Former employee and his sons take over at Wellspring Christian Resources

 There is new two-generation ownership of a long-standing independent Christian store.

John Desaulniers Jr. and his two sons, Joseph and Wesley, have taken over Wellspring Christian Resources in Urbandale, Iowa, from Bev Channell and her daughter, Kelly Maigaard. The two women had bought the former Boone’s Book and Bible Store—which dates back to 1943—17 years ago.

The purchase marks a  return to the store for Desaulniers, who worked there for four years until 2004, when he joined B&H Publishing Group as a sales representative. He lost his job there last fall in a downsizing move.

Channell said that the decision to sell the store followed the death of her husband in 2009 and Maigaard’s sickness, which had left her unable to work for more than a year. “We firmly believe that God led us into it, led us through some great times and some not-so-good times, and now we can see His hand in leading us out,” Channell told Christian Retailing.

“We feel very blessed that John came on the scene as I was proactively planning to pursue the sale. ... He is a good friend and he has a passion for the independent bookstore.”

Desaulniers is general manager, while Joseph and Wesley—with whom he formed limited company Aldertree Enterprises for the purchase—oversee sales and human resources and operations, respectively.

With stints at Moody Bookstore in Chicago and the former Riverside Distributors during his near-30 years in the industry, Desaulniers said that he was aware of, but undaunted by the challenges facing independent Christian retailers.

Music sales were rebounding through in-store burning, and statistics on readers of e-books suggested that they reading more and still enthusiastic about print books, he said. “A lot of it really comes down to customer service, and the people we have in the store are passionate about what we do. We are not just doing this as just a job, but we love the Christian products industry.”

Staff numbers have been cut by half due to the takeover. Desaulniers has also dropped his Parable marketing group membership and plans to fulfill online orders in-store. He and his sons plan an emphasis on local marketing, reaching out to churches in the area and reintroducing an emphasis on home-school materials.

“For the last six years with B&H, I was in stores, and I saw how other stores were doing this,” he said. “I’m taking a lot of that expertise of my former B&H customers and trying to bring it in-house here.” 

Wesley Desaulniers said that he was pleased to be working together with family members. “We have always been close, and in this, we are able to know what are the strengths and weaknesses of our business partners already and we know how to work off of each other well,” he said. “It also gives security that all of the members of the ownership have the same vision for growing the business for longevity.”

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