The Dunn family, owners of P Graham Dunn Inc., has announced the sale of P Graham Dunn to its employees in an employee stock ownership program (ESOP). The company will retain all of its 300 employees in the transition, and eligible employees will become owners.

“An ESOP is our best tool for transitioning P Graham Dunn from one generation of leadership to the next,” said Peter Dunn, founder and CEO. “The first two employees LeAnna and I hired, Carol Curie and Robert Shetler, are still with us after 42 years. An outright sale of the company to a competitor would highly jeopardize fellow workers that have been with us for decades. An ESOP assures a secure future and a continuation of our values for those that have shown dedication and loyalty to us. Our ongoing management team representing 133 years of employee experience will be augmented with outside skilled leadership on our board of directors.”

The Association of Logos Bookstores held its annual retail conference prior to CPE International in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Becky Gorczyca, executive director, said that, as they do every year, Logos retailers honored sales reps in the industry as well as significant books.

“The Logos managers nominate the books they think are the best of the year,” she told Christian Retailing. “We compile a list and then a ballot goes out, and the winners are chosen from that. So all the stores have input.

Moody Publishers author Asheritah Ciuciu called retailers to spend time in God's Word and in the presence of Jesus during Tuesday morning devotions at CPE International. But not only did she teach about the value of that, she also did so with understanding just how busy the life of a Christian retailer is.

"We don't serve a boring God," she said, but one who encourages believers to experience "fullness of joy." She invited retailers to "replace distractions with invitations" to Jesus' presence. Naming the distractions and temptations, from Netflix to social media to Oreos or even a glass of wine, these substitutes for His presence can be "poison" that numbs our affection for Jesus Christ, she said.

Brad Stine brought his unique brand of comedy performance to CPE Monday night where retailers got a dose of American conservatism and Christian humor.

Stine decried the political correctness that has become prevalent in the U.S. today.

“I care that we can’t laugh at differences anymore,” he said, encouraging everyone to be “adults” and not get offended. He joked with a bald man in the audience and with another man who had piercings.

Christian retailers who partner with Operation Christmas Child (OCC) in its shoebox distribution got quite the treat Monday evening. Not only did they get to hear some powerful music from Cana’s Gift and inspirational teaching from Southeast Christian Church Pastor Kyle Idleman, but they also heard a testimony of a young woman who received a Christmas shoebox as a child in the Middle East. She grew up and eventually God led her to the U.S. where she found herself, unexpectedly, volunteering with a church to pack shoeboxes. She now works with Operation Christmas Child full time, and her life has come full circle. She shared how God led her family out of their village just before terrorists destroyed it.

When Idleman, author of Not a Fan and his latest book, Don’t Give Up, spoke, he thanked her for sharing her story, as it gives perspective on the tough times Christian retailers may face from day to day. Idleman sees stores as a “sanctuary for people” and encouraged retailers to persevere like Noah and Abraham did.