Christian retailing pioneer Baker Book House has sold off one of its last two remaining stores to former staff.

The outlet in Holland, Mich., closed its doors in July, re-opening in a new location a mile away and with a new name, Jude 3.

The business has been taken on by former Baker Book store manager Steve Gilbert, assistant manager Annalee Sale and music buyer Jeff Geisel. The three formed a private company for the purchase, details of which were not disclosed.

The transfer leaves the Baker Book House retail division—which as part of the Baker Book House company that includes Baker Publishing Group once had as many as a dozen locations—with one store, in Grand Rapids.

Company President Dwight Baker said the decision to sell was made because the Baker Book's Holland location saw a fall in traffic in recent years. "Everybody said it was a nice store, but a bad location. We really had to move it or close it and sell it, and we didn't want to put any more money into it."

A 13-year store veteran who lead the buyout group, Gilbert said the new location is in a mall anchored by a Wal-Mart. "It's very busy, a high-traffic flow probably ten times higher than we have had."

Read the full report in the Sept. 8 issue of Christian Retailing.

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