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Written by Christine D. Johnson   
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 11:24 AM America/New_York
Pennsylvania gift and book store closes

Kay and Derron Castille are closing their store, Agape Inspirational Books, Gifts and Flowers in Darlington, Pa., after five years.

"The bookstore itself has been doing really well as far as sales go," Derron Castille said, but he and his wife decided to close the store in March to spend more time with their two older children before they leave home.

The Castilles both have full-time jobs aside from running the store and were not able to hire a full-time manager.

Derron, who is also a florist, brought in fresh flowers, which did "help a lot for maintaining the business," he said. As a result, the store was able to sell quite a few bereavement products along with the flowers. "We did do a lot of consoling of our customers in times of bereavement," he added.

"We were trying to keep this ministry open," Derron said. "(But) God really put it on my heart to step away from this and focus on my two children."