A message from Geni Hulsey, president of the Church Bookstore Network:

It is no surprise to anyone that things have changed economically in the last few years. It is also not news that in retail we have had to make some serious adjustments to survive in this climate.

In the realm of church-owned bookstores, it has become imperative that our budgets balance in order to support the stewardship of the church. If we become a drain on the budget, then we become a liability. That is the last position in which we want to find our stores.

One of the ways to improve your financial position might be in decreasing the number of paid employees you have. (Some of you are smiling, “Paid employees? What is that?”) These positions can be replaced with dependable, committed volunteers. Managing a volunteer program can be a bit more of challenge, but many of you have done it well.

It is always good to keep your eye on your hours of operation, too. Has the pattern of activities, the worship times or anything else relevant to traffic flow changed in your church? If you have P.O.S. software, chances are it will give you a report of how much revenue and traffic you have each hour.

Another important issue to revisit on a regular basis is marketing. From time to time we have talked about marketing to the “outside”—neighbors, other churches and nonprofits. But one of our greatest challenges is engaging the church membership. While there are those who are totally loyal to “their” church store, others do not even realize you are there.

So, be sure you have a presence—in the form of a display, a rotating commercial on the flat screens, posters, whatever works at your church, in every area of the building or buildings on your campus. A coupon in your visitors' and new members’ packets helps new folks in your church form the habit of using your store right away.

After personnel, the largest single expenditure in our stores is inventory. This last week I spoke to several stores about how they are handling purchasing as dollars tighten. The consensus was, “We buy less.” Well, that may sound obvious, but the answers offered a few more details. Store representatives told me that they were buying two copies of a new book instead of four or six, finding sources where they could buy just one or two of a gift item instead of the normal six or 12 or 24.

While it seemed to be about reducing the number of items, not the product mix, let me also encourage you to keep an eye on the product mix. If a category or even department is not holding its own financially, then obviously your folks just are not buying it. Focus on what is selling.

For many of you this is old news; for others it may be just the thing you needed to hear. The way we will survive and thrive is sharing what we know with those who do not know.

I encourage you—in your town, county or region—get together, talk about your mutual problems, share your victories and pray together for a stronger Christian retail market in order that we might continue to help make Him known.

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