun catchers, bookmarks and medals. On the floor, between the rounders and the windows, 2- and 3-foot tall statuary, some of which faced the parking lot. Small pots with artificial greenery were stuck between some of the statues.

External appearance: Red store letters prominent below the green roof. Paint was peeling off the tan building exterior.

Window display: Through the store windows, in one corner, blinds were open to reveal an empty office with two tables, a chair and a bench. Concert posters were hanging on an interior window. Through another side window, someone was sitting on a window seat reading.

Entrance: Gray trash cans sat outside the store on both sides of the double door entry. Blue shopping baskets were at the entrance with Bob Siemon Designs rounders on both sides of the entry. Straight ahead, a huge arrow with a large “clearance” sign hung from the ceiling, pointing to a table at store center. Eighteen feet of double-sided card racks were to the right, adjacent to seven gift kiosks.

TYPE: Independent
Region: Midwest
Location: Busy intersection leading into town
APPEARANCE:
INVENTORY:
STAFF: 0

TYPE: Independent
Region: Northwest
Location: At a strategic intersection,
by a suburban downtown area and a main traffic artery
APPEARANCE:
INVENTORY:
STAFF:

STORE PROFILE

TYPE: chain

REGION: southeast

LOCATION: At the end of a suburban strip "food row," next to a Japanese restaurant with prominent visibility from two sides.

10-POINT RATING

Appearance: 10

Inventory: 10

Staff: 4

Overall: 80%

External appearance: Large red store letters above the red and white striped awning that was above each store, including this bookstore.

Window display: Fourteen full-length windows along the store side with pull-up parking. Through the windows, Willow Tree figurines were individually displayed on tiered tables, plus a variety of gift products were neatly organized. The gift section looked expansive, as it appeared there were other rooms even beyond this large front section.

Entrance: Posters were on the doors as well as a small "Now hiring" sign and the store hours. Customers walked through a security pass-through.

Eco-friendly shopping bags were priced at $1.49, while Day Brighteners and other miscellaneous gifts were to the left on low slatwall with the registers beyond.

To the right were several cardboard dumps, a stack of shopping baskets plus blue- and red-covered sale tables, one featuring tees and caps priced at $9.97.

Layout and inventory: Large signs hung above each section: gifts to the right, books at center, kids at back and to the left, Bibles, music and church supplies.

The gift area felt so spacious. Products were neatly organized and nicely displayed. A wide doorway in an angled, free-standing wall gave a sense of depth and intimacy in the large space. Curved molding on the wall above the doorway added a classy touch. Beyond the wall, even more gifts—what a huge store.

The children's department was at store back under a large black curved strip decorated with colored stars that matched the black starry rug in the area. Five rounders set along the right perimeter of the rug created an appropriate line of demarcation between the children's area and gift department. A child-sized, round table and four chairs sat in front of the television that was showing a video—though no children were in the store. Slatwall displayed product on the back wall. At the front of the rug, Guitar Praise and Dance Praise boxes leaned against a VeggieTales cardboard dump.

There were comfortable chairs in several locations, including near the books at store center. All books were face-front on units with four shelves. The height of the shelving made it easy to look across the store.

All types of music were clearly labeled and neatly organized, with print music on the wall under "music accessories." Children's music bridged the children's and music departments; a Dance Praise pad on the floor with a guitar was strategically placed between the children's and music departments, so there was a natural flow.

The large sign above "church supplies" was an all-encompassing term for a wide variety of products—three shelves of communion plates, a shelf of communion cups, two shelves of bulletins, communion bread, boxes with candelight service materials and a Murphy robe rack. There were also Bible studies, teaching resources, youth materials and VBS kits. Two additional chairs and a small end table were positioned in front of a TV playing a World Vision video.

Appearance: Pristine.

Staff: They were very neatly dressed, but it was disconcerting when on two occasions, an employee passed me in an aisle and didn't say anything.

Verdict: The organization of this store was sensible and easy to follow. The store designer also made excellent use of the large arrows in the carpeting to direct the eye toward the Top 10 in the music department and the television in the children's area.

Consider adding a small table by the chairs in front of the home school section to make it easier for customers to examine curriculum.

It would also be more pleasant if the door to the workroom at store back was closed. Customers should not be able to see the trash bags there.

If this were your regular store? I would love it.

Would a non-Christian feel comfortable here? Yes, as long as he knew what he wanted.

What will you remember of your visit a week from now? The excellent use of color coding for sale items. Throughout the store, I perked up whenever I saw yellow shelftalkers or signs, because yellow meant "sale" or "clearance." I walked through every single aisle, simply to look for that colored signage. I felt like I was on a treasure hunt, so it was a fun visit.

The store declined to respond.

TYPE: Chain
Region: Midwest
Location: On a major street, next to store
advertised by gigantic barstools at one end of the parking lot.
APPEARANCE:
INVENTORY:
STAFF:

TYPE: Chain
Region: West
Location: In a suburban area, directly across
the street from a large, well-known church without a bookstore
APPEARANCE: 0
INVENTORY:
STAFF: 0

External appearance: Despite the familiar chain’s sign mounted on a tall pole, the store was easily missed, tucked behind a beauty salon and across a littered parking lot from a convenience store.

Window display: The glass of both front doors, on either side of the register, was heavily smudged with fingerprints, suggesting it had not been cleaned in some time. A large “Clearance Sale” sign almost completely filled the expanse of one of the doors.

Entrance: A neon “open” sign was lit above one of the front doors.
Layout and inventory: The Bible area, to the front, was well-organized, with translation signage above various sections and Bible covers neatly displayed, but things went downhill further inside.
Scraps of paper littered the carpet. The clearly marked Fiction section at the rear of the store was blocked for access by 31 boxes, most unopened. The adjacent Church Supply area overflowed onto the floor, with an expensive communion cup tray with lid askew tilted precariously on some boxes.

In the Music area, standard racks showcased face-front CDs, neatly labeled and alphabetically organized. But against the wall was an entire empty section, with bits and pieces obviously left over from previous in-store merchandising displays.

The television, hanging from above, played a video while different music played throughout the store. A second television, hanging above the children’s area, was filled with “snow.”

The floor seemed to be used for overflow product in various places: a stack of videos on the floor, gift bags teetering in a pile, plush products on the floor in the children’s area.
Meanwhile, empty shelves and endcaps dotted the store. Boxes labeled with black Magic Marker lettering were stashed above the shelves in the entire left half of the store.

In the children’s area, a stack of books on the floor was almost toppling over. Two piles of gift bags were piled high under a bag rack. Kiosks at the front displayed sale items, including a section for Christmas clearance with a stack of six boxed ornaments dated more than a year previously.

The unisex bathroom at the rear of the store was a nightmare—peeling wallpaper, a ring around the toilet, no paper towels, something sticky on the floor, mops leaning against the wall and book racks stashed in the room, making it hard to move.

Staff: Two female frontliners were on duty, heavily engaged in conversation with one another and apparently unaware that there were customers in the store. They didn’t seem to notice when the background music suddenly switched off.

Verdict: Match space to inventory. Use the store to display product and a backroom to store product. Hire a cleaning service. Teach frontliners the basics of customer service.

If this were your regular store? I would shop at a different Christian chain store about 15 minutes away.

Would a non-Christian feel comfortable here? Only if they are accustomed to self-service and don’t need to use the bathroom.

What will you remember of your visit? Feeling embarrassed that I brought someone along with me.

THE STORE RE­SPONDS: Store management declined to respond.

TYPE: Chain

Region: South Central

Location: College town; off interstate, between an Office Max and empty store in semi-empty strip with freshly blacktopped parking lot.

10-Point Rating:

Appearance: 8

Inventory: 10

Staff: 9

Overall: 90%

Sliding scale: Just about classy.

TYPE: Independent

REGION: Southeast

LOCATION: New bookstore location in the middle of a new mini-strip center.

FIVE-STAR RATING:

INVENTORY:

STAFF: