"I don't look at them as competition," Phil Dinovo said of other Christian stores in the area near his Holy Family Books & Gifts in Sandusky, Ohio. "We are on a first-name basis," he said, telling Catholic Trade Journal that he was careful not to carry similar products and referred shoppers to the other stores when they could better help customers.

A former teacher, Dinovo opened his store in 2001 in 2,200 square feet of space and has since increased that to 7,700 square feet. He carries more than 2,000 Catholic book titles and also offers wholesale distribution for a Stations of the Cross bracelet.

Speaking to the Journal, Dinovo said that part of his success had been because he networked with local non-Catholic stores rather than viewing them as competition. The groups' markets were so different that it was easy to develop a working relationship, he said.