Christian Retailing

Penguin settles price-fixing suit on e-books Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Wednesday, 19 December 2012 10:12 AM America/New_York

Photo credit: AppleThe U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced yesterday Dec. 18 that it has reached a settlement with Penguin Group (USA) in its civil antitrust lawsuit accusing the nation's largest book publishers of colluding with Apple to raise e-book prices, Associated Press (AP) reported.

If approved by a federal judge, the settlement leaves computer giant Apple and Holtzbrinck Publishers (Macmillan) as the only defendants standing against the federal government's charges that Apple conspired with several publishers in the fall of 2009 to force e-book prices several dollars above the $9.99 charged by Amazon.com on its Kindle device.

The Justice Department, which filed the suit in April, settled with Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers and Simon & Schuster earlier this year. The trial against Apple and Holtzbrinck Publishers is scheduled to begin in June.

"The proposed settlement with Penguin will be an important step toward undoing the harm caused by the publishers' anticompetitive conduct and restoring retail price competition so consumers can pay lower prices for Penguin's e-books," said Jamillia Ferris, chief of staff and counsel at the Justice Department's antitrust division.

The settlement had been expected by some industry observers in light of Penguin's impending merger with Random House, which is not a defendant in the case. The merger would create the world's largest publisher of consumer books.

Under the settlement, Penguin "will be prohibited for two years from entering into new agreements that constrain retailers' ability to offer discounts or other promotions to consumers to encourage the sale of the Penguin's e-books," and must submit to "a strong antitrust compliance program" that includes telling federal officials about any joint e-book ventures or any communications with other publishers, Justice Department officials said.

 
Organizers 'pleased' with turnout for India's Christian Expo Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Wednesday, 19 December 2012 10:01 AM America/New_York

Hundreds of people bought Christian resources and attended concerts in South India earlier this month during the Christian Expo in Thiruvalla, Kerala, according to organizers.

Held Dec. 3-9, the 20th annual event—sponsored by C.V. Vadavana, publisher of Sathyam Ministries and general secretary of Christian Trade Association India—featured 400 booths, a Bible exhibition, concerts, sacred dance, poetry, a film festival, children's carnival and displays highlighting Christian publishing.

"We were pleased to have participation from many denominations, churches, publishers and mission organizations," Vadavana said.

The Rt. Rev. Philipose Mar Chrysostum, senior metropolitan bishop of the Mar Thoma Church, which tradition says was founded by the Apostle Thomas, opened the event.

Christian publishing was featured prominently during the event, which drew B&H Publishing Group, The Bible Society of India, Evangelical Literature Service, OM Books International and among many publishers.

Authors who attended the Christian Expo included Vishal Mangalwadi (The Book That Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization, Thomas Nelson) and Mathews Vergis, who published The Christian Walk Study Bible in India.

 
'World's largest missions bookstore' to carry 1,000-plus titles Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Wednesday, 19 December 2012 09:30 AM America/New_York

Billed as the "world's largest missions bookstore and a bookstore of apostolic proportions," a temporary store will be an integral part of Urbana 12—the tri-annual gathering of students sponsored by InterVarsity Press (IVP) that is expected to draw 18,000 registered participants and 262 missions agencies.

The 23rd Urbana Student Missions Conference, to be held Dec. 27-31 at the America's Center Convention Complex in St. Louis, is designed to equip and send out the next generation of missionaries and church leaders.

"Since 1946, Urbana has engaged over 250,000 students through 22 student missions conferences and continues to serve as the largest student missions conference in North America," said Tom Lin, director of Urbana and vice president of missions for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. "Over the years, we have discovered that God has uniquely used Urbana to enable students to discern God's calling for their lives."

IVP authors Sandra Van Opstal (The Mission of Worship) and Lin (Pursuing God's Call) will be keynote speakers at the conference. Twenty IVP authors will also serve as seminar speakers, track directors or part of the worship and performing arts teams.

The bookstore, featuring more than 1,000 unique titles from IVP and other publishers, is a key component in sending out attendees after Urbana.

"When people respond to God's call they need information to activate their response, from being better equipped in specific missions issues to being better prepared spiritual and theologically for missions," Lin said. "InterVarsity Press' long-term commitment to campus mission and global missions, and its commitment to diversity—over 40% of Urbana participants are ethnic minorities—make it a wonderful partner for Urbana."

IVP Publisher Bob Fryling added: "IVP serves the Urbana delegates with probably the largest mission-related bookstore in the world, while Urbana is a strategic time for IVP to expose its wealth of missions, evangelism and discipleship books to a new and dedicated generation of Christian students."

Click here for more information on Urbana 12.

 
Author Frank Pastore dies from motorcycle crash injuries Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Tuesday, 18 December 2012 09:33 AM America/New_York

Frank Pastore, a Christian radio host and author of the 2010 memoir Shattered: Struck Down, But Not Destroyed (Tyndale House Publishers), died Dec. 17—nearly a month after suffering serious head injuries from a motorcycle crash in Duarte, Calif. Pastore, 55, had been in a coma since the Nov. 19 accident.

"I just lost my beautiful husband," Pastore's wife, Gina Pastore, told the Inland Daily Bulletin. "But it's comforting to know he's home with the Lord now. People are calling in [to his radio show] and crying and mourning with us.

"I want to thank so many people for their outpouring of love and support," she added. "That's really helped to sustain our family during this difficult time."

Pastore sustained his injuries when his motorcycle was sideswiped by a car in the carpool lane on the 210 freeway, California Highway Patrol officials said.

A former Major League Baseball pitcher, Pastore was on his way home after his "The Frank Pastore Show" on Glendale, Calif.-based Christian radio station KKLA when the crash occurred, family members said.

His wife said he spoke about the fragility of life during a segment on his radio show the night he was in the crash.

"He mentioned on the air, he said that 'if I were to be killed on the freeway tonight and my body parts are all over the freeway, I'm not on the freeway because my soul and I would be with the Lord,' " she said. "He actually said that the night that it happened, not knowing that he would be hit on his motorcycle. Frank would want people to know that."

The driver of the car involved was not arrested or cited, said investigators, who concluded that the crash was an accident.

"I know that Frank is in heaven right now," Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., said on his Facebook page. "He was a faithful follower and servant of Jesus Christ. ... It's heaven's gain, but it is surely our loss. Frank Pastore was a man of God that used his platform, both as a former Major League Baseball pitcher and a radio personality, to point people to Jesus Christ. ... I will miss Frank, but I know I will see him again."

In Shattered, Pastore describes how an elbow injury ended his dream of getting "rich and famous" as a Cincinnati Reds pitcher. He also shares how the incident was part of his Christian testimony.

Pastore is survived by his wife; son, Frank Jr.; and daughter, Christina. Funeral arrangements are pending.

 
Keith and Kristyn Getty play to sold-out venues on Christmas tour Print Email
Written by Christine D. Johnson   
Tuesday, 18 December 2012 10:40 AM America/New_York

GettyChristmas.WebKeith and Kristyn Getty’s Joy—An Irish Christmas tour played to a packed house in Orlando, Fla., Dec. 15. The couple—modern hymn writers and recording artists who originally hail from Ireland—are visiting 18 cities with their holiday tour, presented in partnership with Compassion International and Redeemer Seminary in Texas.

Launched in Louisville, Ky., the concert of carols, modern hymns and Irish reels and jigs performed by the couple and an ensemble of top Irish and American folk musicians is set to culminate for the second consecutive year at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center on Dec. 23. The ensemble features Fionán de Barra of Broadway’s Riverdance; Jeff Taylor (Vince Gill, The Chieftains); and Uilleann piper Patrick D’Arcy, among other acclaimed artists.

Read more...
 
Christian resources again made available in Liberia Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Monday, 17 December 2012 11:00 PM America/New_York

CLC International has re-opened a Christian bookstore in Monrovia, Liberia, at the historic Providence Baptist Church.

CLC operated a Christian store in the West African country from 1948 until 1996 when the bookstore became a target for the violence that engulfed Monrovia during the country's lengthy civil war.

Twice the store was looted and destroyed. After the second time, CLC workers were forced to flee for their lives and become refugees in other countries. As a result, CLC's work in Liberia was "temporarily suspended," and it was not clear when a Christian store would ever be able to open again.

Two years after the 2006 election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first female president in all of Africa, and the ceasing of hostilities between warring parties, CLC sent a research team to Liberia to explore the opening of a new store, but much of the infrastructure of the country was still inadequate.

In February, another CLC team went to Liberia and discovered that conditions had improved greatly and a plan was put in place to re-open by year's end. CLC USA helped to arrange for the shipment of a 20-foot container filled with start-up inventory, including used books that were donated by individuals and churches across America through CLC's Christian Book Link program.

Opened in the fall, the new store is located inside Providence Baptist Church, the site of the founding of the country by returning American slaves in 1847, and the founding documents still reside in the church.

this fall, the new store is located inside Providence Baptist Church, the site of the founding of the country by returning American slaves in 1847, and the founding documents still reside in the church.

 
Christian authors react to Connecticut shooting Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Monday, 17 December 2012 12:01 PM America/New_York

A number of Christian authors have offered prayers and commentary in the aftermath of the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, behind only the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech that left 32 people dead.

Author Clive Calver, senior pastor of Walnut Hill Community Church, a network of five charismatic churches in western Connecticut, lives in Newtown, Conn., where a masked gunman killed more than 26 people—including 20 children—Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

"We prayed for the families of those who perished—including two mothers who attend our weekday women's ministry and lost children," said Calver, who wrote Alive in the Spirit (Charisma House) and Dying to Live (Authentic Media). "We prayed for those who were in that school and saw horrible things; we prayed for the greater Newtown community.

"Our prayer is that this evil, this unspeakable horror, would be the turning point for what God is doing in New England," he added. "We've spent the last nearly eight years here, breaking up the land and laying seed for a harvest—or revival in New England. Maybe, just maybe, this is the wake-up call. Maybe, just maybe, this is when the church springs into action, being the hands and feet of Jesus and shining His light in this darkness."

Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., and author of Lost Boy (Regal Books), wrote a blog in which he called the shooting the "worst imaginable scenario."

"I know from personal experience that the pain of losing a child is a fate worse than death for a parent," said Laurie, whose 33-year-old son, Christopher, was killed in a car crash in 2008. "At times like this we must reflect on the essential message of Christmas which is Immanuel has come. Immanuel means God is with us. I know God is there ready to bring His comfort to those grieving right now in Connecticut."

Max Lucado, whose latest book is Grace (Thomas Nelson), offered a Christmas prayer tied to the tragedy.

"These killings, Lord. These children, Lord. Innocence violated. Raw evil demonstrated," Lucado said in his prayer on the website of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, where he serves as minister of preaching. "Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won't you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger. This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us."

Ray Comfort, producer of the online movie Genius, which has gone viral since it was released Dec. 7, believes he knows why people are willing to take innocent life.

"Genius points to what every murderer has in common, something the 'experts' either don't recognize or avoid talking about. But it's there," said Comfort, whose movie was produced as a companion to his latest book, The Beatles, God, and the Bible (WND Books).

In the movie, which is about John Lennon and why he was killed, 15 youths were asked if they would murder for money and said yes because they didn't value a person's life, Comfort said.

 
'Christmas hiber-nation' gains ground, says retail expert Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Monday, 17 December 2012 11:57 AM America/New_York

Only 17.1% of Americans are done shopping—12 million more were finished this time last year—as "Christmas hiber-nation" gains ground, according to a new survey by America's Research Group (ARG). Consumers "hibernate" until the last few days before Christmas for deals they expect will beat Black Friday's offerings—50%, 60% and 70% off, ARG said.

Britt Beemer, the chairman and founder of ARG who is known for his Christian retail channel studies, estimated that far fewer Americans shopped the weekends of Dec. 1 and Dec. 8 than at any time in the last decade—42.6% this year with the previous low being 43.1% in 2002.

Of those who did shop Dec. 8, a far greater number said they were seeing fewer discounts at 24.7%—the lowest since 2008, which was 27.5%. Self-gifting, a major trend last season, is way down to its lowest since 2008 at 33.6%, ARG said.

Additionally, 49.1% of shoppers are waiting for 60% to 70% this year compared to 38.4% of people surveyed looking for the same markdowns in 2011; and 52.4% are waiting for 50% to 60% off discounts compared to 41.6% markdowns last year. More shoppers are also going to fewer stores this year, with those visiting to just one to three stores at 27.5% this year versus 23% in 2011.

"The numbers shopping fewer stores represents a dramatic shift, and it is indicative of what is shaping up to be the most cautious season in a decade," Beemer said. "A lot more people went to six to 10 stores last year then are going this year at 28.8% now compared to 32.7% last year. It's simple, if you are saving money, you look at the ads and only shop the stores with the hottest deals.

"This research builds on [ARG's] last study showing that the number of Americans waiting to the last three days before Christmas to finish shopping was at a 25-year-high," he added.