A panel of studio representatives, distributors and retailers yesterday urged Christian stores to seize the great opportunity presented by the growing market for faith-based and family-friendly movies.

DVD sales in Christian stores grew 20% between 2005 and 2007, from 2.67 million total units of the top 50 sellers to 3.21 million, said Bob Elder, vice president of marketing for Nashville-based Propeller Consulting, which works with movie companies. Referencing recent research, he added that during the same three-year period, children's videos that had once been the category leader dropped significantly, from 74% of all sales to 30%, while feature-length film sales grew a phenomenal 1,841% to 1.71 million units.

"Action: 90 Minutes to Revolutionize Your DVD Sales Like You Never Thought Possible" was sponsored by the three main distributors of videos to the Christian retail channel-EMI CMG Distribution, Word Distribution and Provident-Integrity Distribution-and attended by around 100 retailers.

Parable Group founder and CEO Steve Potratz said that while other store categories had changed through the years, home video was the only new department to be introduced at Christian retail in his many years in the industry. It represented "the biggest opportunity we have right now," and retailers needed to dedicate adequate space to it, he said in a Q-and-A session.

Another panel participant, Simon Swart, general manager of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, said Christian retail was a critical avenue of business, and he encouraged stores to leverage the unique level of trust they have with their shoppers. "There's a reason people keep coming back," Swart said. "They know that everything inside that store is safe for them and has been pre-vetted. Consumers value it and are prepared to pay some kind of premium for that experience."

• Prev
• Next