Christian Retailing

Christian artists present free concert in honor of Sandy Hook victims Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Tuesday, 08 January 2013 10:12 AM America/New_York

Christian artists TobyMac, Chris Tomlin, Mandisa, Laura Story, Casting Crowns, Steven Curtis Chapman and Building 429 will present a free concert paying tribute to the victims of last month's Connecticut shooting tragedy. A Night of Hope & Healing is set for Tuesday, Jan. 15 from 6-10 p.m. at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Conn.

Authors and speakers Louie Giglio, Max Lucado and Mary Beth Chapman will also share during "a night of prayer and music" to honor the victims and families impacted in Newtown, Conn., where a masked gunman killed more than 26 people—including 20 children—Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

"The initial response to the event was overwhelming, with over 10,000 tickets going in just 30 minutes, and since then 2,000 more seats have been opened," said Kevin Braun of Generation Exodus, the company organizing the event. "I think this speaks to how we as a nation want to honor and show our support to this community."

A ticket is free but required to enter the concert. Click here for more information on A Night of Hope & Healing. 

 
CBA launches online training platform Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Tuesday, 08 January 2013 10:03 AM America/New_York

CBA has launched a new online training platform for Christian retailers—CBA Thrive. It includes on-demand access to retail management and sales training, monthly live and interactive sessions, and ongoing coaching to equip retailers with practical materials and resources that the association says will help put theory into practice.

Kicking off this month, CBA Thrive is a program built on the Thrive RDS (Retail Development Services) platform developed by Mark Hutchinson, president of British Columbia-based Blessings, a Canadian Christian bookstore chain.

"CBA Thrive is all about business building," Hutchinson said. "It's not just the once-a-month seminar, but a portal that enables retailers to connect at virtually any time with experienced retailers to solve problems and get involved with other retailers to improve day-to-day store operations and increase sales."

Hutchinson is known for his turnaround of Blessings, once a 28-store chain that was in bankruptcy and on the verge of closure, but is now profitable and generating nearly $6 million in annual sales with fewer stores. He has 23 years experience in business leadership, including developing the Chem-Dry franchise, which operates 650 locations with a 120-member staff generating $84 million in annual sales.

Via the online program, retailers can receive audio and video recordings of each training session to share with store staff; email support; and input; and idea sharing with fellow Christian retailers.

Click here for more information on CBA Thrive.

 
Irene Hannon's 'Vanished' debuts on Fiction best-sellers list Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Monday, 07 January 2013 03:56 PM America/New_York

Vanished.WebIrene Hannon's Vanished (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group) debuted at No. 9 on the Fiction best-sellers from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA), tracking sales for the week ending Dec. 29, according to Pubtrack Christian data. The first novel in the “Justice” series was to be released Jan. 1.

TheTop 20 General best-sellers were: 1. Jesus Calling, Sarah Young, hardcover (Thomas Nelson); 2.Jesus Calling, Young, large print deluxe (Thomas Nelson); 3. Jesus Calling, Young, deluxe (Thomas Nelson); 4. Jesus Today, Young, hardcover (Thomas Nelson); 5. Heaven Is for Real, Todd Burpo (Thomas Nelson); 6. I Declare, Joel Osteen (FaithWords); 7. Cross Roads, William P. Young (FaithWords); 8. Grace, Max Lucado (Thomas Nelson); 9. The Harbinger, Jonathan Cahn (FrontLine/Charisma House Book Group); 10. One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp (Zondervan); 11. Soul Detox, Craig Groeschel (Zondervan); 12. The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, John C. Maxwell (FaithWords); 13. Not a Fan, Kyle Idleman (Zondervan); 14. Multiply, Francis Chan, Mark Beuving (David C Cook); 15. Trusting God Day by Day, Joyce Meyer (FaithWords); 16. Crazy Love, Francis Chan (David C Cook); 17. The Bridge, Karen Kingsbury (Howard Books); 18. Nearing Home, Billy Graham (Thomas Nelson); 19. The 5 Love Languages, Gary Chapman (Northfield Publishing); and 20. Love Does, Bob Goff (Thomas Nelson).

Read more...
 
‘The Harbinger’ achieves ‘New York Times’ best-seller milestone Print Email
Written by Christine D. Johnson   
Monday, 07 January 2013 03:53 PM America/New_York

harbingersmallMessianic rabbi Jonathan Cahn’s novel, The Harbinger, marks a milestone in 2012 as the longest-running Christian title on the New York Times Paperback Trade Fiction list. The book has also sold 1 million copies.

The FrontLine/Charisma House Book Group title has ranked for 52 weeks on the best-seller list, placing at No. 14 on the Jan. 13 list.

Read more...
 
Broadcasting hall of fame to induct Dave Ramsey Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Friday, 04 January 2013 03:11 PM America/New_York

Best-selling author and broadcaster Dave Ramsey will be inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Hall of Fame in April.

"Dave Ramsey has influenced countless Americans through his sound financial advice and inspirational messages," said NAB Executive Vice President of Radio John David. "We are pleased to induct him into NAB's Broadcasting Hall of Fame."

Ramsey's nationally syndicated radio program, "The Dave Ramsey Show," is heard by 6 million listeners each week on more than 500 radio stations and is streamed on Daveramsey.com. On the show, Ramsey gives listeners advice on responsible money management. In 2009, he was honored with a prestigious NAB Marconi Award.

His New York Times best-selling books include Financial Peace (Viking), More Than Enough (Penguin Books), EntreLeadership, (Howard Books) and The Total Money Makeover, of which Thomas Nelson is publishing a 10th anniversary edition this fall.

By age 26, Ramsey had established a $4 million real estate portfolio, but lost it by age 30. Using the wisdom he gained, Ramsey rebuilt his finances. In 1992, Ramsey founded financial counseling company The Lampo Group, which he developed into a multimillion-dollar company.

Ramsey also created Financial Peace University (FPU) to help people erase debt and develop sound money management habits. One-and-a-half million families have attended FPU classes at their workplace, church, military base and community group. More than 10,000 educational institutions offer his high school and college curricula.

Ramsey will be inducted into the broadcasting hall of fame during the NAB Show Radio Luncheon, to be held April 9 in Las Vegas.

Previous inductees include Bob Uecker, Vin Scully, Jack Buck and Harry Carey.

 
Scourby KJV Bible app launched Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Friday, 04 January 2013 11:33 AM America/New_York

Litchfield Associates has released the KJV Audio Bible App, featuring well-known narrator Alexander Scourby, who the Chicago Tribune said "has the greatest voice ever recorded."

Available via Android, iPhone, iPad or other mobile device, users can access the King James Version in both text and audio, retrieve word searches and create Bible reading plans. The app also has a night-mode reading feature, playlists for favorite Bible verses and a sleep-time playlist for 30, 60 or 90 minutes.

Scourby was the first to narrate a recording of the KJV Bible in the 1950s on long play records, said officials for U.K.-based company. Since then, millions of cassettes, CDs, DVDs and MP3s featuring the work of the Shakespearean-trained narrator have been sold.

Click here for more information on the Scourby KJV Bible App.

 
John Piper to focus on writing after leaving senior pastorate Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Friday, 04 January 2013 10:57 AM America/New_York

Best-selling author and pastor John Piper will focus on his writing after preaching his last sermon as senior pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, where he has served for more than 30 years.

"This is the last message in the series of 30-year theological trademarks, and I am calling it 'sorrowful, yet always rejoicing,' " Piper said from the pulpit Dec. 30. "I believe for these decades this theme and tone has marked us deeply. We are a happy people. But we are not what you might call 'chipper.' There is a plaintive strain in the symphony of our lives. I think Jesus was the happiest man whoever lived. And oh how sorrowful! A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief."

Piper, 66, has stepped down from running the church with close to 5,000 weekly attendees, but he still has the passion to write books, preach and tour the country with his Desiring God ministry, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

"I have ... a limited amount of energy, and I want it to go toward reading, writing, preaching, but not organizational efforts at meetings," Piper told the newspaper.

His dozens of books include Don't Waste Your Life, Spectacular Sins and What Jesus Demands From the World (all Crossway). What Jesus Demands From the World and Spectacular Sins won in the Christian Life category of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association's Christian Book Awards in 2007 and 2009, respectively.

A 2010 LifeWay Research survey of U.S. pastors ranked Piper among the 10 most influential living preachers alongside Billy Graham, Rick Warren and Max Lucado.

Piper will stay on as a Bethlehem associate pastor until Easter. Along with his wife of 44 years, Noel, and their 17-year-old daughter, Talitha, their youngest of five children, will then move to the Knoxville, Tenn., area, for close to a year while he works on his writing, the Star Tribune reported. Then they plan return to their home near Bethlehem's downtown Minneapolis campus.

Piper will be succeeded Jason Meyer, 36, but said he will still occasionally preach at the church.

"I don't think that's [retire] a biblical word," he told the newspaper. "No offense to people who do it. I feel God's pleasure when I preach. I feel really alive."

Click here to view the text of John Piper's last sermon.

 
Covenant Group's in-store pick-up option drives customer traffic Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Thursday, 03 January 2013 12:14 PM America/New_York

More than 20 Christian retailers were able to increase their in-store traffic in the fourth quarter of 2012 by using the Covenant Group website program, company officials said.

Utilizing the "pick-me-up" options from Covenant's website program and companion phone apps, the retailers saw more than 1,000 items reserved for in-store pick-up during the fall months.

"With just over 20 retailers utilizing these services, that averages out to about 50 customers pointed to each of these retailers during the October-November time frame," said Chuck Wallington, Covenant Group founder and president. "In actuality, about 80% of the pick-me-up orders generated fell between early November and Christmas, so stores on our program saw quite a few customers directed to their stores from their branded sites."

Acknowledging that the measurement only captures customers that placed an order for pick-up in-store, he added: "We have no way of knowing how many other customers shopped our stores' sites before their trip to the store for their purchase."

Overall, Covenant Group reported more than 100,000 unique visitors at one of the 21 retailers' sites in December.

"This points to a huge amount of information relayed through these stores' websites, [which is] far beyond what we can track through online or pick-me-up order purchases," said Wallington, who is also owner of Christian Supply in Spartanburg, S.C.

Covenant provides marketing and support services to stores with a standard program for retailers with annual income of more than $1 million and an affiliate program for stores under $1 million in annual sales. The country's second-largest independent Christian chain also launched its first mobile phone apps for iPhone and Droid for member stores last summer.

Non-member stores can also take advantage of Covenant's website program and phone apps. For more information, contact Covenant Group at www.CovenantGroupStores.com.