Founder Chuck Wallington optimistic for others, while facing ongoing personal challenges

The marketing group for top-tier independent Christian stores is looking to expand its membership in anticipation of a strong final quarter of the year.

Usually promoting its services simply by word of mouth, the Covenant Group recently advertised its programs—aimed at stores with $1 million-plus in revenues—to boost numbers.

President Chuck Wallington—who founded the group 25 years ago from his Christian Supply store in Spartanburg, S.C.—said that membership had dropped recently with the sale of two multi-outlet businesses to chains.

But with signs of a good fall for retail, he wanted to recruit some of the “good strong stores” in the industry that might benefit from Covenant’s catalog and other services, especially those in the $750,000-plus annual sales range for whom an affiliate program had been introduced a few years ago.

“At that level we are not going to be their most economical resource,” but may be a good choice for stores that wanted to “raise their level.”

“The industry has changed a lot and quite a number of my friends have transitioned out—the guard has changed somewhat,” Wallington said. “It’s just a good time to restock the pond, so to speak.” With 16 dealer members representing around 40 storefronts, “we would like to get back up to about 50,” Wallington said.

Despite his optimism for retailing in general, Wallington acknowledged that his landmark store may never recover from years of theft by a former staff member recently jailed for the long-term fraud.

The president of family-run Christian Supply said that he was “satisfied” with the 30-month prison term given in May to Cheri Abraham, the former director of administration at the business.

She was also given five years of probation on release and ordered to pay $500,000 restitution, The Spartanburg Herald-Journal reported. Abraham said she had repaid the money she took, though prosecutors believed that up to $1 million was missing, the newspaper added.

In a message to suppliers who have worked with the store as it has sought to pay off debts, Wallington said that he was pleased that the judge had affirmed the store’s position in his sentencing remarks, saying that Abraham was “obviously in denial” about the missing money.

With the support of vendor partners and backing of a loyal staff, the business was digging out of the “very deep hole” discovered in August 2008, Wallington said.

While he was encouraged that God “is not through with our company’s ministry,” Wallington said, the losses had been crippling, forcing the store to cut staff by a fifth and to freeze salaries. “Indeed, with today’s economy and retail climate, there even still remains the possibility that recovery might never be attained,” he said.

Founded by Wallington’s father in 1953, the almost-35,000-square-foot store won a CBA Store of the Year Impact Award in 2007 for effective marketing, staff training and merchandising.