Newcomer retailers Bill and Tina Beyer were honored with CBA's first Retail Innovator of the Year Award, last night, for their trendsetting Skia store in Bentonville, Ark.

Opened only in May last year, the 5,600-square-foot store that features free Wi-Fi access and a skateboard department, was recognized for using "unique products, promotions and events to draw in new markets and provide its customers with the ultimate experience," CBA President Bill Anderson noted in presenting the trophy. Skia had become "a hub in its community," especially attracting teenagers, and had sponsored skateboarding and BMX teams, Anderson added.

The award was "pretty humbling," said Bill Beyer. "It's encouraging that there are people in our industry who saw that what we were doing is important. We've done what God has laid on our hearts, so to have people come alongside and recognize us like this encourages us to keep forging ahead." Beyer said that more Skia store locations were likely in the future, with some people already having contacted him about the possibility of opening franchises.

The second new CBA award went to Spring Arbor as Innovator of the Year, for the way it had "strived to serve retailers through innovative means," including a Web site that makes it easy to place orders and help educating stores about changes in technology that could help them. One retailer told CBA that Spring Arbor's Web functionality was "tops," Anderson said.

The annual Jim Carlson CBA Store of the Year Impact Award went to Mardel Christian Education & Supply, now with 27 stores in six states, for the way it had developed "a unique model of retailing that enables it to serve communities with a wide range of products and services." The award was received by Jason Green, company president. The annual CBA Supplier of the Year Award was presented to Zondervan, for what nominating retailers cited as its "impeccable customer service" and "great variety of new product."

The retailer awards were presented in a joint evening ceremony with the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, during which Anderson commented that it was "such an important time for us as an industry to celebrate excellence."