Type: Chain
Region: Southeast
Location: Large shopping center on a highway
 
Appearance:
Inventory:
Staff: 

External appearance: Clearly visible and accessible in a large shopping center.

Window display: The large front windows held no attractive product displays. Instead, there were white partitions bearing sales posters—reminiscent of a thrift store.  

Entrance: Open and well-lit, the entrance featured sales fliers and shopping baskets available for customers.

Layout and inventory: The front of the store had an organized layout, but this was somewhat deceiving, as the layout of the rest of the store was awkward and cramped. The aisles were uncomfortably narrow—not wide enough for one customer to comfortably pass another who had stopped to browse.

The inventory was excellent and it included Bible covers, Bible software, artwork and gift items.

There also was a variety of products geared for African-Americans, Hispanics, Messianic Jews and Catholics. The children’s section had diverse products, including plush toys, stickers, games and homeschool material.

Appearance: The front of the store had an open area with products attractively displayed on tables and shelves. However, the rest of the store appeared to be in disarray.
In the Bibles section, Bible covers were strewn in piles, making them difficult to view. Elsewhere, sheet music and curriculum were haphazardly hanging off shelves, and around the corner was an open door, revealing a messy stock room. T-shirts in the clothing section were in heaps. In the children’s section, toys were scattered on the floor—easy to trip over—while the two sitting areas were messy with fliers and products left behind by previous customers.

Staff: Two young ladies and a store manager, all dressed nicely and wearing store aprons, were easily identifiable. One of the assistants talked with a customer and compared various products that interested him. The other young lady, at the cash register, cheerfully greeted everyone who came into the store. The clerks and the manager all attended to customers in a timely manner, and they answered customer questions well.

Verdict: Tidy up! While the inventory was not lacking in any way, and the front of the store neatly displayed books and sale tables, the rest of the store was very difficult to navigate, and it felt like a picked-over bargain basement.
The staff was very pleasant and helpful, but they need to organize the store. It’s in a perfect location, with a lot of potential. Reorganize the books so that it’s easy to find things—and keep the stock room door closed. Consider restructuring the layout of the store to create at least 10 more inches of space in each aisle. Show off products by neatly displaying them in the storefront window, and reduce the amount of posters.

If this were your regular store? I would not visit very often until I saw the store taking pride in its inventory. Disorganized and strewn products send a silent message of disrespect to customers.

Would anyone feel comfortable here? Sadly, I overheard a customer say that she hated coming to this store because it was always a mess and that she wished she could have shopped at her regular Christian bookstore that day.

What will you remember of your visit a week from now? Nice staff, but what a mess. Shopping time should be pleasurable, not a time to fight through narrow aisles and sort through cluttered product displays.

THE STORE OWNER RESPONDS: The store declined to respond.

Christian retailers adjust to maximize their strengths

For those involved in Christian retail, the recent economic crisis was just the latest in a series of major challenges that continue to change the face of the industry.

Christian retailers begin another year not only in the midst of a global financial slump, but also with a new national political climate that some suspect may not be as accepting of many of the conservative values they hold dear.

But while veteran industry retailers, suppliers and support organizations predict 2009 will be a very tough year, each segment of the industry remains hopeful, looking for bright spots and planning to make it through.

“While there is great doom and gloom in the media about the economy, we know that people are looking for places to have authentic, meaningful, memorable, relational retail experiences,” said CBA President Bill Anderson. “Christian retailers need to keep looking for fresh ways to create compelling experiences in their stores that attract customers and keep them coming back.”

That challenge is not new. Many Christian retailers have faced years of steady declines in traffic and sales, in part due to a loss of customers and revenues when Christian best-sellers like the “Left Behind” series and The Purpose-Driven Life gained attention—and shelf space—in the general market.

While the increased availability heightened awareness of Christian products and increased overall sales of the biggest titles, it was a Catch-22 for Christian retailers.

As more books and music became available at Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble and airports everywhere, Christian stores found it hard to match their convenience and visibility.

Christian retailers suffered another blow when technology made Internet buying so easy and convenient that many of their customers stayed home—or came into their stores to look around, then went home and ordered what they wanted online. The music industry’s turning digital impacted in-store sales of Christian CDs as well.

These combined trends have seen a huge shakeout of independents closing, comparable to the historic shifts in other industries such as hardware and grocery stores. In Canada, R.G. Mitchell Family Books, the largest distributor-retailer of Christian literature north of the border, went bankrupt last September. A string of longtime U.S. retailers have closed their doors or sold to chains.

National and larger retail chains comprised a third of CBA’s 1,731-member store numbers at the end of 2008. A further 46% were single-store and small-chain independent retailers, with 20% church, camp, campus, direct mail or online retailers.

Big picture, bright spots
Christian retailers experiencing struggles are certainly not alone. In 2008, major chains such as Mervyns, Linens-n-Things, Levitz, Sharper Image, Circuit City and Lillian Vernon all filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Big bookstores Barnes & Noble, Borders and Books-A-Million posted losses in late 2008 over the same sales period of a year before.

But it is not all bad news. The buffeted Christian retail industry is taking steps to move forward, with new growth being seen in the church-store segment and online sales. Meanwhile, brick-and-mortar stores are also finding creative ways to bring traffic back in the doors and cutting costs to maintain their presence in the market.
The general consensus: Stores just have to work harder and smarter.

“The next year or so will be very challenging for all retail, including the CBA industry,” said Mark Scott, president of LifeWay Christian Stores, which opened several new locations in 2008, ending the year with 152 stores. “(But) given the difficult economic climate, products which inspire and encourage consumers will do well.”

Perhaps the biggest bright spot in the Christian retail landscape is the fact that the extreme pressure is molding retailers into savvy businesspeople. Although ministry remains a key aspect, retailers are also becoming marketing experts, promotions directors, accounting whizzes and cost-cutting pros.

“In terms of our stores, there are bright spots and there are dark spots,” said Parable CEO Steve Potratz, who himself owns two stores. “If a business is built on sand/credit, it’s going to be in trouble right now. If it was built with cash and has cash reserves, then the storms are just part of life and it can weather them.”

Potratz said he has seen a lot of stores doing some “really wise cost-cutting” in order to stay afloat. In his own two stores, Potratz has saved tens of thousands of dollars by re-examining his expenses and making changes, such as changing to voice over Internet protocol for his phone service and renegotiating his rent contracts.

“When a lease comes up, I can move out or they can give me a lower rate,” Potratz said. “Things like that have helped me save. I’m not hearing this from everybody, but there definitely are stores that are down in sales, but profit is actually up because they have managed their expenses well and had a good foundation.”

LifeWay’s Scott said that sticking to the basics and responding quickly has been keeping LifeWay stores in business.

“We are very focused on doing the basics of retailing well, meeting our customers’ needs, being more agile,” Scott said. “In such a dynamic marketplace, we are working even harder to monitor product performance and customer behavior—then respond quickly. If something is working, we want to build on it fast.  If not, we want to adjust or abandon more quickly.”

Controlling inventory
Retail consultants agree that reducing expenses needs to be a major strategy for staying viable in 2009 and beyond.

“Retailers should take a harsh look at cost reduction,” said Philip Clements, managing director of Cathedral Consulting Group. “This is a harsh environment, and we must be rigorous in our evaluation of costs,” said the former Coopers & Lybrand senior executive whose consultancy last year offered advice to Christian retailers in a special report on the industry.

“Another critical item is orders to be put in place,” he said. “Retailers need to reduce inventory and sell everything possible at the end of the year and January. The re-orders must be very selective against what customers really want in the coming year. Inventory should no longer be carried just because of bulk discounts. Inventory carry is very expensive and a part of cost reduction.”

Inventory is a constant hot topic among retailers because carrying too much depletes resources, while not having the right mix on hand drives customers away. CBA last fall tested a “Custom Model Inventory Tool,” whose goal was to help stores reset inventory to increase sales, profitability and customer satisfaction.

“A key component is enabling retailers to provide broad assortments controlled by available cash to maximize ‘long-tail’ or backlist sales while ensuring the right product is on the shelves to increase sales,” Anderson said.

While results varied, one store with $700,000 annual revenues participating in the test experienced a 12.8% increase in book sales last August over the same month in 2007, and a 16% increase in store sales overall using the new tool, Anderson said.
At press time, testing was still underway, but Anderson hoped stores would be able to try the program in 2009.

Another way Christian retailers can win is to take their penchant for ministry and use technology to touch base with their customers inexpensively and often, as well as schedule creative, inexpensive promotions that drive traffic back into the stores.
Potratz said some Parable-franchised stores and others that belong to the marketing group have started holding drawings for laptops or small electronics where customers have to be present to win. Stores have seen an increase in traffic because of the giveaways. Other independents are also trying to be creative in drawing consumers in the doors.

“We keep in touch with our customers,” said Dennis Lovvorn, co-owner of New Covenant Christian Bookstore in Shelby, Tenn. “We do several events a year to keep our name in front of our customers. We have ‘Moonlight Gladness,’ instead of ‘Moonlight Madness,’ and on that night only, we offer specials, exclusive purchases and discounts. We also have other events throughout the year to keep reminding them that we’re here.”

For Lovvorn, sales maintained in 2008 and may even be up slightly once holiday numbers are tallied. It has taken “long hours and bending over backwards to take care of our customers,” he said, but he believed that the tough times could actually be good for Christian retail because customers concerned about what’s happening will seek out Christian books.

“I think it will drive a lot of people to the Word because they’re so concerned about what is happening in our culture,” Lovvorn said. “In tough times, the church does better.”

Retail support tools
The squeeze has also pushed many in the industry to take more seriously the need for better training and good data, veterans said. Historically, retailers enjoyed being more ministers than business people, and the industry was behind the times in terms of technology and statistics gathering.

Anderson said CBA’s new industry e-learning platform coming this year, which will deliver training and product knowledge directly to stores and frontliners via the Web, “will create significant cost savings for suppliers and welcome product sales training for retailers.”

The retailers trade association is also offering the CBA Consumer Intelligence program that will provide ongoing and in-depth looks at consumer behavior and attitudes. Developed in cooperation with R.R. Bowker’s new consumer research resources, this program “will help retailers see customer and product trends developing,” Anderson said.

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) is creating new tools to heighten awareness of Christian products among consumers, such as more open access to its best-sellers lists—which authors and others can now post on their own Web sites and blogs—and promote greater attention for award-winning products.

For Christian retailers who want to stay in business, finding ways to stick together could be the key. Branding, franchising, joining marketing groups and networking are crucial elements for success.

“I anticipate that we will see independent retailers, chains and retail groups coming together in unprecedented ways,” Anderson said.

“Connecting with other retailers in ways where you can maximize your efficiency through groups like Parable or Munce or with CBA is vital,” ECPA President Mark Kuyper agreed. “Anything you can do so it reduces the amount of energy you have to put in is going to be imperative because there are limited dollars for staffing and marketing.”

The Munce Group based in Indian Rocks Beach, Fla., provides marketing support for nearly 600 stores in the U.S. and Canada and has seen its number of stores remain “fairly consistent over the past three years,” according to Chief Operating Officer Kirk Blank.

While there was no magic bullet, he said, “we have unique strategies that allow independent stores to compete online and in-store,” Blank said.

“We are currently seeing a shift in consumer behavior to purchasing at their local store,” he added. “We have been promoting the importance of  ‘the local Christian retail store’ proactively on our Web sites, our promotional catalogs, proprietary items, and in-store.“

The group has also enlisted the help of authors and artists such as Max Lucado, Karen Kingsbury, Stormie Omartian and Third Day “to spread the word that local independent Christian retailers make a significant difference to communities.”

Blank said Munce was operating from a “position of strength” in representing “the most independent Christian stores, the most regional chain accounts and the most church bookstores.”

In addition to making connections, stores also need to figure out what they offer beyond the best prices and top-selling products, Kuyper said. “One of the best things a Christian retailer can be doing is communicating to their audience what is unique in terms of who they are.

“High customer contact is going to continue to be important. Without that, you lose some of your distinctive.”

Customer connections
Technology also plays a role in connecting well with customers.

“I think we’re going to see increased attention given to using new technologies to reach potential customers, connecting them to the product and the stores,” Anderson said.

Still, retailing in 2009 is likely to remain an uphill battle.

“When even longtime customers come in and say, ‘I believe in you, I support you, I just can’t continue to buy from you,’ that’s a reality that is hard to face,” said leadership author and industry consultant Jim Seybert.

“However, there are other industries of specialty items that have moved off to general market retail that still have a good collection of strong independent stores—health foods, for example, or auto parts. You can buy most at Wal-Mart or online, but there is still a good collection of independent stores that have bucked the trend.

“Even with the current trends, I don’t see an end to independent Christian retail, but I see it continuing to look different.”

How much do you remember of the headlines from 2008?

It was a year dominated by the race for The White House and an economic collapse, but 2008 also saw big news in the Christian products industry. Test your recall of the last 12 months by answering these questions, drawn from Christian Retailing’s news coverage.

1. Christian Trade Association International’s first Marketsquare International was held where?
A    Indianapolis
B    London
C    Toronto
D    Miami

2. Best-selling author Ted Dekker announced plans for a special Christian retail edition of which book, including an additional chapter?
A    Target
B    Adam
C    Skin
D    The Gatherers

3. The Shack author William P. Young identifies himself as:
A    Bill
B    Mack
C    Paul
D    Willie

4. Which Christian comedian became a YouTube sensation?
A    Chonda Pierce
B    Barbara Johnson
C    Miss Pattycake
D    Anita Renfroe

5. Thomas Nelson’s new retailer event in Nashville was called:
A    Homecoming    
B    No Show
C    Open House
D    Retailer Reception

6. Which Bible marked its centennial during 2008?
A    Revised Standard Version
B    Thompson Chain-Reference
C    New International Version
D    Good News for Modern Man

7. Who was named Male Vocalist of the Year at the Gospel Music Association Dove Awards?
A    Mark Hall
B    Aaron Shust
C    Bill Gaither
D    Chris Tomlin

8.  NFL coach Tony Dungy’s kid’s book, You Can Do It!, was released by:
A    Tyndale House Publishers
B    Little Simon Inspirations
C    Thomas Nelson
D    Zonderkidz

9. CBA’s Operation Worship campaign reached its 100,000 Bibles for troops goal within what period?
A    30 days
B    60 days
C    100 days
D    120 days

10. The Supplier of the Year named at the International Christian Retail Show was:
A    Baker Publishing Group
B    David C. Cook
C    Thomas Nelson
D    Zondervan

11. Which publisher marked its 70th anniversary during 2008?
A    Barbour Publishing
B    Crossway Books & Bibles
C    Moody Publishers
D    NavPress

12. Zondervan’s new e-book gift card program was named:
A    Inspirio
B    Ratio
C    Symtio
D    Zymtio

13. The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association’s (ECPA) Christian Book of the Year award went to:
A    3:16 by Max Lucado (Thomas Nelson)
B    Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy, with Nathan Whitaker (Tyndale House Publishers)
C    The Word of Promise New Testament (Thomas Nelson)
D    Inspired by… The Bible Experience: Complete Bible (Zondervan)

14. Greetings card company Life Publishing was sold by Dicksons Inc. to whom?
A    Gregg Gift Co.
B    DaySpring
C    Christian Art Gifts
D    Marian Heath

15. Which best-selling author gave the closing convocation at the National Democratic Convention?
A    Henry Blackaby
B    Max Lucado
C    Donald Miller
D    Jim Wallace

16. “Left Behind” co-author Tim LaHaye settled a long-running legal dispute with which company over movie versions of the books?
A    Cloud Ten Pictures
B    Left Behind Films
C    Apocalypse Entertainment
D    Nicolae Productions

17. Best-selling author John Eldredge announced he was leaving publisher Thomas Nelson for:
A    Atria
B    Doubleday Religious
Publishing
C    Free Press
D    Zondervan

18. The last name of the moviemaking brothers behind Fireproof was:
A    Coen
B    Jonas
C    Kendrick
D    Lalonde

19. Which music artist was honored for a 25-year career at a Nashville gala event?
A    Amy Grant
B    Sandi Patty
C    Michael W. Smith
D    Marvin Winans

20. After a six-year writing hiatus, The Prayer of Jabez author Bruce Wilkinson signed a two-book deal with:
A    FaithWords
B    Harvest House
C    Thomas Nelson
D    The WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group

21. Tyndale House Publishers took on distribution of a Sarah Palin biography from which publisher?
A    Alaskan Books
B    Northern Publishing
C    Epicenter Press
D    Moose Press

22. The best-selling Fireproof movie tie-in, The Love Dare, was published by?
A    B&H Publishing Group
B    Crossway Books & Bibles
C    Thomas Nelson
S    WaterBrook Press

23. R.G. Mitchell Family Books, the Canadian distributor that filed for bankruptcy, also had stores in which area?
A    Toronto
B    Vancouver
C    Quebec
D    Ontario

24. Which publisher offered a free-swap, good reading guarantee on its fiction?
A    Barbour Publishing
B    Bethany House Publishers
C    David C. Cook
D    Moody Publishers

25. The Spanish Evangelical Products Association named whom as Publisher of the Year?
A    Casa Creación
B    Editorial Unilit
C    Grupo Nelson
D    Tyndale Español

26. What magazine did LifeWay Christian Stores pull from its shelves because the cover featured female ministers?
A    Charisma
B    Christianity Today
C    Ministry Today
D    Gospel Today

27. What is the name of the Bible to be released in March by Free Press that will feature notes from pastor and author Joel Osteen and his wife, Victoria?
A    Hope for Today Bible
B    Your Best Bible Now
C    Faith, Hope and Love Bible
D    Your Best Life Now Bible

28. At what event will the ECPA announce its Christian Book Awards in 2009?
A    CBA Industry Conference
B     International Christian Retail Show
C    The Gathering
D    Christian Book Expo

Quiz of the Year answers: 1-C; 2-B, 3-C; 4-D; 5-C; 6-B; 7-D; 8-B; 9-C; 10-D; 11-B; 12-C; 13-C; 14-D; 15-C; 16-A; 17-B; 18-C; 19-C; 20-D; 21-C; 22-A; 23-D; 24-C; 25-A; 26-D; 27-A; 28-D.

Grade: 25-plus correct answers: Industry Expert. 19-24 correct answers: Well-informed. 14-18  correct answers: Average. 9-13 correct answers: Newcomer. 8 or less correct answers: Where were you last year?