Christian Retailing

Christianbook.com buys homeschooling competitor Print Email
Written by Christine D. Johnson   
Thursday, 30 December 2010 01:28 PM America/New_York

Christianbook.com, the leading online Christian bookseller, has bought out a competing homeschool supplies business.

The Peabody, Mass.-based company acquired Pennywiselearning.com from founders Randy and Kristen Pratt, homeschooling parents of nine who are going into full-time, local church ministry. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

“Though we've been competitors with Pennywise in the past, we've always admired the Pratts' core beliefs of encouraging, educating and empowering families,” said Christianbook.com President Ray Hendrickson. “For more than 30 years we too have dedicated our efforts to offering our customers the biggest selection of quality Christian materials,” he said, citing 35,000 homeschooling products available online.

Hendrickson said that the Pratts had enhanced the homeschooling market with “their personal experience, professional integrity and devoted stewardship. We appreciate all they have done and plan to incorporate some of their ideas and approaches into our business strategy.”

Included in the transfer is Bookpeddler.com, recently purchased by the Pratts. While Christianbook.com had been a competitor, “we have always shared a common goal: to provide the best Christian resources to homeschool families at the best prices,” said Randy Pratt.