Despite a significant drop in attendance and many exhibitors reducing their presence at the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS), distributors reported good business.

Now known as a ministry of Biblica, STL Distribution North America (STLD) downsized by a third, but still had one of the bigger presences on the floor—combined with some of the distributor's partners.

Glenn Bailey, president of STLD, said he had been fearful about the attendance, "but it turns out whatever number there are here, they are the people that we need to see."

"While the quantity is clearly down, the quality is pretty good," he added.

The Johnson City, Tenn.-based company gave away $25,000 in retail credit as well as $3,000 in products at ICRS, held July 12-15 in Denver.

"Considering our economic climate, it seems more upbeat than I expected," said Rick Regenfuss, vice president of sales for STLD.

Bailey said the distributor's business was up 12% over the last 10 months in part because the company picked up partners after Ontario, Canada-based R.G. Mitchell Family Books unexpectedly closed last September. He added that Mitchell had a number of distributor partners whose business has been growing more than double digits and doing "tremendously well," including Summerside Press and Ellie Claire Gift & Paper Expressions.

At Anchor Distributors, Vice President Bob Whitaker Jr. said he was "very pleased" with the show.

"The retailers who came might be fewer in number, but they came to buy," he said. “The CBA incentives was one of the tipping points as the specials offered helped bring in people."

Karen Keisler, sales director for New Kensington, Pa.-based Anchor Distributors and Whitaker House, added: "Our preliminary ICRS 2009 sales figures are showing a 14% increase over ICRS 2008, so we are pleased with the results of the show.

She said that "a lot of pre-show planning helped to make that happen." "We knew that most retailers would be looking for extra discount deals, as well as new products, so we worked hard to put together some enticing specials and debut some strong new lines," Keisler said. "Our Whitaker House promotional books at 80% (off) generated a lot of interest for stores looking for low-cost inventory in these tough economic times.

"With the show being a day shorter, our booth became a whirlwind of activity, especially on (the first two days), as retailers came to meet authors and visit with our sales staff," she added. "It was good to connect with our customers and encourage them."

At La Vergne, Tenn.-based Spring Arbor, Director of Sales Chris Smith said the distributor's booth was downsized from last year's event, but it "was humming with activity all the way through the show's close."

"CBA's decision to move to a three-day format for the exhibit floor this year was absolutely the right move," he said. "With the uncertainty of the current economic climate, we consolidated some of our business units. In retrospect, we probably could have used more space, and we plan to adjust accordingly for St. Louis (at 2010 ICRS)."

Besides offering retailers a 4% discount on orders of $1,000 or more at the show, Spring Arbor also spotlighted the "preeminent accuracy" of its four regional distribution centers as well as the company's iPage book searching, ordering and management Web site, Smith said.

Meanwhile, New Day Christian Distributors was "overwhelmed" with the response to the new VeggieTales Crocs shoe, said Director of Marketing and Promotions Joanna Price.

"It was the largest response to our kids' products in recent history," she said. "We knew that they would be a hit, but we were surprised with how big of a hit they were. We received many, many orders. It's exclusive through us for the CBA market, so the retailers knew that they couldn't get it anywhere else."

Price added that the Hendersonville, Tenn.-based company also had good sales from the Learning Journey Wooden Nativity Play Set as well as Fisher-Price's Noah's Ark and Little People nativity set, for which the company more than doubled its order due to strong response from last year's show in Orlando, Fla.

"Our sales were up nearly 40% over last year, and in what the media is calling a down economy, we can only call that a miracle," she said. "(The) numbers are the best they have been in years."

In addition to Bob & Larry's appearance to promote the VeggieTales Crocs shoe, New Day brought in harpist Merry Miller, who co-hosted The View in Elisabeth Hasselbeck's absence, and country music star Ray Stevens—who promoted his new Christian channel project.

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