While at the International Christian Retail Show, I was able to attend two workshops specifically geared to church bookstores, and pass along some of what I learned there:

Volunteers-You Love Having Them, But They Drive You Nuts!

Beverly Miller, a CBA retail consultant, explored the positives and negatives of using volunteers, talking about the budget savings that come with using volunteers instead of paid workers-and yet recognizing the lack of dependability of the volunteer force at times.

She shared various ways to ensure a more committed and dependable volunteer force. She emphasized that the "hiring" process was the most important time-being sure that the volunteer is suited to the job. Training was another step she said was vital in an effective volunteer process.

Those who attended the workshop left with some strong tools to build a new volunteer team or strengthen existing volunteers in their church stores.

They're Not Shopping in Their Own Church Store

Jo Ann Panter, a private bookstore consultant and former CBA board member, addressed the problem of encouraging church members to shop in their bookstores. She opened the session by asking, "Who's idea was it anyway?", referring to establishing a bookstore inside the church; the answer to this question is crucial to the success of the store, she said.

Another critical issue is the location of the store, she pointed out. Those located in other than the most frequent travel path of the congregation fight an uphill battle from the beginning. Jo Ann also pointed out that a certain percentage of the congregation will never shop the store, based on personal interest: "If there is a Dairy Queen on your street and you don't like DQ, you really don't care and don't go there."

She suggested several action plans for attendees to take back to their stores. A church bookstore must have a mission statement, she said, as with such a statement, the staff, congregation and store employees begin the ministry on the same page.

Also vital to the success of the stores was staff/store relationships. Staying in tune with each pastor, teacher and church leader and having on hand those books and materials that they suggest is one of the most strategic actions to bring church members into the store, she said. The session was well-presented with information that could be used by a church store of any size.